Mr Entertainment is Master of Ceremonies

Should you use a friend or a professional for your MC, how to build a run sheet! Matty Ross from Mr Entertainment is back to help us answer your questions!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the bridal brief. My name is Stephanie Fitzpatrick
from Beautiful Illusions Event Styling.
And Ruth Ryan from Ruth Ryan Photography.
The purpose of the Bridal Brief is to help you before, on and
after your wedding day with our advice plus.
Bringing on a few friends along the way.
We're back again today. Hi, Steph.
Hi. How are you?
I'm. Great.

(00:20):
And we are going to talk about some stuff again Ruth, what are
we talking about? We are going to look at MC's
professional or personal and runsheet building, yes.
Which is important for the reception to have a run sheet.
It is, yeah. And so if you heard our last
episode, we were so lucky to have Maddie from Mr
Entertainment. So we have him here again.

(00:42):
Woo. Yes.
Because we ran out of time last time to talk about this, but we
really wanted his insight. Yeah.
So. Well, he knows all about it.
I'm I'm ready. Thanks for having me again guys.
This is this is a a pleasure being here, yes.
Again, thank you for coming. Again, no worries.
Yes. So let's look at what did you
have, Steph for your MCI. Went to your personal aspect.

(01:03):
I had a friend who had been my friend since I was 9.
Yep. Yeah, I think 11 or Shelley and
I believe she was on as she was ultimate bridesmaid.
Shelley was my like episode 2 orsomething.
I think she. Was that good?
Yeah. And so she's known me for a long
time, had lots of stories about me, did public speaking with me
when I was when we were at school.

(01:23):
So I knew she'd be great. Yeah, she's so amazing.
She's awesome. Yeah, what about you, Ruth?
We used our DJ. Yes.
So you did the professional. So we went the professional
route, which I really, really loved.
Yes, Yeah. Did you do that for any reason
or you just at that stage, like because you were quite young
when you got very young and I probably wouldn't have trusted?
Any of my friends to ever see itthe story.

(01:44):
I feel like the stories at that age, there's going to be nothing
good. There would have been no one
approach that would have been appropriate when we're underage.
Yeah. And then I also just didn't want
to put that burden onto somebody.
I just. Yeah.
Yeah, just wanted it to be nice and simple.
Yeah. DJ, it was.
Yes, but what did you do, Maddie?
Well, my wedding curious. Yeah, No.

(02:05):
So that's a funny story IMC my own wedding.
It was only a very like it was like I said in my family.
It was it was like my brother's my family.
So there was no real formalities.
It was a nice dinner. Like I said, a friend of our a
friend of mine played the music.He was alive did some live
performance for us, but there was none of that.
I mean, I got up and I said a speech by that stage of the

(02:27):
night. I just.
Had a couple of whistle everybody.
Yeah, everyone sure. So it wasn't that vibe.
It wasn't. Formal.
I guess if you've got a an, an intimate wedding and MC is not a
huge thing if you're not runningthrough a whole tonne of
formalities, right? Yep.
So it. Comes the toilet.
Yeah, it's around the corner. Yeah.
People who left. Yeah, 20 people, they already
know where that is. Yeah, absolutely.

(02:48):
Yeah, that's fair. And you actually, you're gonna
do our little celebrity segment for this one, Yes.
Because this was a tough one to find.
Yeah, some celebrity MCS it. Was it was?
So who? Who did you save?
So I did a wedding quite a few years ago and they're like, oh,
Maddie, we've got the Drew. Really cool MC Everyone's gonna
be amazing. This is Big Brother.

(03:11):
It was big, it was Big Brother. So the the voice, I think
they've got a few voices of the Big Brother because they film
it. And if anyone doesn't know what
Big Brother is, it's TV show, really.
Widely around the world, so I think.
There's Big Brother, there's an Australian one, but there's
obviously, yeah, Big Brother. I'm not sure as.
Well, yeah, I think so. Yeah.
I mean, I first watched it when I lived in London.

(03:33):
Yeah. So like they but for those that
don't know, it's sort of a reality TV show.
They throw a bunch of people into a house together and then
to live. To live.
And their brother is the voice over that is in charge of them.
This is his brother. Yeah, evicted.
Yeah. So it was pretty cool.
And and the the concept of it, Ithought, ah, that's awesome.
I get to meet Big Brother. He's a celebrity.

