A wedding MC is the person on the microphone who runs your reception: grand entrances, toast order, first dance, cake, send-off and every announcement in between. I’m a wedding MC for hire in Southern California, and I work alongside your DJ. Your DJ runs the music. I run the microphone and the room. If you’re still deciding whether you need one, start with what an MC does at a wedding.
What you get
You get one person who owns every moment the microphone is on.
- A mic run sheet built with you and shared with your DJ
- Name checks for everyone being introduced, so nobody’s grandmother gets mispronounced
- Grand entrances and wedding party introductions
- Toast order, speaker cues and a polite exit ramp for the toast that won’t end
- Cues for the first dance, parent dances, cake cutting and send-off
- Dance-floor hype: I get the first people up so everyone else follows
- Optional rehearsal dinner and after-party hosting
An MC who works with your DJ
A separate MC splits the reception into two jobs so each one gets full attention. Your DJ watches the dance floor and the next track. I watch the room, the photographer and the people waiting to give toasts.
The music comes down before I speak, every time, because older guests lose words fast in a noisy room. In a 2022 University of Illinois lab study of 31 adults over 60, none wearing hearing aids and none able to see the speaker’s face, listeners with normal hearing understood only half the words spoken at a normal voice level once restaurant-style background noise reached about 60 decibels. Listeners with mild hearing loss hit that point at about 55. By about 70 decibels, every group understood little or nothing.
I also leave room for applause. In filmed experiments at the University of Leeds, students who had been told to applaud each presenter clapped for 6.1 seconds on average, and the first clap came 2.1 seconds after the talk ended. That study used a small seminar room, so I treat six seconds as a floor, not a target.
How it works
Hiring me as your MC runs from a free call, through building the mic run sheet with you and your DJ, to running the reception on the day.
The consultation
The consultation is a free call about your reception: the order of events, your DJ, who’s giving toasts and how much hype you actually want.
The prep
Prep is where the mic run sheet gets written and checked. I build it from your order of events using the same structure as this wedding MC script, confirm every name and pronunciation, and talk to your DJ before the day so we’re cueing off the same sheet.
The day
On the wedding day, I arrive before guests, sound check with the DJ and run the reception from the first entrance to the last song.
Who it’s for
A hired MC fits couples who would rather not hand the microphone to a friend who’s been at the bar since cocktail hour.
- Couples whose DJ prefers to stay behind the booth
- Big families with lots of introductions and names to get right
- Couples who want the rehearsal dinner, reception and after-party run by the same person
- Anyone who has watched a toast go twelve minutes and swore it wouldn’t happen at their wedding
For the full picture of what a good host handles, read the wedding emcee guide.
Why me
I’ve held fifteen roles at other people’s weddings, so I’ve watched receptions from the spot where you see what’s about to go wrong. My background is in event management, which is most of the MC job: timing and reading a crowd. I also officiate ceremonies (four so far), so one person can take you from the ceremony to the last song.
Frequently asked questions
Will you work with the DJ we already booked?
Yes, I’ll work with the DJ you already booked. I talk to them before the wedding, we agree on the mic run sheet, and on the day they run the music while I run the microphone.
Can you MC if you’re also officiating?
Yes, I can MC your reception if I’m also officiating your ceremony. You get one person on the microphone from the processional to the last song.
Can you keep the toasts on schedule?
Yes, I keep the toasts on schedule. I set the order with you, tell each speaker when they’re up, and step in politely if a toast runs long.
Can you host our rehearsal dinner and after-party too?
Yes, I can host your rehearsal dinner and your after-party as well as the reception. Same person, same voice, and the names are already learned.
Where do you work as a wedding MC?
I work as a wedding MC across Southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, including Los Angeles and Orange County.
Book a free consultation
Send me your reception schedule and your DJ’s name. I’ll show you where the night usually stalls and how we keep it moving.