History Main / BestWoman

[[folder:Web Originals]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* At the wedding of [[ComicBook/TheAuthority Apollo and the Midnighter]], The Engineer (Angela Spica) is attendant to the black-tux-clad Apollo.

[[folder: Fanfiction ]]

* In an ''{{Series/ER}}'' fanfic featuring Doug and Carol's wedding, he asks a female friend of his to be his "best man", while she asks his former best friend (but now hers) Mark to be her "best man", as (a) they want a small wedding sans a large bridal party, only with the two witnesses necessary, and (b) they cite what good friends each of these people has been to them over the past year.

* Nora takes this position for Jaune in ''FanFic/TheRWBYLoops''. She realizes only too late that as Jaune and Pyrrha are having a klingon-style wedding, she will have to fast for a week. This is, of course, played for laughs.
* While it happens off-panel, during the Franchise/HarryPotter / VideoGame/KantaiCollection Crossover Fic FanFic/HarryAndTheShipgirls IJN Hiei was Best Woman/Battleship at [[spoiler: Admiral Richardson's & IJN Mutsu's]] wedding

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/FatherGoose'', Cary Grant is stranded on an island during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with schoolteacher Leslie Caron and seven female students. Grant and Caron fall in love, and at the end of the film they are married while under fire from the Japanese and with the minister officiating by radio. The most tomboyish of the students, "Harry"[[note]]Short for "Harriet"[[/note]], acts as "best man".
* ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. Charles' friend Scarlett is wearing a tuxedo at his wedding (though with a pink shirt instead of white), indicating that she's serving as one of his groomsmen.
* ''Film/MadeOfHonor'' [the Creator/PatrickDempsey movie] is about a male bridesmaid. It's mentioned in the film, too, that if he had gotten married first, the bride would have expected to be his best man.
* Similarly, in ''Film/MyBestFriendsWedding'', the groom's father mentions to Julianne that he had suggested that groom make her his best man, but the bride-to-be wanted her for her maid of honor.
* Happens in Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg's ''Date Movie'', where Grant's best man, [[TomboyishName Andy]], turns out to be his sexy ex-girlfriend as well. Julia finds this out the hard way.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* In a ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode when Blackadder is getting married, his bride-to-be doesn't have any female friends, so Baldrick fills in as her maid of honor.
* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E16HellsBells Hell's Bells]]", Xander picks Willow as his best "man". Of course, her being a woman does not stop her from [[LipstickLesbian flirting with one of the bridesmaids]]. She does try to use it as an excuse to get out of her [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes horrible bridesmaid dress,]] though.
-->'''Willow''': I'm supposed to be best man. Shouldn't I be all ...Creator/MarleneDietrich-y in a dashing tuxedo number?\\
'''Buffy''': No.\\
'''Willow''': Oh. [pouts]\\
'''Buffy''': That would be totally unfair. We must share equally in the cosmic joke that is bridesmaids-dom.
* On ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'', Ryan and Esposito spend an episode competitively sucking up to Castle to try to be his best man. At the end of the episode, he reveals that they're both welcome to be groomsmen, but his best "man" is definitely going to be his daughter. [[spoiler: Then the wedding gets eaten by an end-of-season cliffhanger, so it becomes irrelevant...]]
* On ''Series/{{Cybill}}'', when Ira is getting remarried, he asks Cybill (his ''ex-wife'') to be this for him.

* On ''Series/GeneralHospital'', Brenda served as both the best "person" and maid of honor at Ned and Lois' wedding, being the best friend to both of them.

* On ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', Alex asks Meredith to be his best man for his wedding with Izzie.
* On ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', the person Palmer has tapped to be the best man at his wedding was Abby. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, because they were busy with the Harper Dearing case, the only person at NCIS other than Palmer who actually got to attend the wedding was Ducky]].
** She gets to fill this role for [=McGee=] when he marries Delilah at the end of Season 14--with ''Gibbs'' as the "man-of-honor"!

