MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

In this cheat sheet, we will talk you through the following wedding formalities:

• MC Introduction
• Entrances
• Cake Cut
• Speeches
• First Dance
• Bouquet Toss
• Garter Toss
• Farewell Circle

MC Introduction:

Your first job as the MC is to get your hands on a Runsheet. Ideally you get the final Runsheet ahead of the day, and not just a draft copy.

Your next job on the day, is to find out what microphone you’re using. Is it the venue’s mic or is it a microphone from the DJ booth? Once you get the said microphone, spend a minute working out how it works, is there an ‘on’ button? Check you know how to turn it on.

After you’ve got your trusty microphone, the next thing the venue might lump you with is some ‘housekeeping’. A few housekeeping points are not a bad thing, because this will give you something to actually say when you introduce yourself.

Script: “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is <insert name> and I’m going to be your MC this tonight… In a few moments we’re going to welcome our Bridal party into the room, but for now I have a few housekeeping rules to mention from our gracious venue. Firstly, if anyone is wondering, the bathrooms are downstairs and to your left. For any smokers, if you can please keep your smoking confined to the smoking area and ensure all ciggy butts go in the ashtrays provided. Lastly, a little bit later we’re going to be hitting up this dancefloor. Can please remember to NOT bring glasses onto the dancefloor? Just leave them at your table, thanks. I’ll be back shortly to welcome in our Bridal party”.

Pro Tip: Telling guests not to bring glasses onto the dancefloor is a good one because trust us, it is cool to see people get loose on the D-floor. It’s not that cool when they start smashing glass everywhere and slicing their feet up, and then there’s blood everywhere… just saying.

Entrances:

Pro Tip: If you want to be a pro MC go out and check on the Bridal party before they make their entrances into the Reception. Just can just go out and say ‘Hi’ to them. You will have their names written on your trusty Runsheet, so check everyone is there. You can also ask if they’re ready to come into the Reception, or if they need extra time. You can even check they’re standing in the right order, ready to come in the Reception.

If you also have the job of playing music while you announce the Entrances, the best way to do this is:

Script: “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d all like to be upstanding we’re now going to welcome in our Bridal party. First off let’s make Julie & Mark welcome! (Turn music up as the first couple come in).

Next, let’s put our hands together for our Best Man Richard and our lovely Maid of Honour Erica..! (Turn music up for the second couple, let them come in and do a dance or whatever they’re going to do, then turn the music down again). Finally, ladies and gentlemen, the time has arrived to welcome the best looking people involved in this celebration tonight. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Let’s give the biggest welcome to our amazing newlywed couple <insert name> and <insert name>! (Turn the music up for the couple’s entrance).

After this, we like to let the song play to the end just to keep the good vibes rolling. The couple would have chosen this song because like it, so keep that bad boy going for as long as you can.

Cake Cut:

Ahhh.. the humble Cake Cut. For this part of the wedding, one option is for you not to announce anything. But given you’re now a semi pro MC maybe you’d like to get more involved, so here’s how it rolls.

Pro Tip: About 10 minutes before you know the couple are due to ‘cut the cake’ take a casual glance over to where the cake is, and check there is a knife. Trust me, they won’t be cutting anything if there’s no knife. You’ll know when they’re due to do this formality, because it should be written on your trusty Runsheet. If there is a knife resting next to the cake, you’re all good. If there’s no knife, you could ask the venue staff for one, or if you’re really out there, you could casually go to the kitchen and ask for one. Wild, I know. 😉

Pro Tip: Before you call any formality on that Runsheet, make sure the couple is actually in the room. Yes, we’ve had to work this one out the hard way… Just ensure your couple is in the room and that they’re ready to go with cutting the cake. Otherwise, you might start calling things from the Runsheet, and they might not even be there. They could be outside having photos taken or God knows where….

Script: “Ladies and gentlemen if I can have your attention once again. Right now we’re going to have our (Bride & Bride, Bride & Groom, Groom & Groom) cut the cake…. As Barry and Samantha are cutting into this delicious cake, we wish them well for the start of their married life together. We hope their marriage stays as sweet as .. well…this sweet, sweet cake..! Three cheers for the Bride and Goom everybody… Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray!”

