Wedding Master of Ceremonies – What they REALLY do …
So, you have given one of your friends or family the honor of being your wedding Master of Ceremonies for your wedding reception.
That is great and indeed an honor to be asked to perform this role. The problem is … most couples don’t actually know what
this involves (and for that matter neither does your friend or family member).
Most people think that the wedding Master of Ceremonies is simply a person to get up and make some announcement.
This is simply not the case. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The wedding master of ceremonies is actually the person that is
responsible for keeping the entire night running smoothly. The MC is the glue that hold the entire event together.
Too many times we have been hired to provide our DJ services only and couples choose to not also hire us as their Master of Ceremonies.
These nights more often than not do not turn out very well run. Everything runs well behind schedule, suppliers are not kept in the loop
about what is happening and the bride and groom end up disappointed that things did not run as expected and wonder how that happened.
They don’t realise it was actually the MCs responsibility to keep things running and they usually assume it was the venue or other suppliers
that let them down.
The MC is the host of the evening. Your master of ceremonies is the “go to” person for all guests and wedding suppliers with questions they
need answers to. Your MC is given the power of being able to make decisions on your behalf so that you don’t need to be bothered all night.
If you are giving this task to a family member or friend, make sure that both you and they realise they are not going to have time to socialise
very much on the night. Seldom would they have the chance to eat and they should not drink on the night either until towards the end of the
night once all formalities are completed.
Your Master of Ceremonies will keep the run sheet for the night on hand at all times and do his/her best to stick to that time sheet. If things blow out,
they should be able to make some decisions to get things back on time as soon as possible. They need to be constantly liaising with the venue
staff to ensure the kitchen are running on time and ready for meals (if the kitchen is held back the food is often spoiled, so it is extremely important to
keep to timing). They also need to speak to the photographer / videographer to ensure they are ready before any major events (cake cutting, speeches,
bridal dance etc). We have often seen an unprofessional wedding master of ceremonies just grab the microphone and announce something like the
cake cutting without checking the photographer, videographer and DJ are ready.
All these things to think about and we haven’t even gotten to the speeches yet! If you thought it was just someone to announce speeches you might be
starting to see that a wedding master of ceremonies is responsible for so much more! They need to be the first person to arrive to the venue well before
guests so that he/she can greet guests as they arrive and help them find their seats if this is required. They also need to be the last person to leave at the
end of the night ensuring the bride and grooms transport has arrived, collection of gifts if required and ensuring all guests are leaving safely.
As far as speech time goes, the MC should have a good microphone technique and be very familiar with the correct use and handling of a microphone.
It is also the responsibility of the master of ceremonies to guide those speaking how to hold and use the microphone correctly. Obviously the MC should
have a clear and pleasant speaking voice.
Of course, if you decide that it would be better to have a professional MC rather than a friend or family member, we can provide that service.
We have staff that have been highly trained as professional MCs.
Warmest wishes,
Nik Reeds
