What a wedding emcee does
The emcee, or MC, makes the announcements that hold a reception together: who is entering, when dinner starts, who is giving a toast, when the cake is cut and when it is time for the last dance. Behind every announcement is a cue. The kitchen, the photographer, your parents and the band are all waiting for the emcee's words to do their part.
When you hire a band or DJ, the emcee usually comes with them. WeddingWire's guide to hiring entertainment notes that the DJ or bandleader is also the emcee, making announcements, introducing the toasts and coordinating with your planner, caterer and venue.
Before the wedding
Most of an emcee's work happens before anyone picks up a microphone. A good one will want the order of events, every name that will be announced, the speakers in order, the songs for each entrance and dance, and any traditions you are including.
They should also ask about the delicate parts. Who walks in with whom if parents are divorced or remarried? Is there a memorial moment, and how should it sound? Are friends planning surprises you have, or have not, approved? An emcee who knows these answers in advance never has to improvise around a family's feelings.
Share the run of show, the speaker list and any family notes a few weeks out, and expect follow-up questions. An emcee who asks a lot of questions is doing the job properly.
The announcement order
Every wedding is different, but most receptions follow a version of this sequence, adapted from WeddingWire's traditional order of events.
- Guests are invited into the reception room.
- The wedding party is introduced.
- The couple makes a grand entrance.
- The first dance, if it follows the entrance.
- A welcome from the hosts, and a blessing if you are having one.
- Dinner is served.
- Toasts: in WeddingWire's traditional order, the best man, then the maid of honor, then parents.
- The cake cutting.
- Parent dances and other special dances.
- The dance floor opens, with any traditions you have planned.
- The last dance and the send-off.
WeddingWire suggests three to six minutes per speech. The emcee introduces each speaker by name and relationship, hands over the microphone, and brings the room back when the speaker sits down.
Announcements that need extra care
- Introducing parents in a blended family: confirm who walks in with whom, and how each name and title should be said.
- A memorial moment: keep it short and gentle, and approve the wording in advance.
- Surprise performances or speeches by friends: approve them ahead of time, and tell the emcee exactly where they fall.
- Last call and the last dance: give guests a warning so nobody misses the final song.
- The send-off: tell guests where to go, what to hold and when to step outside.
Write these into an announcement sheet: one line per moment, with the key facts, every name spelled the way it sounds, and the music cue that follows. Your emcee works from it, and your planner keeps a copy.
On the day
A good emcee arrives with time to meet the planner and the venue captain, test the microphones and find each speaker before dinner. Ahead of every moment they check with the kitchen and the photographer, give the people involved a quiet two-minute warning, and only then make the call.
They also watch the room. If the dance floor is full, a non-urgent announcement can wait a song. If a speaker has disappeared, the emcee moves the next moment up and nobody at the tables knows anything changed.
When the emcee is also in the band, the announcements and the music come from one plan. The band can hit the entrance song as the couple appears, play softly under a speaker's walk to the microphone, and bring the energy straight back when the toast ends.
What makes a good emcee
- Brevity. Each announcement is short enough that guests barely pause their conversations.
- Names said right, with phonetic spellings practiced before the day.
- Timing, checked with the planner and the kitchen before each cue.
- Warmth that keeps the spotlight on you. The emcee hosts your night; it is never their stand-up set.
- Calm when plans change.
Here Comes The Guide describes a skilled emcee as someone who guides your guests gracefully from one spotlight moment to the next. That is the whole job.
What makes a bad one
- Long jokes, inside jokes, or roasting the couple.
- Mispronounced names, especially for parents and grandparents.
- Surprises the couple never approved, such as games, shout-outs or dedications.
- Stopping a full dance floor for an announcement that could have waited.
- Drinking on the job.
Nearly all of these come from an emcee who never planned with you. The cure is a real planning conversation, well before the day.
Questions to ask any emcee
- Will you be our emcee, or someone else from your team?
- When and how do we plan the announcements together?
- What do you need from us, and by when?
- Will you meet our planner on the day before the reception starts?
- How do you handle a toast that runs long?
- Can we hear you make announcements at a real wedding?
Listen to how they answer as much as to what they say. That is the voice your guests will hear all night.