Last night, I was sub-contracted to another company where I was employed as the DJ. At this wedding, I witnessed yet another family member appointed as the MC who really messed up quite severely.
Now, this gentleman (let’s call him Uncle Paul), was very well spoken and had a good personality. (These traits are probably why the couple chose to have him as their MC). On these traits I could not fault him. However, it was his inexperience in event management that really let the entire experience down.
He came and introduced himself to me. I was also chatting to the videographer at the same time, which worked out well because we both let Paul know that it is crucial to let us know before anything major for the night happens. This was to avoid any situation where something happens and the videographers are not ready for it so therefore miss capturing the event.
He completely agreed and understood, promising to not move into anything major before checking with myself, the videographer and the photographer first.
All seemed to be going well. As a further guarantee to ensure nothing happened without me being aware, I had him return the wireless mic every time he finished using it. This way there are no surprise announcements without me having to hand the microphone.
After a few minutes, Paul asked if he could have the microphone. I said “Sure, what’s the announcement?”, to be sure it wasn’t the grand entry or anything like that.
Paul said that it is just to introduce himself and do the housekeeping. I handed him the microphone and said “Sure, then just bring it back before the grand entry”.
He said that isn’t a problem.
He introduced himself and did the housekeeping. He then walked towards the back of the building near the main door and immediately, without ANY warning whatsoever, “Everyone make welcome Mr & Mrs X!” which saw everyone start cheering, the bride and groom coming through and I quickly had to hit their entry song. Unfortunately though, due to the videographer not being made aware, none of this key moment was captured on video. How very disappointing for the couple!
The run sheet we were given (and called to confirm with the venue and the wedding couple) showed that speeches were to be made after the main meal. Sadly, this was also changed at a whim by MC Uncle Paul. Immediately after the unexpected entry which had all the wedding suppliers scrambling in panic, MC Uncle Paul immediately announces, “Ladies and Gentleman please make welcome the father of the bride for our first speech!”.
What?
Speeches started and again the videographers were not ready for this. They were going to put lapel microphones on everyone to ensure the audio was captured clearly. They had a line out of my set-up, and we hope that it was clear and worked correctly because the all important back-up source was not able to be used. This could lead to a very disappointing wedding video with no grand entry and no speeches!
The issue is, most of this would have gone unnoticed by the wedding couple who will say that they feel proud using Uncle Paul as the MC who did a wonderful job. They think they saved money by “wasting money” hiring a professional MC, when (from their perspective), Uncle Paul did a stellar job. Sadly, the true cost is probably yet to be realised when they realise their video may not have all (or very few) of the elements they were hoping for due to their choice of MC not knowing how to run a wedding correctly.
Please, for your own sake and peace of mind, don’t make the mistake that Mr & Mrs X made. Spend that little more to ensure that your wedding runs smoothly as it should. A professional MC will NOT allow things to happen without ensuring the other suppliers that need to be a part of it are ready.
Our MC service does not cost a lot more for that peace of mind that we have your wedding under control and planned out perfectly.
Warmest wishes,
Nik Reeds
(2020 ABIA MC of the Year)