* On ''Series/NightCourt'', Bull has Roz, his best friend, play this role at his wedding.
* On ''Series/{{Parks and Recreation}}'': April Ludgate asks if she can be Ron Swanson's best man when he marries Diane Lewis. He agrees and lets her.
* In ''Series/TheRookie2018'' episode "Man of Honor", Detective Angela Lopez asks Sergeant Tim Bradford to be 'Man of Honor' at her wedding as her current maid of honor is too controlling, where Bradford is able to make a stand and help Lopez find what she wants rather than what others think will work best.
* On ''Series/SchittsCreek'' Stevie serves as the "Maid of Honour" for both Patrick and David and she wears a suit to the wedding.
* On ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'', when Toby and Happy are getting married, Toby asks Paige to be his "best ma'am", while Happy gets Walter, Cabe, and Sylvester to be her "dudes of honor".

* Subverted in ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Liz was supposed to act as best man in Jack's wedding to Avery, however, because the pastor couldn't speak English, he thought she was the bride, leaving her and Jack legally married for several days.

* ''Series/{{Wings}}''. Helen asks Joe to be her maid of honor when she gets engaged to Davis. ''They'' end up marrying.

[[folder: Music Videos ]]

[[folder: Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', one example that's unorthodox even for this trope is the wedding of Alexander and Eliza; Hercules Mulligan serves as the "flower man."

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

* In ''{{Webcomic/Rhapsodies}}'', [[GentleGiant Mr. Large Hideous Bull Creature]] invite's [[UnfazedEveryman Dielle]] [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/comic/best-woman/ to be this.]] Dielle misunderstands and assumes he means Maid of Honor, and Large Hideous Bull Creature, who doesn't quite understand the concept, takes her word for it.

[[folder: Web Original]]

* In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's episode on ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks: Chip-Wrecked'', he has to attend Hyper Fangirl and Devil Boner's wedding as Hyper's "butler of honor".
* The ''WebVideo/{{Gayle}}'' episode "The Wedding" establishes that [[TheRival Bonnie]] [[VitriolicBestBuds was Gayle's Best Woman]] when she married [[TheFaceless Dave]] in 1986. Title aside, the role wasn't recognizably different from that of a traditional Maid of Honor, with Gayle's InsistentTerminology on the point apparently stemming from her feminist leanings.

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* In the season 2 finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle's brother Shining Armor asks her to be best mare at his wedding. She hadn't known he was getting married in the first place and was not happy with being kept out of the loop.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheRook'', a non-wedding version of this is mentioned in Myfanwy's notes on the history of the Checquy organization. Due to the habit of naming the main leaders of the Checquy "Lord" and "Lady", at one point the only valid candidate for the title of "Lady" was a six-foot-tall mountain of a man with a thick red beard who stubbornly held onto his position even when he had the chance to become the new Lord instead, remaining the Lady until his death.
[[/folder]]

* “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14090706/1/Different-manor Different manor]]” invokes a non-wedding version of this in Franchise/HarryPotter’s relationship with Daphne Greengrass. As part of her PowerDynamicsKink, Daphne takes pleasure in establishing her authority over Harry, but proclaims herself to be his master rather than his mistress, as she feels that “mistress” suggests she’s just the woman Harry’s cheating on his wife with when she intends to be his one and only wife.

-->'''Willow''': I'm supposed to be best man. Shouldn't I be all ...Creator/MarleneDietrich-y in a dashing tuxedo number?
-->'''Buffy''': No.
-->'''Willow''': Oh. [pouts]
-->'''Buffy''': That would be totally unfair. We must share equally in the cosmic joke that is bridesmaids-dom.
* On ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Ryan and Esposito spend an episode competitively sucking up to Castle to try to be his best man. At the end of the episode, he reveals that they're both welcome to be groomsmen, but his best "man" is definitely going to be his daughter. [[spoiler: Then the wedding gets eaten by an end-of-season cliffhanger, so it becomes irrelevant...]]

* “[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14090706/1/Different-manor Different manor]]” invokes a non-wedding version of this in Franchise/HarryPotter’s relationship with Daphne Greengrass. As part of her PowerDynamicsKink, Daphne takes pleasure in establishing her authority over Harry, but proclaims herself to be his master rather than his mistress, as she feels that “mistress” suggests she’s just the woman Harry’s cheating on his wife with when she intends to be being his one and only wife.

* In ''Film/FatherGoose'', Cary Grant is stranded on an island during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with schoolteacher Leslie Caron and seven female students. Grant and Caron fall in love, and at the end of the film they are married while under fire from the Japanese and with the minister officiating by radio. The most tomboyish of the students, "Harry", acts as "best man".[[note]]Short for "Harriet"[[/note]]

* In a ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode when Blackadder is getting married his bride-to-be doesn't have any female friends so Baldrick fills in as her maid of honor.

