Wellington Manager Greg has been a professional MC for conferences and events for over 24 years. With Wedding season upon us Greg has some suggestions for getting the most out of your MC:

Weddings are a curious gathering of people. Unless its a super small affair there’s a big chance that the only thing that most people have in common is one half of the happy couple or the other. So the formalities in the wedding reception can be a tough balancing act. Everyone likes a few great stories about the bride, groom or both but the speeches can’t go on too long or it just sucks the life out of the evening – people want to get down to the eating, drinking, dancing and photo boothing.

So your MC is an important person – they can really help tie all the speeches together or they can just make everything worse. Here’s a few quick tips for finding the right person and how to get the most out of them:

1. Pick your MC early – its an important role and can be as important as the rest of the bridal party in making sure things go well
2. Make sure that he or she knows who else is speaking and can get in touch with them well in advance. That way your MC has a chance to find out what people are talking about and can gently make sure they’re doing a bit of prep. Knowing who is talking and what they are talking about allows for a better and more personal introduction. Its even a great idea for them to know how long each speaker will be. It just means that people will feel like there is a time limit and not go rambling on!
3. Its not about the MC! They are the glue that holds things together and keeps things moving but we want to hear from the parents, the happy couple and the bride and groom. Often people pick an MC who’s “a bit of an extrovert” and they can spoil things by taking up more time with their own stories. I’ve even seen one wedding MC steal one of the father of the bride’s jokes
4. Make sure they know everything that is happening well in advance – introduce them to your planner, the photobooth operator or the venue. Then they can run and announce things without you constantly having to tell them new things
5. Your MC is like the sober driver of the evening – they don’t get on it until the formalities are done. That way you can rely on them to keep things on the straight and narrow.
6. Unexpected things can occur if you throw open to the floor to say something – so be prepared for that! Think about your guests and whether that is wise. If Aunty Lynne always likes a drink and to sing off-key maybe don’t open it up for anyone to talk!

If you’ve got an MC who is staying on top of those little things then the speeches at your wedding and the rest of the formalities can be a really memorable part of the evening and not an endurance test of politeness!