(03:54):
And the guy was pretty cool. He was not what I pictured him
to be as. This is know him.
They didn't know him, they just contacted right Big Brother and
all contacted the voice and said, hey, can you come to our
wedding? Paid him his money, like the,
the concept of it was great, butI don't, I like for me as a
professional MC, I, I wasn't sure whether it was a whole full

(04:15):
delivery of, of what an MC woulddo.
I think it was more the aspect of it was a cool thing.
Yeah. And when he actually spoke in
his Big Brother voice, everyone was like, oh, this is cool.
So that's the only real celebrity MC that I've worked
with. All kind of, yeah.
Been in In, Yeah. But could you imagine though?
I mean, if I had a choice of anybody to have as my celebrity,

(04:37):
MCI would have Morgan Freeman. Morgan.
Freeman, 'cause I mean, he couldsell me.
Anything I mean. He should.
He should be. President, I, I would possibly
fall asleep. Would you always erase those
space documentaries? And Steve watches those, and I'm
asleep on the game. Oh, really?
I think. He's got the most beautiful
sassy. Voice.
Yes, that's why. And he is a lovely man, I think.

(04:57):
Yeah, I reckon he would do. Ire gonna do a great job.
I reckon he would. Yeah, you were.
But earlier, before we went on, like, recording here, someone
mentioned Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks.
I feel like he's got such a distinct, like, like
distinctive. Voice.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The voice of Woody?
Yeah, from Toy Story. True, That'd be fun.
Yeah, and he's my all time favourite actor, so yeah.

(05:18):
So, Tom, if you're listening to this, just call me.
I'll get re buried, I'll get divorced.
You can even see that. And then we'll get married
again. I don't see that.
Let's go he. Can just narrate your entire
life. Who?
Would you choose Steph? Sorry, who would you choose?
A celebrity. I think I would choose Tom
Hanks. Tom Hanks because I just.
His voice is so fun. Yeah, it is.
Fun Steve Martin too, I think we'll do.

(05:38):
Steve Martin will do a great job.
Yeah. Feel like any of those guys that
have that really, like you couldtell, you can tell who they are
without even seeing them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And like they 'cause they have those, you know?
Yeah, yeah. And I think they would actually
do a good job. I'm sure Big Brother didn't OK
job. It was more of a novelty it.
Was a novelty thing, I think. Yeah, who would you have, man?
Ohh, look, it's an Australian guy.

(05:59):
It's a, it's an Australian comedian.
It's Carl Barron. Ohh, could you imagine having
Carl Barron as an MC? Highly inappropriate, but I
think you'll. Do a great job, be highly
inappropriate. I was just thinking of the same
wheelhouse you've got like Hughesy debuts and his voice is
so just. For anyone overseas that doesn't
know Carl, look him up on YouTube.

(06:19):
He's got Carl Barron. We.
Can't play any of it on this because we don't do expose.
But that's mine. You did ask me today, Yeah.
That's great. That's awesome.
That's wonderful. Yeah.
And then what to look for in an MC?
Let's go into it. Yeah, yeah, OK, OK.
So if you're going to have an MCand you're going to pick someone

(06:40):
person or you want them to be confident and this I guess is
going to be where a DJ or something or someone like that
is going to be his qualities, right?
Yeah. So confident, engaging, good at
public speaking because that, that can frighten people.
Organised, well prepared and understanding of the timeline
for the wedding. That's right.

(07:01):
We'll go over that timeline a bit after.
Yeah. And able to handle difficult
situations. If you've got like that person
who's had a few too many drinks and they're constantly coming up
and hassling, yeah. Or like something happens and
they really need you need someone who's going to control
that situation. Dinner's running late, you know,
you can add things in or something's, something's
happened. In the event, they have to be

(07:22):
able to adapt to that. Absolutely.
Yeah. I yeah, they're, they're key.
They're absolute key, that's forsure.
Has anyone got anything else they think they can add there?
Yeah, I did, and I forgot. Yeah, we got too excited to
readies. Yeah, okay, let's look at the.
Responsibilities of an MC? Obviously they need to introduce

(07:42):
any speakers, anybody who's doing any toasts and things like
that, transitioning between segments.
So obviously going from dinner into cutting the cake and and
whatnot, absolutely keeping the energy going.
And I think this is so important.
So this is the, this is make or break sometimes for, yeah, a
good wedding reception. Yes.
And managing time, like you saidabove.

(08:04):
I mean, you want to make sure that somebody's got that eye on
the clock because you don't, youknow, the bride's not wearing a
watch. Yeah, and a big.
Watch liaising with the other vendors and the venue.
Yeah, thing like. Get there early, yeah, like and
does. You might need to do the
housekeeping as well. You might.
Understood the housekeeping, butalso make sure that they're
going to be communicating with you.

(08:25):
You don't want to say our dinner's going to be served in 5
minutes and then find out that the venue is running 20 minutes
behind. Yeah.
So it's, it's liaising is a big one for me, I think.
Yeah. Yeah, no, definitely.
I think like it is such an important job and and I don't
think sometimes if you have someone who's very laid back,
you really want your MC to show up with a sheet of paper.

