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Master of the Ceremony
A good MC at your wedding reception is worth his (or her) weight in gold. When they are done well the speeches can be the highlight of the night. Superimpose a good MC and you will lift the whole experience to a new level.
Once you have chosen the right person for the job make sure they are happy to do it and give them the tools they need to do it well. Start with a written list of tasks for the night.
Your list will include announcing the arrival of the bride and groom, the cutting of the cake, the various speeches, the bridal waltz/dance and when the bridal couple is preparing to leave. Be sure to give guidelines for timing (such as between main course and dessert) where appropriate.
If you do that your MC will ensure the night runs smoothly. However, to lift the night’s entertainment to that “next level”, your MC needs more than that. He needs to know a little about the speakers and the main players at the wedding – short anecdotes, perhaps an idiosyncrasy or something mildly embarrassing which can be used to raise a laugh without being unkind. Something even mildly amusing when introducing a speaker not only entertains your guests but “warms them up” for the speaker.
My eldest son Dan introduces a theme into his presentation whenever he is asked to be MC at a wedding. For his sister Natalie’s wedding he introduced each speaker as having a “famous uncle named…”. The groom, Dave Veivers had a famous uncle named Mick Veivers, a well known footballer from the Gold Coast. The best man Ron Hood had a famous uncle named Robin Hood who used to run around Sherwood Forest in a pair of pantyhose. The matron of honour whose maiden name was Liz Austin had a famous uncle named Austin Powers while her husband, Gaven Connolly had a famous uncle named Billy Connolly.
By the end of the night we were all dying to hear who the next famous uncle would be!