Traditionally, in the context of a comedy club, the role of MC is filled by a “compère”. These compere were basically host of the evening’s events, but the precise role and responsibilities used to vary depending on the venue, style of the event and the country. But today, their role in not just limited to comedy shows or church, they are doing far more than that. MCs have now become an integral part of the events such as weddings, music concerts, shows, etc.
Now, the MC or Master of Ceremonies is the person who introduce guests, family members or bridal party, keep track of time and schedules, facilitates entertainment activities such as; speeches, party games, photo album slideshow, and make things run smoothly and sometimes takes care of any unforeseen incidents during the event.
Role of an MC in a wedding
Wedding today is no less than any entertainment, wedding patterns and styles have changed to a great extent. Today wedding is not a simple ritual in which two people getting wed-licked for their lifetime. In fact, weddings are taken to different levels now. Couples want to celebrate their big day in a big way, unlike the old days when only few rituals used to take place and then done.
Couples want their weddings to be fun-filled event for themselves and for all their guests. Today, entertainment options in a wedding event are not just limited to the Music, DJ, and live artist’s performances, it has much more to it now. And there is one more aspect to entertainment in today’s time, which pulls all these acts together, and that is the Master of Ceremony (MC) or anchor. Now couples want to have or hire MCs for their wedding, so that they can freely enjoy their wedding because an MC can be a person in-charge of the entire wedding.
Why do we need an MC for the wedding?
A wedding for any couple is a once in a lifetime event. Some expenses may seem additional, but believe you me, MCs are not only great hosts, but also they can be a great help for couples who are getting married. MCs are required to make your wedding a wonderful event. Besides, taking care of guests, an MC also takes care of the flow of the event in the wedding. For instance, if there’s anything interesting happening or going to happen like a game or a dance performance of couple at the wedding event, an MC will tell about it to the guest. Most of your pressure of handling guests will be shared by your MC. Isn’t it a great idea all in all??
Especially, when your guests start to feel bored and sleepy, your anchor can keep up the entertainment quotient just by playing games and doing certain playful activities, just to keep the audience engaged and enthusiastic in the wedding. Today, having and MC at the wedding is of great importance to take care of all the wedding ceremonies in and out. And if yours is a destination wedding than having an MC for your wedding can turn out to be a great support.
Who can be an MC at the wedding?
Well, it is certainly not necessary to hire an MC, especially when you have a budget constraint. You can even choose one of your friend or relative to perform the duties of an MC at your wedding. In more case than not, couples ask their friends or relatives to act as an MC (sometimes, they just give this responsibility to the best man). Couples do it for several reasons such as; it is cost-effective, you don’t need to pay your friend, also, a friend acting as an MC can give the entire event more personal touch because he/she is close to both bride and groom.
A hired MC however, will not know the bridal party and guests well enough to be able to provide a truly personal approach. But the truth remains that a professional Master of Ceremonies has gone through hundreds of weddings, they are trained to their cores to offer a much “smoother” wedding experience. The gestures, the language, the jokes will be well-tested, and they are better with time management as well.
How to select master of ceremonies for the wedding?
If you are planning to have your friend or relative acting as an MC or Master of Ceremonies, then make sure you choose someone who is easygoing, has no temperamental issues, comfortable in a large crowd and possess plenty of public speaking experience especially with large audiences. Being an MC at the wedding is a big responsibility, so even if your friend (who you are considering for the role) has vast public speaking experience and knows all of your guests for a very long time, there is a likelihood of them feeling nervous because of the pressure of the responsibility you put on them.
Tips to choose master of ceremonies (MC) for your wedding
Is responsible and accountable
First things first, while choosing an MC for your wedding, look for someone who is responsible and accountable. The one who has demonstrated these traits incessantly in the past as well. It doesn’t matter much how charismatic your potential MC is, if she/he tend to get side-tracked by the food, wine or good company, or is bad mouthed, or boring, or may even fall asleep on a couch outside the reception. Of course, the last thing you would want for your wedding is a distracted or irresponsible or bad mouthed MC.
Has a good sense of humor and is creative
Believe it or not, humor and creativity are an important traits for the MC. You tell me, would you like to stay back in the party where an MC is handling things as if conducting a meeting or maybe and assembly in the school. How would you feel?? Of course, you will be bored for sure. Anybody can get bored in such situations. So, while choosing an MC please make sure that she/he has a great sense of humor and is able to insert prompt and random jokes into their speeches. And yeah, make sure their jokes are enjoyed by all, because it’s not so great if they are the only ones who enjoy those jokes, or their jokes offend someone in the audience.
Is not bad-mouthed or motor mouthed
Yeah, it is highly important to see that a person is not bad-mouthed or motor mouthed. Some people in the name of being cheerful do blunders, they blurt anything in the name of jokes. Such people can offend anybody, anywhere. For instance, your MC calling another friend of yours in audience who came along with his girlfriend and saying “Dear James! Let’s hope you won’t cheat on your new girlfriend the way you cheated on the previous one.” AND LONG SILENCE……….. What’s the point!! So, see this one!!
Leave no space for creepy surprises
Well, to avoid any creepy situation later, make sure to review your MC’s speech beforehand. And if any revisions or changes are required to make them by yourself, don’t instruct your MC to do those changes. You can also take the help of other friends or relatives to review different parts of the speech. Whomever you hire or request to be your Master of Ceremonies, be it a professional MC or a friend, make sure you walk through the entire wedding day along with them multiple times to ensure that you too have the same vision of what your big day looks like in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises later.
Meet your MC in person
If hiring an MC make sure you meet your MC in person. Meet and know more about her/him like how long he/she is in the industry, kind of events he/she does, how many weddings he/she has done so far, likewise. Go with a set of questions to ask. Try to understand the person’s tone and temperament. Because for a wonderful MC more than beauty, their tone and temperament matter.
Ask for their work videos
Today everybody has their videos while performing. Professional MCs usually have their work videos, through which you can easily understand the level of their work and how they perform in events. Whether they are able to keep the audience engaged or not, etc. you can know via their videos. So, ask for some of their previous work videos. Don’t go by their words, instead go by your wits.
Check Services and Items
Check which services and items are provided by the professional MC. While hiring a professional MC, make sure you check with them well in advance which all services and props will be provided by them and which all will come at an extra cost. In addition to the MC services, many MCs do provide photo booths, custom music, and special song requests, and even speak in cultural accents! Sometimes they provide props, lighting, microphone, special effect also, and some of them even bring their own stage!
Read the contract and sign it
While hiring a professional MC, make sure you read the contract and sign it only after you are comfortable with their services and the cost. Having a contract ensures minimum troubles later, which is a must!!
Gone are the days when events were taken care of by the people in the group, now everything has become more professional and people are readily spending money to add that professionalism and charm to their events and your wedding is one such event now. For some, spending on MC would be an extra expense in a wedding, but trust they are perfect to incorporate that extra element, that dazzle to your wedding that you will remember forever in your life. They have a great sense of place and community, they are trained in interacting with the audience, they know the art of dealing with any hecklers, and are masters in encouraging people to focus and keep them entertained.
Their role is vast in a wedding, besides taking care of audience they take care of the entire stage schedule along with making announcements, they will keep your guests engaged. Try having an MC at your wedding and you and your friends will know the difference. There will be a smooth functioning and free-flow of events; besides, they will make a huge difference!!
I hope these tips are helpful. Follow the tips mentioned above and find a great MC for your wedding.
