Female 'Best Man'?

my housemate is getting married next year, there's been much speculation about who he'd chose to be his best man because since he got together with his fiancee he's gone down the classic route of hardly seeing any of his friends anymore (i mean, i live with the guy and i hardly see him) so the two people i always thought would have been the obvious choices, having both known him since first school, are lucky to speak to him every two months, possibly not the kind of relationship that makes people want to be your best man.
so last night i heard he's picked a best man, his sister
i haven't had a chance to confirm this yet, but would i be alone thinking that it's damned strange?
anyone here been to a wedding with a female best man?
and before anyone suggests it this isn't some kind of equal rights statement, he's never cared about anything like that (and is in fact very happy to have a girl that makes his sandwiches and irons his shirts ) so does it make me a bad bad cynical man to think he might have asked her because she;s the only person that is guaranteed not to turn him down?

When my best friend gets married we have already decided I will be his 'best man'

Also, he very well may be a brides maid at mine, lol

Same here.

When a friend of mine got married last year she had a man of honor instead of a maid of honor. First I'd ever heard of it, but to me it seems essentially the same as a best woman. Didn't seem all that weird to me; I mean times are changing. Sounds like in your case it's the withdrawing from/ignoring friends that's bothering you more than whether then best man is actually a man or not.

Nick

i had my brother as a 'brides man' and my husband had his sister as a 'grooms woman'

it was wonderful and i would not have had it any other way

i was my sister's 'butler of honor'...

oh definitely. i don't have a problem with a female best man, i'm not a big fan of marriage in general, let alone demanding people stick to the rules, but i'd never heard of it before and he's not a ,mould breaking kind of guy at all. it just stuck me as a really odd thing to do, the friend that told me about it had also not heard of it.

i'm surprised at the responses in here, maybe if it's this common i should be less cynical about his motives. maybe

i've been a bridesmaid twice. le sigh...never to be a bride.

I'm surprised at how entrenched what I shall call the "When Harry Met Sally Fallacy" is in our thought: that is, how many people continue to believe that a male who has a close female friend is either gay, or scheming to bang her. It's stupid, ridiculous, and I'd think we'd be past it by now. Oh well.

If I didn't have a brother that I love more than life itself, and if I ever got married which I doubt will happen, I'd ask my friend Amy to be my best man. I don't think it's strange at all.

where did that come from. it's his sister, i really hope that's not why they're close.

Dont forget that a lot of this wedding "tradition" came after WWII and was invented to sell things to a newly enriched society. So do what you want. And your friend should do what he wants. Hell, I was married by an atheist in front of my and her immediate families and then the 12 of us all went out to dinner. No best man, reception, nothing. It still counted.

i was a bridesmaid in my sisters wedding...actually her maid of honour and other bridesmaid were guys

it seems i've only been going to the boring weddings.

I had a friend who, when he got married, had one of his female friends from high school as a groomsman, and the bride had a guy as one of the bridesmaids.

Meanwhile, my fiancee and I occasionally have argued over which side of the aisle one of our friends will be on...

i think its great

my mom was a groomsman for her brother when he got married. if the people you want in your wedding happen to be bridesmen of groomswomen, who cares? the people closest to you should be in your wedding, no matter what.

My sister had a few guys in her bridal party. The way I see it...if it's your wedding, you do whatever you damn-well please.

He's got the hair for it.

Why not have a female "best man" or a "man of honor?" Whatever makes you happy when you get married.

I've seen this a few times. In one case, she wore a tux just like the guys. In another, she wore a formal black velvet dress with a corsage that matched the ties/vests. It worked perfectly. The third wore a gown that matched the bridesmaids'. It just depends on what the people involved want to do.

When it came to the wedding party dance later that night, the maid of honor and "best girl" danced with their date/husband/friend instead of with each other.