(08:47):
Yeah, absolutely. You do not want them coming and
going. I'm gonna wing it.
Well, I, I'm gonna slightly disagree with that because for
me, right, right. When, when I started becoming an
MC, I'm like, oh, I'm not very good at reading in front of
people off a piece of paper. So I developed this off the cuff
method that I use and I have a lot of MCS that will see my

(09:10):
performer or see me MC at a wedding.
They go you didn't have like youdidn't do like reading PayPal.
You just everything was just flowing really lovely.
So for me to get out of that scaredness of reading in front
of people, I I'll have a run sheet, I'll have the key
people's names. So, yeah, so I mean, still
you've got that she. I've got that, yeah, but.

(09:31):
You know what I'm saying? Nothing though.
Oh. Absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know.
But I, I kind of, I don't, I'm not one of those guys.
It's kind of, and there are a few others that do the same
thing that because I want to be connecting with the crowd and I
know a lot of MCS. That is a big thing.
You want to be, you want to be watching out through the days
that you can bounce off something that happens that that
love story is is evolving on that day, right?

(09:52):
So you want as an MC to be able to bounce off the live things
that are happening. You know someone does something
a little bit silly or funny you can bounce off.
That live commentary. Really.
And bring that into the into thewedding, because that's part of
their story, right? Yeah.
Something happened to. Ceremony, definitely think I can
see. I can definitely see that yeah
as well. And I mean, you do do it all the
time. So you do, you can.

(10:12):
Comes with experience. It is, yes, but if you've got
your friend doing it. Oh yeah, they want them.
You. Want There's no winging yeah,
let's not try not to have it on an iPhone yeah Yep sure because
like they get they get lost and they scroll Yeah at the wrong.
Point. Well, the screen goes dead.
Yeah, hang on, just give. Us a SEC hang on a second.
Or they accidentally press on that and it takes it to the top

(10:34):
and they can't find where they're up too quickly.
Absolutely. It just looks.
Bad. So as a fan, as a, as a friend
or family, it's really good to educate them and make sure that
they are you've spoken with them, you've sat down with them,
you've can, you've made sure that they are very confident of
what they're about to do. Yeah.
Can I ask you a question than onon that iPhone thing, because
you've seen a lot of speeches. Yeah, right.

(10:54):
On the iPhone, yeah, probably. Would you recommend people print
their speeches as a big? Issue in a wedding venue right I
see that's a massive thing the amount of times I've had to go
over top of the father of the bride with my with my phone
torched just so he can see yes so I mean so.
Either have a well lit. Have a well lit I mean I, I
would generally if as an I mean an MC doing it, you would think

(11:20):
that they would put it on, you know, don't time out mode on
your phone. You know, all our iPhones have
got that. So you would think that they
would do that for speech wise, Ialways would go to the each
person say, hey, have you got a piece of paper?
You need lighting, Are you usingyour phone?
Just make sure your phone's on, you know, so it doesn't blank
out halfway through. Speak to speak into the
microphone. Don't put in your mouth

(11:41):
whatever, you know. So I give them a bit of like
ammo before they walk up there so that as a professional MC
does that. You wouldn't find that from
someone. I guess it's a family friend or
member that's coming in to do itbecause it's just not in the
world that they know. Yeah, I mean, some, some are.
I've. I've seen so many good family

(12:01):
and friend MCS like. Yeah, that's right.
I mean, like, some people definitely have that.
Yeah, I've got a lot of content from those amazing ones, you
know, and I can. You can, kind of.
Use that, use some of that material to to customise mine.
So yeah. And then, yeah, you've got your
ones that are just like, wow, yeah, I've got, I've got, I've
got to take over. As far as a photographer goes,

(12:23):
there's nothing worse than getting a photo of the MC just
standing there behind his phone.Absolutely.
So I would prefer a piece of paper.
It looks a little bit more, you know, like I've actually
handwritten that kind of thing. Or I've seen some people at some
more elaborate weddings that will actually have an iPad or a
book, sort of a folder book. Yeah.
And some of them will even have a little, you know, there's

(12:44):
little lights that you. Can get yes.
Yep. And that's great, too.
Or standing behind a lectern. A lectern is great because it
kind of hides everything. Yeah, so, so whether it's a
phone. Take a piece of paper or
whatever, and there's usually some kind of light on the
lectern. And the problem with just a
piece of paper is if that personis nervous, and I've learned
this over my years of probably speaking, yeah, like, yeah, it's

(13:05):
shaking. So you should have a solid
backing on that piece of paper if you are gonna use a piece of
paper. But if you're not, absolutely.
I mean, for me, I, I use an iPadbecause I can, like on your
iPad, it's, it's big. You can split the screen into
two. So I have my music on one side
that I, because obviously I roamaround and I, I press play and
someone's walking up to do a, todo a speech.

