While there are a lot of difficult jobs out there, easily one of the most nerve-wracking out there is MCing a wedding. Especially if this is your first time, being an MC is a tough gig with a lot of things you’ve got to be on your toes about so that the bride and groom walk away feeling great about the event.
Some of these things include being able to properly gauge the room’s temperature and read the crowd. You’ve also got to keep people on their feet by using witty phrases and commentary, all while never going too far or taking things to a place that isn’t comfortable.
But how do you MC a wedding? Well, that’s what we’re going to get into here, how to MC a wedding properly!
Here, we’ll go over what your responsibilities are as a professional wedding MC, what you’re supposed to say, as well as what things you can do to make the event ultimately something that everyone will remember in all the right ways.
What Is A Wedding MC?
Also known as the wedding Master of Ceremonies, the wedding MC acts as the wedding’s host and primary spokesperson throughout the event. While the wedding Master of Ceremonies position is often filled by a close friend or relative of the person’s wedding, there are also times when the MC can be a hired third party.
The main job of a wedding MC is to ensure that everything runs smoothly and on schedule, while also making sure that everyone is having a great time, especially the bride and groom.
What Are A Wedding MC’s Responsibilities?
Because every wedding and every wedding couple is different from one another, it can be hard to pin down exactly what the wedding MC’s full responsibilities are. After all, outside of “keeping a schedule and having a good time” there’s not a lot of overlap that could happen.
1. Setting Up A Meeting With The Couple
Ultimately, while there are a lot of things one could include, it breaks down to the wedding MC just doing whatever the bride needs.
As such, if you are the wedding’s MC, you must speak directly with the bride and the groom to better understand what they’re going to need from you for the event. It should be well in advance of the wedding itself and should end with you having a fairly complete list of things needed on their end for you to provide.
Some of the things on this list should include what dances they want at their wedding reception. It should also include whether there will be other dances as well.
For example, you should find out if there will be a parent dance, dollar dance, or wedding party & afterparty.
If there is, you need to know how these events should go, if there isn’t, you should know what should take place instead. Ultimately, they should tell you the type of wedding atmosphere they’re interested in cultivating and how they want people to feel during and after the wedding.
2. Knowing What To Share…
You’ll want to make sure to grab a few key memories you can bring up during the wedding to make the event more personal.
This will include events that have happened between the bride and groom themselves, different events that took place with various friends and family of the person’s wedding, as well as any other noteworthy memories that would go well with the event.
3. …And What Not To Share
A good wedding MC will know what you shouldn’t share during the event. If there are any potentially embarrassing or inappropriate stories you’re aware of, you’ll want to make sure you run it by both people to make sure it’s ok.
Many times, what is hilarious for one person could be absolutely devastating for the other. Getting a direct green light from both people is very important.
4. Know The Venue
As a wedding MC, you also need to make sure you have a strong understanding of the venue itself. This means having visited more than a few times so that you understand the different areas and locations.
You must have a firm grasp and understanding of the venue so that you can offer informed directions when dealing with the guests as they arrive on the big day.
Considering most venues can have a confusing layout, it’s worth it to have a map with you or be willing to take some notes as you go along.
What To Say As A Wedding MC
When MCing for a wedding reception, there are a few times you’ll be asked to stand up and speak. Most of these times will be the above announcements, including important wedding information.
You’ll also need to make sure you introduce yourself as well as go over that day’s itinerary.
Before the bride and groom show up, it’s important that the wedding MC announce their arrival by saying, “Let’s all welcome the new Mr. & Mrs. __!” The wedding MC will ask for everyone to stand until the bride has found her seat, only then calling for everyone else to be seated.
After seating everyone, the wedding MC will introduce the most important roles for the event, including things like:
- The Best Man’s wedding speech
- The Maid of Honor’s wedding speech
- The Father of the Bride’s wedding speech
- etc…
This list should include everyone that plans on making a speech and should be fairly fast, spending only a moment on each person. You’ll usually wait until the diner section before introducing the different speeches so that you’ve ensured that everyone that said they were coming has already come.
