April 28, 2005

Curious, George: Wedding MCing in a Nutshell. Help! I have had short notice of wedding MC duties falling my way and I am eager not to make the night memorable for the wrong reasons.

I know there are many monkeys who have made the leap (some only very recently) and I'm looking for stories/advice about Masters of Ceremonies. So if you've been an MC what would be your one piece of advice for success? What is the one thing you regret doing? (Stories involving the bride or bride's mother are also acceptable). If you had an MC at your wedding (whether it was your brother or crazy uncle) what did you most appreciate? Draw up a list under the headings Loved and Hated and basically vent your spleen on the whole wedding reception - especially all the bits that have been eating at you like acid through a flimsy pre-nuptial. Sorry for the second Curious, George in one week. I'm just a curious (and in this case, desperate) monkey

posted by lamearse 19 years ago
  • Ask the bride and the groom what they would like. For me, the good MC is the MC that no one notices or remembers. I am sure that other people like a scene-stealing MC. I would just ask them.
  • What the hell is MC?
  • it's shorthand for emcee, also known as master of ceremonies.
  • as opposed to "master of his own domain," please see "Seinfeld."
  • I'm not married but I have seen it done well and not so well. So here's my advice. Be sure to ask if they want the traditional trappings (thrown bouquet, garter, money dance, etc). Most wedding receptions follow the same format. Try here for some suggestions. Try to establish a rapport with the DJ/band/guy who puts the tape in the player. Otherwise "Daddy's Little Girl" might play during dinner or something. There always needs to be a go-to person for the little catastrophes that happen. Find out if that's supposed to be you. The best man frequently takes care of that stuff but if it looks like he is going to punk out, it's better to step up than to let things fall apart. My biggest pet peeve of poorly-run wedding receptions - when the bride and groom are left without any food. Make sure someone serves them at the table even if it's a buffet.
  • Find out from the bride and groom what they want done. They will probably have a schedule of events they want you to get people to do (maybe including: toasts, dinner, cake cutting, bouquet/garter toss, departure). If there's a time limit on the hall, getting them done at the right point in the reception will be crucial. One of the most important duties I've seen for an MC at a wedding is keeping the roster of toasts and making sure everyone gets theirs. We didn't have anyone do this when I married my spousal monkey because there weren't enough toasts to merit it, but with a complex wedding party (lots of family, lots of attendants, divorced parents, etc.), there can be a number of toasts and the order can be important. If you're responsible for the toasts, get a signal from the bride and groom for when to cut off the toasts (e.g., if someone gets drunk or says something terribly inappropriate). One of the toasts at my wedding contained a reference to hoping that it stuck this time (I've been divorced) and if the person had gone on in that vein, someone would have needed to shut him up. Cabingirl's suggestion is good, but the couple may be too excited to eat. Conspire with the honor attendants to make sure a box with some food and cake gets into the getaway car.
  • My advice is not to overdo it. Your main purpose is to keep things moving, not necessarily to entertain. Get a schedule from the happy couple, and introduce things as they go along. Keep it simple. If the bride and groom are asking you to act as MC at the last minute, they may not have a game plan figured out, so you may want to check some wedding sites (such as The Knot) and suggest an order of events.
  • Are you handling the music as well? If so, sit down with them, and get what kind of music they want. Do they want you to play a specific song when they enter? Be sure to have them specify what they don't want. Have a specific list of events nailed down, all the toasts, the garter, the cake, the bouquet, the dances, all that crap in order. The only time you should make your presence known, as johnnylaw put it so well, is to keep things moving. As long as you're speaking loudly and clearly and look like you're having a good time, then you'll have done a good job. Also, try to sound like a gameshow announcer when you get up there, maybe Rod Roddy or Wink Martindale. People love it!