(13:27):
But then on the other half of that, I've got the run sheet and
I've got, or I've got my notes that I've got who's coming up
and do the speeches. So you can kind of divide, you
can use technology and it's lit up.
It doesn't matter what the venuelighting is.
An iPad at the minimum. A phone just looks for me like
you're saying it does look like.It just.
And I guess that's the difference between a

(13:48):
professional and Uncle Bob. Yeah, yes.
I mean, people walking up to do speeches have the phone all the
time because that's in their back pocket.
They've lost a piece of paper. So yeah.
I think I am really bad at losing the speech or not
bringing. Can I print that?
Yeah. Yeah, that's why I guess if.
You had some kind of folder you could ask everybody to send
through their speeches beforehand.

(14:08):
Well, when I was, so when I was the MC for our friend, I, I said
I wanted a copy of everyone's speech prior in case they forgot
it because I know what I'm like,you know what I mean?
So I said, can I please have a copy of everyone's speech so
that I can have it up there for you.
When you go up there and it's already there, you don't need to
bring it up. You're not going to be

(14:29):
unwrapping some sort of folder piece of paper.
It's going to be in a folder. Yeah, it comes back to a well
organised person that someone has chosen yourself, right?
Yeah, that's right. That's just helps pull on that
note, I guess. What are the main advantages to
a professional? DJ or a celebrant?
Really. Yes.
So because obviously deejays do it and so do celebrants, a lot

(14:49):
of them, they both of those offer it as an extra to their
package. Absolutely.
Right. So obviously you guys like they
know they do it all the time. They know how to hype people up.
Particularly a DJ knows how to hype people up.
Yeah, right. They know how to deal with
difficult situations because they have seen them.
Yeah, yes, they know what could happen.

(15:10):
Yeah, they see, they see, you know, the the cousin up the back
who's been having shots all all evening and they know that's
coming for them soon. They're.
The sober eye. Someone's coming for the
microphone and. They also like they will also
one thing that I see that's a non professional is they will

(15:30):
walk up, they'll grab the mic, they'll walk up, say hey guys,
we're about to do speeches now. So can I introduce the father,
the bride, the DJs over having ahaving dinner, the
photographer's changing batteries, the bride and groom
at the back of the room. So it's really that's where it
comes back to liaising with the professionals that are there.
So whether you're a professionalMC or you're not, you've got to
make sure they're liaising. With everyone's ready for.

(15:52):
It everyone's ready? Yep.
Yes, agreed. Yep.
Yes, they also won't be influenced by drinking.
Yeah. Because you're not gonna be
drinking on the job. Yes.
So preferably choose somebody that you know, isn't somebody
who's gonna say, yeah, I'm not gonna drink.
And then and then they go. They can't help but what a
social pressure. Comes on just.
Have one or two. Yeah, I'll have four or five and

(16:14):
then before you know it, yeah. Yes, and I mean, so be it if
they do choose for me, you know,if the if the couple decide
budget wise or whatever that they want to go with someone or
family friend, I always tell them just remember, you've got
me there as a backup auto micromanage.
I'll let them do their job. But if I feel like it's going
out of whack. So sometimes, you know, you
might have that little bit of a sneaky DJ that will help out for

(16:36):
me as as long as the night runs smoothly.
It's a big thing if they're if the MCS, I've had MCS go, I
can't do this anymore. Can you just I've heard you're
an MC, can you take over? And I'm like, yeah, Chuck's run
sheet bomb. Jump in SO.
It's good to have a backup plan.Yeah, yeah.
I guess it's a personal touch though, I guess, to have a
family friend, yeah. 'Cause they, they might have

(16:58):
stories about you guys as a couple because they've spent
time with you as a couple, yeah.And, and, and sometimes they're
really, really comfortable in that environment with those
people. They can, they can tell those
jokes. They can.
They can, they know. They know they don't have.
They don't like. Yeah, they know what they can.
They know. Yeah, don't pick someone who's
gonna be super inappropriate. Yeah, you don't want someone who

(17:18):
has all those stories, but they're only the bad ones.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, all the dirt.
You know what? And as they have a few drinks,
they go, you know what? Would be a really funny.
Story that time we went out. Yeah, remember.
When you spewed on that Mercedesand you ended.
Up passing out in the shower, yeah.
All those funny. So it does come down to

(17:39):
appropriate person as well. Yeah, yeah.
They they, yeah. But personal touch is always
good. Like, I mean, for me, I don't go
as an MC, I don't go too personal with the couple purely
because that's the part, that's the ceremony and that's also the
speeches. So people get.
I don't want to be that MC that gets up there and tells this
little story that I found out about the couple, that the

(18:00):
father, the bride, gets angry atme because that was his.
Yeah, I think that's important that people don't mistake the
difference between an MC and thespeeches.
Yeah, an MC is there to coordinate, keep the hype, keep
the flow and you know, like, I don't even it's you see those
ones tell those cliche jokes, but it's that's not me.
I don't want to be that guy. Yeah, Yeah, it's not my role.
Fair. Enough.