This is also ideal as it lets the guest speakers have time to focus on their speeches rather than getting some food in their system.
You’ll also want to announce different events as they happen, such as throwing the bouquet or any other ceremonial events that are slated on the event schedule. You can do this either as an open announcement or by walking to each table and letting them know in a more subtle and easygoing manner.
All proposed toasts at the wedding reception should be fairly simple and straightforward, saying something along the lines of “Ladies & Gentlemen, please raise your glasses as we toast to the happiness and good health of Mr. & Mrs. __. To the happy couple! Cheers!”
Keep in mind that, while you are there to make sure things are running smoothly and people are having a good time, you are not there to make people laugh or to be otherwise amusing.
Unless specifically stated prior, you are meant primarily to keep things flowing on schedule with everyone (especially the bride and groom) enjoying the event.
How To Be The Best Wedding MC For Any Reception
While every wedding reception and event can vary, the importance of an MC does not. If you’re curious about what key factors you should have in place for every wedding reception event to be the best, keep reading on:
1. Always Be Professionally
The first and most important thing for every wedding event is that the MC must behave professionally at all times, and that includes being polite to drunken wedding guests. This means always appearing well-dressed (throughout the entire event) while also only drinking during specific events and times.
2. Meet Up Before The Event
As an MC, you should ideally have met at least two or three times with the bride and groom and maybe even the wedding planner prior to the actual wedding day. This will ensure you have built rapport while also being kept fully in the know about any last-minute changes that may have happened.
3. Information Needed
While the couple will likely make a point of giving you this information, it’s always a good look to voluntarily ask for what they need.
Even though they’ll likely give you a general overview of what your responsibilities will be, dig deeper. Spend some time interviewing them a bit so that you know exactly what they need from you.
4. Know Their Names
We’ve all been there. Make sure you not only know what their names are but exactly how to pronounce them. The last thing you want to do is mispronounce a bride’s new last name on her wedding day. Get the exact spelling and pronunciation as soon as possible, and practice it several times until you know it by heart.
5. Arrive Early & Introduce Yourself
Lastly, you want to make sure you’re always at least 15-20 minutes early so that you can help with the setup process as the wedding guests arrive. You also want to introduce yourself to everyone you meet, titling yourself as the MC. T
his isn’t to be a braggart, but to make sure everyone knows to come to you if they have a question or are uncertain about something. This means you should have a strong understanding of the event, the wedding guests, and what will be happening.
Recap Of a Wedding MC Responsibilities
So to recap, a wedding MC is responsible for these things and must make sure they are implemented correctly and intelligently:
- Scheduling: The wedding MC must know the full schedule for the wedding event and stick to it as closely as possible. If any updates take place, either between the scheduling or the guest list, the MC should also be aware of these changes.
- General Announcements: The wedding MC is responsible for all general announcements including when the bride and groom will arrive, who will be speaking at the event when it is time to cut the cake when it is time to toss the bouquet & garter, as well as announce Last Call
- Answering All General Questions: Lastly, an MC must be knowledgeable of as many venue-related aspects as possible, including where the bathrooms are, when meal service will begin, where the buffet line starts, as well as when and where guests will be seated
How To MC A Wedding: Summary
We hope this simple guide on how to MC a wedding comes in handy. As you can see, while there are a lot of things that can influence how a wedding can go, as a professional wedding MC, you want to mitigate as many of those things as possible, and not just that will crop up on the dance floor.
Ultimately, the way to do a great job is simply to spend some time investigating what is happening for the event as well as specifically what they want from you.
Once you understand that, spend a few days constantly drilling and practicing this information so that when the big day finally comes, you can be that essential pillar that holds everything together.
This is true whether the wedding will be a more traditional one, more unique, or somewhere in the middle.