Speeches:

Speeches are a good time to flex your pro MC skills. You can hover around and get as involved as you want here. Before you call speeches, you might like to do the traditional ‘ting ting ting’ on a glass with your knife/ fork to get everyone’s attention.

Pro Tip: 5 minutes before speeches are about to start, make a small announcement that they are starting soon. Also let everybody know to fill their glass up, because during speeches people tend to make a lot of toasts. Best practice is that everybody actually has a drink in hand during those toasts.

Pro Tip: Check in with the couple and people due to make a speech, to ensure they’re not right in the middle of dinner, before you call this formality.

Pro Tip: If you want to go over and above, glance around and make sure you see the Photographer and Videographer loitering around before this formality starts. The reason for this is that those people usually get a lot of photos and video during the speeches. It won’t be that great, if old mate Videographer is slurping down his vegan option pea soup in the back room, while the speeches are on..

Pro Tip: If you see any strange names on the Runsheet, it’s a good idea to clarify pronunciation before calling out people’s names. Personally, we’ve never had an issue with this, but we’ve heard lots of urban legends about people getting funny about the pronunciation of their name at a wedding.

Script: “Ladies and gentlemen the time of the night has arrived where we’re going to dive into some speeches. Hopefully by now you’ve all had a couple of beverages. I’d like to firstly make a warm welcome to John, the Bride’s Father. John is going to boldly kick us off with our first speech.”

You can either hand the wireless microphone to John, or the venue might have a lectern setup from which people can give their speeches from. If you’re giving the wireless microphone to John, it’s worth telling him to talk right into the microphone. The reason is that most people will try to hold a microphone 30cms from their mouth and they’ll look around bewildered saying “ITS NOT ON”… It is on Julie, you just have to speak into the mic. 😉

Script: After the first speech, you can say something like “Let’s give John a round of applause everybody… (they all clap). Or you can say something like “Great words John, thank you.. Now our next speech is none other than the Maid of Honour herself <insert name>”.

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

First Dance:

This one is fairly easy for the MC. Just ensure your couple is actually ready to go for their First Dance. Sometimes weird things happen with this formality, like the couple might be too nervous to go through with it. Or they might randomly change the time they’re going to do it on the night. Sometimes the music for this will be played off an iPad, and sometimes a wedding band will play it live. Make sure whoever is playing the music is ready to go. Eg: if there’s 5 band members, all of them should be there. Also, if the couple has dry ice (fog/ smoke machine) best practice would be to ensure that that person is also ready to get start the dry ice. As the MC, it’s not really your job to ensure all the vendors are ready, because they’re all being paid to be there, and they all know their jobs. But a Pro MC will check everyone is good to go before calling the formality. Also, the First Dance is a core aspect of the wedding that the couple will want video recorded and photographed, so ideally you want to make sure you see the Photographer/ Videographer standing around ready to go.

Script: “Ladies and gentlemen we’re now going to witness <insert name> and <insert name> do their First Dance as a married couple. Let’s all put our hands together for the Bride & Groom!”

Pro Tip: Most couples want their Bridal party/ all the wedding guests to come and join them on the dancefloor either halfway through the song, or at the end of the song. It will be helpful if you know when to tell everyone to join the couple on the dancefloor. It might also be the Band that has the job of getting everyone on the dancefloor, so if the band is doing it, you can chill out.

Bouquet Toss:

MCing a bouquet toss is easy-peasy. 5 minutes before the Bouquet toss is due to take place on the Runsheet, go up to your Bride and ask if she’s ready to toss the bouquet. If she is, great, she’ll go get the bouquet and you’ll stand around waiting for the right moment to call this formality.

Script: “Alrighty my party people, it is now time for us to do our Bouquet Toss (the DJ or Band starts playing ‘Single Ladies’ or another appropriate song). Can I please get all the single ladies to the dancefloor. In fact, let’s get all the unmarried ladies up here too. Actually, forget about that… Let’s just get ALL the ladies up here on this dancefloor.”

Pro Tip: Once you’ve gotten some ladies up on the dancefloor, you get your Bride who will have the bouquet in hand to turn around. She should have her back to the group of ladies, who are then going to‘catch’ the bouquet. You tell the Bride you’re going to count to three, and then she throws it. Also, its better if the Bride throws the bouquet low rather than high, lots of bouquets get stuck in chandeliers, so a well thought out bouquet toss is always a good idea.

