To MC or not to MC

The issue of whether or not to have an MC as part of your formal is a question seldom even considered by most committees. Just like the cam-shaft is a seldom mentioned part of your car, and one many people never even think about, yet without it, your car just won’t run properly (or at all).

What does an MC really do anyway? “MC” is “Master of Ceremony”. Unlike what the music industry tried to make us believe a few years ago, an MC is not a rapper but a “Captain”. An MC is someone who greets the guests and keeps them informed about various aspects of the Formal, like the coordination of speeches & formalities, the features of the venue, the schedule of events and so on. The MC is the one you’d hear announcing things on the microphone, which is the thing they’re seen doing most obviously. This represents only about 10% of an MC’s job.

What you don’t see an MC doing is the other 90%, which involves coordinating the team running your Formal behind the scenes. The MC will be the director of the security team, DJ, Photographer, banquet staff and any other contractors running other features. The MC will liaise with the chefs in the kitchen, the venue management and various other people all throughout your Formal. This is because every team needs a coordinator. Not only to make sure everyone is doing their job properly, but that they’re all doing their jobs in synch with each other, and according to the right time schedule.

An MC is a very busy and responsible person who needs to be at the venue well before anyone else, and must be the last one to leave. The MC is the problem solver and the one you go to if you have any kind of issue that requires help. A good MC will know everything about the Formal, and everything about each member of the team they’re in charge of. An MC is someone well trained in banquet operations, first aid, security, public speaking and technical issues relating to the Formal.

In very simple terms, an MC is the very glue that holds your Formal together.

A very basic MC, who just makes announcements, will generally cost around $300-$400 per night while a top-notch MC who runs the whole show can cost anything up to $1500 per night. (Of course an expert MC is already included with every one of our Formal packages).

As for the question of whether or not you’d need an MC, well, the best way to help you decide that is this. We’ve been running successful Formals for 16 years. We’ve done literally hundreds and hundreds of them and have a 100% success rate. We’ve never conducted a Formal without a good MC. We’ve also met thousands of people who have attended other Formals that did not go well, and not surprisingly, none of them had a professional MC in charge.

An MC is not just important, I would argue that it’s essential.