A wedding mc (emcee) is the Master of Ceremonies for the reception and as such his or her role is to ensure all the events at the reception flow smoothly. Here are a few tips to help you become a great wedding MC.

1. Have all important information written down in front of you.

Being a master of ceremonies requires you to remember a lot of information. Do not risk getting the information wrong, or going blank. Have a safety net so that if you are nervous and forget, you can glance down and find the information easily. You need to have this information available in the way that best suits you. Cue cards are quite common: this is where key points of information are written on a set of cards. However, just make sure all the cards are joined together in some way, so that if you drop them they can't get out of order. Alternatively, you may find it easier to use A4 sheets of paper with key words and phrases written on them in large print.

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 DJ that the bride and groom will start dancing at 8pm, you remind the DJ. 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. Do your background research early.

Part of your role as wedding emcee is getting to know the bride and groom. You’ll need information about them so you can prepare your speech and include anecdotes.

4. Proper Pronunciation

Know the names of all the people you will be introducing, including how to correctly pronounce their first and last names.

5. Practice, practice, practice

Practice your speech several times before the wedding day. Memorize your opening and closing lines, including the toast.

6. Say Hello

Introduce yourself to the wedding guests so they know who you are and why you’re speaking.

7. It's all about them

Focus the wedding guest’s attention on the bride and groom. After all, it’s their special day and they should be the center of attention

8. Assemble A Running Sheet

Planning is vital if you are to make a success of your role. The only way you can keep the nerves under control is to know exactly what happens when and where and who’s involved. You need to prepare a running sheet that shows, minute by minute, what is to happen when, where and with whom and you have to liase with all the leading participants to ensure they know what they have to do and when. For example, do all those making a speech or toast know how long they have to speak for?

9. Remember

Do not make long rambling monologues. You are there to simply guide the course of events. The actual events have their own energy.

10. Be firm but respectful:

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of being a wedding master of ceremonies is having to manage intoxicated/inappropriate wedding speech givers. You may be called upon to cut short a speech which is causing offence (or boredom) to the audience, so be tuned to the audience and speakers at all times. This is yet another great reason to have the speeches early on.