Script: “Alright, are you ready!!??? (guests will say ‘yes!’). OKAY, on the count of 3 you are going to throw this thing, okay <insert Bride’s name>!?… Let’s go… In THREE… TWO… ONE….! (She throws it and someone catches it) Wooooohhhh!!!

Garter Toss:

The Garter toss is a similar vibe to the bouquet toss, but this formality is for the unmarried men. It’s meant to symbolize good luck to all the eligible bachelors in the room. Before you’re due to announce the Garter toss on the Runsheet, go up to your Groom (and Bride) and make sure that their ready for this formality.

Pro Tip: You’ll need one chair planted on the dancefloor for the Bride to sit on. The Bride will also need to be wearing a garter under her dress. So just make sure both of those things have happened, before you kick it off.

Script: “Alright ladies and gents, we’re going to interrupt this cranking dancefloor to have ourselves a little Garter Toss. Firstly, can I get my Bride to come over and get seated in this chair. Can I get my Groom to get down on the floor in front of her please. COME ON LADIES AND GENTLEMENT ITS NOT AS DIRTY AS YOU THINK!… Next can we please get all the single men, all the unmarried men up over here ready to catch thing thing!?”

The DJ or band will play a Garter toss song, usually this is a song with a sexual vibe. Hit up Ms Lexi & Celestial Band for song recommendations, but good songs to use in 2022 are:

‘Drop it Like its Hot’ Snoop Dogg and Pharrell

‘Pony’ Ginuwine

‘Rack City’ Tyga

‘Teach Me How To Dougie’ Cali Swag District

‘The Look’ Roxette

‘WAP’ Cardi B

Basically, the song will start playing and the Groom gets the garter off the Bride’s leg using his teeth. Once he’s got the garter, you as the MC can yell out “Okay (insert Groom’s name> get ready to throw that bad boy… Let’s do a 3,2, 1… Okay, 3…. 2… 1…. (He will have thrown it, and one of the single men catches it.) Woooooooh!”

Farewell Circle:

The farewell circle is your last official duty as MC. Bear in mind, these days weddings can finish in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s a ‘Sparkler send-off’, sometimes it’s a tunnel of guests and arms that the couple runs through. Us at Ms Lexi & Celestial Band, we’re simple people, we just do a customary Farewell circle usually playing ‘Horses’ by Daryl Braithwaite. It’s a tradition right!? If it aint broke, don’t fix it…Make sure the couple are in the room, then you’re good to call the Farewell circle.

Script: “Ladies and Gents, wow what a night it has been… Has everyone had a good time!? I certainly have.. Okay, its nearly the end of this fabulous night everybody. So what we’re going to do now is a farewell circle for our epic couple. Can I please get everyone to the dancefloor and make a big circle.”

(If guests are sitting down and not coming up, just repeat it.. CAN I PLEASE GET EVERYONE DOWN TO THIS DANCEFLOOR FOR OUR FAREWELL CIRCLE!!??)

“Next let’s get our couple in the middle of the circle. Let’s get our Bride to go around the circle in a clockwise direction and say goodbye to everyone. Then we’ll get our Groom to go around in an anticlockwise direction and say bye to everyone.”

Pro Tip: If they’re too drunk to understand clockwise and anticlockwise just let them go. As long as there is some form of a circle happening, and some form of ‘Goodbyes’ taking place you’re good.

Script: “Thanks so much for having me as your MC this evening folks, let’s give it up for our Bride and Groom hey!” (Everyone cheers and claps).”

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

MC Cheat Sheet Australian Wedding

FREE MC Cheat Sheet

That’s all folks, that’s your whole Reception MC job done. For more clarification, or if this just seems too hard, hit us up at Ms Lexi & Celestial Band in Victoria. As well as being a DJ and band service, we can MC your wedding as well!

Hope you enjoyed reading our UFREE MC Cheat Sheet! Thats all for now folks. If you have any questions, feel free to email me Lexi at lexi@celestialband.net. We have a range of super cool packages that will be just perfect for the most important day of your life. Keep up to date with our live band and DJ service on socials. Head to our Instagram or Facebook page today and stay in touch! We are solidly booked out across 2022, but still have limited availability left. Check if we’re available on the date of you event by dropping us an enquiry today!

Written on May 15th 2022.

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