(18:20):
Totally. Fair enough.
I guess some cons of having a professional would be that it's
gonna cost you extra. Yeah, you will.
Yeah. Because you're paying for the
expertise. Yeah, that's right.
You're paying. That's right.
And particularly so because, like, yeah, a celebrant, they're
gonna then have to stay for the wedding.
Yeah. I mean, ADJ, they're gonna be
there. So they might add it just as an
added bonus, but they still haveto put work into.

(18:42):
It I mean, I do add it as a discounted rate for and if
someone just says, Hey, can you,can you come and just MC my
wedding? I'll say, look, this I normally
do full day weddings live DJ MC.So this is my minimum spend.
If you would like to spend that on just your MC, I'm happy to
come and do it. Or would you like to add DJ with
it? And then I try to sort of, I

(19:03):
guess I'll sell, but then try and create.
It's it's fair too though, because I mean, if you're
usually there. Yeah, I'm Price.
For the whole day you miss out on that day especially if it's
you know and if they put my. List for example.
Then you have to bring equipment.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
So like you have to be ready forit because you're the one that
provides the equipment a lot of the time.

(19:24):
Absolutely. And that's a big, that's a big
thing too, you know, like makingsure that the MCS got equipment.
I think we can get into that bitlater, but yeah.
And I think it's also important for people to know that if
you're hiring somebody for a full day, yeah, to add a meal
for that person, a lot of peoplewill have that in their
contract. But you know, even if they
don't, I think it's always just the polite thing to do as a

(19:46):
bride and. Groom and we did talk about that
in our finding space episode. We talked a lot of venues will
offer vendor meals at a reduced price.
Yeah, if that's what you're. It's a reduced price because
often they won't get say an entree or or the dessert.
They'll just get the main meal. But that's.
But I am guessing, too, that if you've got, say, a celebrant
doing it, they're gonna have to sit at a table.

(20:07):
The DJ won't because they'll be doing their thing.
But a celebrant's gonna have to sit at a table.
And so you're not going to want them just getting the main meal.
So you may be prepared. You may have to pay for a full
package for that person. Yeah, because you're not going
to. I want them sitting on a chair
that's not covered and doesn't look nice, you know, like you
know, so you have to pay for that full package for that
person. Yeah, and not every entertainer,

(20:27):
live or DJMCS like I've got quite a few mates like I have,
you know, someone contacts me, says hey Maddie, I want you live
DJMC package. Sorry I'm not available.
Do you know anyone that can do that?
I know guys that'll do the live and the DJ, but they're not MCS.
Is that a big aspect for you? Is that something you really
want? Yeah, that's something we really
want. I mean some when I, when I talk

(20:47):
to couples about NMC, like do you want to rock up on your day
and not have to think about anything, all the all the works
being done prior, you rock up and you enjoy your wedding.
And one of the, I guess cons of having a non professional is
that they once they, once they're there, they're not

(21:11):
really enjoying themselves for the night, right.
So there, I, I and I feel so sorry for them because in the
heat of the moment they feel honoured that this couple has
chosen them to be their MC. Yeah, I'll do it.
Push comes to shove, they do allthis work.
But then, then. They're busy the whole time.
It's the brother of the bride and he's sitting in the corner
and he's going through his notes.

(21:31):
He's got people coming over there with a have with a drink.
Here. You have a drink, mate.
You have a drink for me. Oh, what's wrong with you?
Oh, I've just got to make sure Iget all the and and I feel so
sorry for those ones that, you know, it's they really want to
enjoy themselves, but they can't.
And it's a big and they don't know that until the day.
Whereas me, I rock up. I hardly ask the bride and groom
any questions. Or should we do this?
Should we? This is so my friend who did it,

(21:55):
Shelly Ultimate Prides made Shelly.
Would you agree with me? She's quite an organised.
She is very, yes. So for her it was like the
perfect job. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because let
her be involved in the wedding yeah and she was amazing yeah
and but like yeah she but she very much she likes to organise
things like you know she was notone of my bras mates organised

(22:16):
my whole hands pretty much yeah they.
Felt got someone like that, thatis, that's a key.
That's you've saved. Money and they're awesome and,
you know. She would have been probably
just as happy to give a speech for yes yes, but yeah she
probably would have been emceeing the MC.
Anyway, so keeping it on track. We love you, Shelley.
Yes, we do. Yes.

