Master of Ceremonies at a Wedding Reception

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Master of Ceremonies at a Wedding Reception

If you have been asked to be Master of Ceremonies for a wedding, you may find this information helpful in planning what you will do.

Your role as Master of Ceremonies is to act as an unobtrusive organizer, ensuring an orderly progression of events at the wedding reception.

The reception is a carefully planned sequence of events. The principle organizers and the participants all need to be aware of the format for the reception.

Each wedding reception is unique and the bride and groom may want to change the order of events. This is a suggested guideline to provide you with a format for the event. This outline is for a traditional sit down dinner.

Major Duties of the Master of Ceremonies

Before the Wedding

Meet with the Bride and Groom to work out a written agenda for the reception. Find out as much information as possible about their preferred format for the day.

Do they want toasts? Who will give the toasts?
Can they give you a little information to help you with introductions?
Can they help you with the pronunciation of any unusual names?
Do they have special people they would like introduced?
Have they asked guests who are speaking to limit the time of their toast/speech? Three to four minutes is ideal.
Who do you speak to on the catering staff?
How do the bride and groom feel about the tradition of guests clinking spoons on glasses to signify they want the bride and groom to kiss? Does the couple want an announcement made about this?

It's a good idea to check with the bride and groom again before the wedding day, in case there are any changes.

Plan how long each section of the evening will take. Timing is important. You need to know:

time dinner will be served
time entertainment will start
time the reception site is available-both for the start and the end of the event.

While it will help to be prepared, things don't always turn out just as planned. Be prepared to be calm and flexible and maintain your sense of humour if the unexpected happens!

Before Dinner

Meet with the caterer and the disc jockey.
Introduce yourself, welcome the guests, and announce the arrival of the bridal party. You may want to ask the guests to stand as the bridal party enters the room.
Announce the serving of dinner and introduce the person who will say grace.

After Dinner

Introduce the members of the head table to the guests and say a few words about each person at the head table.
Introduce each person who is to speak or give a toast. Toasts are traditionally given to the bride, with a reply from the groom, and to the maid of honour and bridesmaids by the best man and to the groomsmen by the maid of honour. A toast can also be given to the Bride's parents and the Groom's parents.
Make any special announcements. There may be guests who have traveled some distance to attend or are honoured guests such as a grandparent.
Ask the bride and groom to cut the wedding cake.
Announce the bridal waltz. After the bride and groom have danced for a few minutes, the bride may dance with her father, before everyone is invited to join the happy couple on the dance floor.
Invite the single women to gather for the tossing of the bride's bouquet and then the single men to gather for the tossing of the garter.
Announce when the bridal couple will be leaving.
Let guests know of the time the evening will end, when the bar will close, and any other information to make the evening finish smoothly.

Things to Remember

Always be sure you have learned how to pronounce all the names you will be announcing. Ask those who will be speaking or giving a toast to limit their speech to three or four minutes. Brevity, sincerity and a sense of humour all help make for a successful Master of Ceremonies.

Books

395.22 GAR - Garrison, Andre. The Best Man's Handbook: From Ring to Reception, 1998
395.22 HAI - Haibeck, Tom. The Wedding M.C.: A Complete Guide to Success for the Master of Ceremonies, 1993
395.22 LEE - Lee, Brian. The Wedding M.C: How to M.C. and Speak at Weddings, 1998
808.51 FRO - Frothingham, Andrew. Great Toasts : From Births to Weddings to Retirement Parties-- and Everything in Between, 2002
808.51 HER - Herman, Jeff. Toasts for All Occasions, 2004
808.51 JEF - Jeffery, Barbara. Wedding Speeches and Toasts, 1998
808.882 OXF - The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations, 2001 (REF)

Websites

Master / Mistress of Ceremonies - from the Canadian Disc Jockey Association
The Master of Ceremonies and Toasts - from ForeverWed
Master of Ceremonies at a Wedding Reception - instructions and duties for the Master of Ceremonies

HW - updated December 2009

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