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of Ceremony |
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How
to be a brilliant Master of Ceremonies at a wedding, by Rachel
Green. |
You've been invited
to be the master of ceremonies at a wedding. Wow! What an important
job that is. You know the master of ceremonies can make or break
the wedding reception, and you need to be good. Here are seven
tips to help you be brilliant so the wedding reception is wonderful. |
1.
Prepare a detailed running sheet and share it.
You need to do a lot of preparation to be really
good. Once you know exactly what you are to do you can relax.
Make up a minute-by-minute running sheet well in advance and go
through it detail by detail with everyone involved to make sure
you have covered everything, and I mean everything. For example,
as the wedding master of ceremonies your running sheet will include
information as to when the reception starts and finishes; when
the caterers will fill the glasses for the toasts; who will make
each toast and how long they will speak for; when the photographers
need to be ready for the cake cutting; when the bride and groom
will do the first dance; and so on. Once you know exactly what
will happen then your nerves can ease. |
2.
Keep everything and everyone to time.
As the master of ceremonies you are usually
both an organiser and a speaker. Part of your job is to make sure
everything runs to time. If this means you remind the father of
the bride that he is to give a speech in ten minutes so he can
go to the bathroom first – you tell the father of the bride.
If you need to remind the photographer that the toasts to the
bride and groom will be at 4.15 you remind the photographer. If
you need to talk to everyone in advance about the length of their
speeches and how to help them stick to time, then you talk to
all the speakers in advance. You do whatever you need to keep
to time. |
3.
Get the introductions and protocol correct.
The wedding master of ceremonies is responsible
for announcing who people are and introducing them before they
give a speech or a toast. Make sure you have sufficient information
on all the relevant people, and you get the titles and protocol
correct for all the introductions. You must be able to pronounce
everyone's names correctly too. |
4.
Keep speeches and toasts short.
As a general rule, keep speeches short. As the master of ceremonies
you are not there to steal the show but to unobtrusively keep
the reception moving along, and to allow others to take centre
stage. Your toasts or speeches need, therefore, to be short. However,
not too short. Our best man, who was our MC, was so nervous he
sat down after only one sentence! Some wedding experts impose
a three or four minute rule on speeches and toasts. I have seen
this work very well. However, not everyone will want the times
to be so regimented. It will also depend on how good the speaker
is and how many speakers there are. I have seen longer wedding
speeches that have been brilliant and very well received. You
need to discuss this in detail with the bride and groom, beforehand.
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5.
Help the guests feel comfortable and connected.
One of the difficulties with wedding ceremonies and receptions is
that the guests don’t necessarily know each other. One of
your tasks as the master or mistress of ceremonies is to help the
guests feel comfortable and connected. Help the guests get to know
each other and to know whom everyone is. Very often guests can feel
awkward and alone: bring everyone together. For example, guests
can often be placed at tables where they don't know anyone. I remember
one wedding where I was placed on a table full of Catholic priests!
I didn't know any of them and nor was I a Catholic. At another one
I was grouped with other friends, but none of us knew each other.
At another, I was with relatives I didn't know! Your job as MC is
to help the guests feel comfortable and connected. |
6.
If you are nervous while you are talking - pause at full stops.
Most people when they are nervous speak too quickly. Therefore,
train yourself to pause when you rehearse your speeches. You need
to pause at your full stops, i.e. at the end of your sentences.
Yes, this may sound simple, but pausing is absolutely essential
for the guests and bridal party. While a pause can seem like eternity
to you a pause allows the time needed for what you have said to
travel to them, and to be absorbed by them. The general rule is
the larger the reception room the longer you need to pause. Why?
Because your sound has to travel further. |
7.
Don’t crack irrelevant jokes.
Masters of ceremonies who are new to the role, often make the
mistake of thinking that they have to tell a whole series of wedding
jokes. They don’t. There are other ways to produce humour,
for instance, by telling funny stories about the bride and groom
when they were growing up or during their time of courtship. However,
don't humiliate the bride or groom with these stories and don't
make them too sexual or risqué. The groom's mates from
the footy club may find them very funny, but the elderly relatives
may not. If you do tell jokes make sure they do not offend anyone.
Pick them very carefully indeed and don't tell too many. The occasional
joke is all that is needed. |
Enjoy
being a brilliant Master of Ceremonies.
Rachel Green is a Perth based professional
speaker and communication specialist. You'll find more tips on
being a master of ceremonies in her popular E-book, "A Master
of Ceremonies: A beginner's guide to being a brilliant MC."
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