(22:38):
People choose someone from the bridal party and it's like,
who's going to introduce your bridal party in and introduce
that person to? So I do see that occasionally.
I'm like, oh, that's hard. Yeah.
I would like to touch on something that we something
extra yeah, we didn't talk aboutin the last one, but we should
probably talk about it to do with music.
And them saying is that if you when you get these people and

(23:03):
they're not professionals particularly the music probably
too, you might see someone that you go, oh, I really like their
singing and do it and stuff. The insurance is involved in the
business because if you get someone that doesn't have the
correct insurances, that may be a problem with the venue.
A professional will have all their correct public liability,

(23:24):
all these things. I mean, you can get people off
marketplace for all sorts of things these days.
But for example, a dance floor. Right now, the public liability
on a dance floor is huge. Absolutely.
And like I can speak from personal experience that if my
company as a furniture hire company, we couldn't get public
liability insurance if we offered dance floors.

(23:46):
Wow, that was one of the stipulations when we tried.
So if you find someone on marketplace that's hiring out a
dance floor, they might not havethe insurances necessary to have
that. And it is important that you
that you definitely looking at these things and getting those
certificates of currency if you if you need them from the venue.

(24:07):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Before you pay these people any
money. Yeah, big.
Yeah. That's a good one.
A lot of that. Yes.
Sorry, I just we didn't touch onthat, no.
It's important. It's important.
Let's look at run sheets. So a lot of MCS will come up
with their own run sheet. And this is probably also
another benefit of having a professional.

(24:27):
The professional will usually know how a wedding is run.
Yeah. Absolutely.
And I've, I've had, I've had couples that will, will hire me
as a DJ live and they say, oh, look, my brother's going to be
the MC. And then, you know, you get, you
get to the process and you get just before the meeting and
you're like, oh, have you got a run sheet you could send me
like, oh, do you reckon you can just help us with the run sheet?
We actually don't quite know what to do.

(24:49):
And then I got a lot of people die.
It's that like barrier of like as if you hire me as an MC, it's
part of the service that I help you create that perfect run
sheet. Venues will.
Most venues I should say will will give you a generic run.
Sheet, yes, yeah, they do an idea of what they're.
Roughly when the meals will comeout.
But a fine tuned perfect run sheet for the vision of that

(25:12):
couple is essential for a perfect wedding or or for a
smooth sailing. Wedding yeah because they've got
special like extra dancers with like the.
Yeah. Son, mother, son, dance the
father, you know, like, yeah, yeah, daughter.
Like lots of things. Yeah, and I and then for me, but
it all it's, it's all about too like, you know, if you've got a
professional and a non professional, right say, say

(25:34):
we've we've entered the bride and groom into the room.
We know dinner's at we've entered them in at 5.
We know dinner's at 5:30. There's some speeches in there,
right. So a professional MC will go,
OK, cool, we got 5 speeches. All right, dinner's at 5:30.
The most important thing on a run sheet is making sure that
that dinner comes out hot. That's what people are paying
for. They're paying per head for the
mainly obviously drinks and dinner.

(25:55):
What's? A cold one.
The chef, he's got a big knife. That's a scary thing, right?
He comes. I've had them coming out before
and they are angry. There's plates being thrown
because their meals destroyed because the MC.
The MC has continued 530's dinner.
The MC it's now 540-540-5550 dinner spoiled.

(26:15):
The fish has gone hard. The chickens.
Gone. And that's huge.
If you're spending anywhere from50 to $300 a head on your food,
make sure that you do not go past that food.
That's for me is the most important thing, hot food.
Got to keep it on time. The MC has to keep to the times
that are on that running sheet. It's it's 10.

(26:36):
Oh, it's 530's dinner. It's 10.
Two. We got 3 speeches left.
All right, ladies and gentlemen,we got dinner coming up very
shortly. We're gonna let you enjoy a hot
meal. We're gonna come back to the
speeches after that. Yeah, that's.
Where a professional kind of cannavigate that because it's what
we do. Yeah, yeah, I think so.
And if you are, if it does startrunning further behind, you've
got to find some way to bring itback.

(26:57):
Yeah, in line because there is atime that people need to be out
of Avengers. So they might be doing a sparkle
send off with their photographerat this time.
And that's when the photographeris finishing.
Yeah, that's right. So that needs to happen.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
So the MC is in charge of that. And even some venues freak out a
little bit because something happened in the kitchen and the

(27:17):
food is gonna be later. They freak out, you know, And
for me, when I get there, I'm like, sweet, I've got a few
speeches to do. I'm gonna I'm gonna do a shoe
game. I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna
add a bit of fun or I'm gonna play some live music and
incorporate the kids into it just as just to break the ice.
The. Problem.
Because if people, if people arehungry, they didn't have an on
trained and is dragging, I'll try and help create that The
issue. I'll I'll fix that for them.