* In ''Series/UglyBetty'', Bradford passes up his son Daniel as best man and instead asks his transsexual daughter Alexis to stand up with him.

* On ''Series/{{GreysAnatomy}}'', Alex asks Meredith to be his best man for his wedding with Izzie.

* In ''Film/FatherGoose'', Cary Grant is stranded on an island during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with schoolteacher Leslie Caron and seven female students. Grant and Caron fall in love, and at the end of the film they are married while under fire from the Japanese and with the minister officiating by radio. The most tomboyish of the students, "Harry" acts as "best man".[[note]]Short for "Harriet"[[/note]]

* Subverted in ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Liz was supposed to act as best man in Jack's wedding to Avery, however, because the pastor couldn't speak English, he thought she was the bride, leaving her and Jack legally married for several days.
* In ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', Rory was the best man at her grandparents' vow renewals.
* In ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', Debra is Dexter's best "man". She's his foster sister.
* In ''Series/UglyBetty'', Bradford passes up his son Daniel as best man and instead asks his transsexual daughter Alexis to stand up with him.

* On ''Series/NightCourt'', Bull has Roz, his best friend, play this role at his wedding.

* On ''Series/{{Cybill}}'', when Ira is getting remarried, he asks Cybill (his ''ex-wife'') to be this for him.
* On ''Series/{{GreysAnatomy}}'', Alex asks Meredith to be his best man for his wedding with Izzie.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
** Elaine wants to be an usher at George and Susan's wedding. Susan objects to having a female usher. It turns out to be a moot point because somebody dies.
** This trope is discussed in another episode, where Elaine informs the others that she's the best man in a lesbian wedding, prompting George to ask how they decide who gets to be the bride and who gets to be the groom.

* In a ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' episode when Blackadder is getting married his bride-to-be doesn't have any female friends so Baldrick fills in as her maid of honor.

* On ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Ryan and Esposito spend an episode competitively sucking up to Castle to try to be his best man. At the end of the episode, he reveals that they're both welcome to be groomsmen, but his best "man" is definitely going to be his daughter. [[spoiler: Then the wedding gets eaten by an end-of-season cliffhanger, so it becomes irrelevant...]]

* On ''Series/{{Parks and Recreation}}'': April Ludgate asks if she can be Ron Swanson's best man when he marries Diane Lewis. He agrees and lets her.
* On ''Series/SchittsCreek'' Stevie serves as the "Maid of Honour" for both Patrick and David and she wears a suit to the wedding.

[[folder: Film -- Live Action ]]

* In ''Film/FatherGoose'', Cary Grant is stranded on an island during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII with schoolteacher Leslie Caron and seven female students. Grant and Caron fall in love, and at the end of the film they are married while under fire from the Japanese and with the minister officiating by radio. The most tomboyish of the students acts as "best man".
* ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. Charles' friend Scarlett is wearing a tuxedo at his wedding (though with a pink shirt instead of white), indicating that she's serving as one of his groomsmen.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* In ''Webcomic/GirlsWithSlingshots'', most of the groom's friends are women, so during the wedding, we have a train of "groomsmaids".

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

In a traditional Western wedding you have the bride, the groom, the best man, and the maid of honor, along with various groomsmen and bridesmaids. But what if the groom's best friend [[PlatonicLifePartners is a woman]] or [[HalfIdenticalTwins his twin sister]]? Or the bride is a [[OneOfTheBoys tomboy who hangs out with all guys]]?

In a traditional Western wedding you have the bride, the groom, the best man, and the maid of honor, along with various groomsmen and bridesmaids. But what if the groom's best friend [[PlatonicLifePartners is a woman]] or [[HalfIdenticalTwins his beloved twin sister]]? Or the bride is a [[OneOfTheBoys tomboy who hangs out with all guys]]?

In a traditional Western wedding you have the bride, the groom, the best man, and the maid of honor, along with various groomsmen and bridesmaids. But what if the groom's best friend [[PlatonicLifePartners is a woman]] or [[HalfIdenticalTwins his beloved twin sister]]? Or [[OneOfTheBoys the bride is a tomboy who hangs out with all guys]]?