(27:38):
Yeah, yeah. On the flow off the cuff and
that's yeah. And I.
Think there's a lot of, you know, alcohol probably couldn't
do that. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's great. So our advice is then the run
sheet, the DJ possibly like yourMC anyway, can help you with the
run sheet and then timeline for the day's photographer.
So like you know the. Photography, I mean, generally,

(27:59):
like as a photographer, I will go into the reception timeline
space as well. Yeah.
But usually it's a guide for that section because that does
need to be done obviously by thevenue and yeah, by the MC.
One of my biggest questions for a couple.
This is directed at photographers and videographers.

(28:20):
I I always ask for that photography run sheet.
I ask the coverage of how long aphotographer or videographer is
there. So I've had so many weddings
that have been rushed and it's, it's purely because they didn't
think to. And I like to, I like to bring
this into the awareness of the couple really early in the
piece. So all the formalities need to

(28:43):
be done by 7:30 because that's the the photographer wants to
leave at 7:30 or that's when they're booked until.
So we got to get everything donefrom an MCDJ point of view.
We've got to, we've got to kind of run the night.
So everyone's gets to have a really nice feed.
They get to really mingle because that's what they're for.
They haven't seen Uncle Barry for 10 years.
So they really want to mingle. They want this space, the time.

(29:05):
If you rush all that to get themonto the dance floor, then they
get on the dance floor and then they kind of all veer off and
then it's so hard to recreate that, that back again.
Yeah. So that's not a dig at all at a
photographer. Yeah.
That's more of just an awarenessfor the couples to go.
OK what is your package? What in your mind is more
important? Would you the you getting ready

(29:26):
in a house with your people or that hour spent a little bit
later to get all these awesome action, you know, dance floor
shots and it comes down to personal preference then of the
couple. So but at least we've spoken to
them about that. And if they go, oh look, I
rather this then at least we've they're aware that.
That may compromise of. A that'll compromise it.

(29:48):
Or you know, is a photographer happy to stay on?
Because I mean, realistically, once I get that dance floor
pumping, my MC duties are done. You really only need 20 minutes
once. Once you get 20 minutes of your
shots of 20. Minutes of dancing photos.
They all start looking the same.So yeah, yeah, sometimes I can
stretch an extra half an hour. And, and I mean, sometimes I'll
even contact the photographer themselves and say, Hey, look,

(30:08):
this is your coverage for this wedding.
This is the issue that I'm that we're going to face towards the
end of the night. What, what's your thoughts?
And I'll try and work with the photographer because we're
professionals. These, these couples never been
married before. They're relying on our guidance
and it just makes the the the whole transition so much.
And that's happened to me multiple times at weddings.
You know, I've, I've seen that things are now starting to

(30:31):
really pump up and so I'll just stay.
And that's so hard. But then there's other weddings
where, you know, the main meals haven't even come out yet.
And I'm like, OK, well this is. I've I've gotta go, I've gotta
go, I've gotta bail, 'cause I know that there's an hour and a
half before, well, I'm even getting out of beer, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. So that's a massive, massive
thing for me when I'm helping create run sheets is is the

(30:52):
biggest question is. Where's the importance?
Yeah, where's the importance andand how Long's your coverage for
your? Yeah.
And I mean, if I know that someone's only got a small
coverage, like 4 hours, they're only doing ceremony canapes.
I'm like sweet, I got the free rein of this run sheet.
I'll just make sure that the food comes out hot, work
everything around that long as I've got two hours on the dance
floor. Yeah, sweet.
And I think it's important that,like, people are really frank

(31:14):
with the people who are doing the speeches as well.
And how long are those? Speeches.
They yeah, they blow. Out, you know, I mean, our one
of our lovely friends had a speech, but it took like 20
minutes. I swear to God, yeah.
And I mean speech. In a lot a lot of the.
Time, you could say, oh, you've got, you know, your speech has
gotta go for two to three minutes, but.
I was really strict on that thing, like no one wants to

(31:34):
listen to. You and I hear that all the
time. That was strict but and so
stretch it some sometimes. Stop them.
Wow. Well, DJ can.
Yeah, there have been times where I've kind of been a little
bit cocky and gone. I'm gonna do this now because I
can see the bride and groom are getting upset and I'll just turn
the microphone down a little bitand I'll bring some music in.
And then everyone has a laugh and a chuckle and then some.

(31:57):
Most of the time the speakers like I'm waffling, aren't I?
Thanks so much. It's actually like I'm actually
sometimes helping. Them as well.
Because they get into that. Like and they probably don't
know how to. Stop.
I don't know how to stop. And I, as a professional, I pick
up on that. I'm a great reader, so I know
that there's an awkward moment happening, so I can bring that
in. At the one that I was at with
you and there were so many speeches and then she gave me

(32:20):
all these like cards that yeah, you know, these are the people
who couldn't make it. And so I was doing that bit.
And then one of them had this giant speech inside the card.
So I just said, you know, dear. And I said read the first few
lines and I said et cetera, et cetera.
And I just said you can read this later.

(32:41):
Yeah, because it was just too long.
Yeah. And you gotta pick up on that
and really hone in and yeah, sort that out.
I'm. Not gonna read this hugely long
thing. Yeah.
Like it would have put us out time wise.
As it was, speeches went too long.
By that stage, everyone's tired.No one wanted to dance.
Yeah. Yeah, and that's the biggest
thing. It kills them too.
It is. Killed everyone.
That's right and another big thing.

(33:02):
I shouldn't give too many things, but as I am seeing.
So like I was saying before, I've got my iPad that split with
my notes, my run sheet and then the music.
So as someone's walking up to doa speech, I've, I've either
spoken to the person or I've spoken to the bride and groom.
Like, do you want to take the Mickey out of them a bit?
It's, it's the best man. He's going to be putting dirt on
you. Give him a bit of a jab with a
nice funny song like Barbie girlor something like that.

(33:24):
So I really, but for me as an MC, I've got to make sure that
I've got everything ready to go.My list, my playlist, that song
that's, that's father, the bridespeech theme song, that's that.
So there's a lot of organising around that, but if you nail it,
it just brings a whole new worldof yeah.
That's true, Brings. Brings the vibe to the room, you
know, that's really fun, adds it.

(33:44):
Yeah, and you were, you've talked about how you have some
games. Yep.
And things that you can bring in.
Yeah, what sort of games an MC is.
It's good for an MC to have somegames.
I have actually picked up some games of some, you know, family
members that have brought games in and done stuff.
So yeah, but I mean, one, one ofthe ones that I like to do if
the my dance floor's a bit timid, people are quite timid

(34:06):
and I just got to bring them sometimes.
You know, all they're like, I want to do the flower toss, but
it's really cliche. I'm like, right, well, I'll
bring the balloons and the ties and my little pump.
I'll pump them up and I'll tie them all around the girls ankles
really quick. We'll put on a fun party dance
song. We'll tell the girls they win a
a big bunch of flowers, put on afun party dance song.
They gotta pop the girl. They gotta pop the other

(34:27):
balloons but protect their own. Oh, that's.
Brings energy to the room. Oh, better.
What it's? Absolutely.
Energy. And it's elimination.
So there's the the girl at the end.
She's she's pumped. Then I've got a game for the
guys. It's musical jazz.
It's simple. Back to Grade 6.
The boys love it. Yeah, they get competitive.
Violence. You've got two people.
You've got a male and a female, right?
That have just one. They're usually competitive.

(34:49):
Then it's a dance off. Yeah.
Ladies and gentlemen, there can only be 1 winner party.
Is this what? This is what we've and Expo.
This got played that Maddie and I were at.
The chair got broken. Oh, I.
Mean I actually MC that at A at a wedding Expo.
Oh yeah, chair got broken. Yes, a chair got broken.
So to make sure that they've gotsolid chairs if you go with that

(35:09):
one. So I mean things like that as an
MC, you can bring that in, but you got to read the room.
If you if, if you haven't got time for that, if your dance
floor is pumping and a bride comes up, says I want to do my
flower toss, it's in your mind to go, oh, or if the, if they've
got a friend or family member that's an MC, like, oh, we're
going to stop the music. We're going to the flower toss
and you've kind of got to go, oh, my dance floor's pumping.

(35:31):
Like can we just wait till it kind of starts a bit more?
Yeah. So all those things with Ranchi
creation is is a huge, yeah is huge with the flow.
Yeah. No, that's fair.
That's fair. Yeah.
Do you want to give yourself a bit of a shameless plug?
Yes, you should do it again. Socials doing that.
Yeah. So you want to listen to the
last? Episode Maddie Mr Entertainment

(35:51):
Weddings and Events I've got my social media, which is Mr
Entertainment Oz on Instagram MrEntertainment Weddings and
Events on Facebook. I've got some YouTube clips.
Sometimes people like to watch my YouTube videos while they're
figuring out their songs. Yes, they're always
entertaining. Check out my vibe.
Have a look. I'm not everyone's cup of tea,
but if I am. It's always good to add just

(36:13):
because he posts fun like reels as well.
I do a lot of stories. Stories.
Some good wedding stories. Yeah, mainly stories.
Keep an eye on the stories because that's where I and, and
as a professional, you know, like as an MC myself and a DJI,
mean, I don't want to be that I'm not the photographer or a
videographer, but I know when something cools about to happen.
So if I can capture that moment and send that to the bride and

(36:35):
groom that no one else has got, it's it's awesome.
It's just multitasking which blokes can't do but I somehow.
Figured it out. You've done it long, yes.
When I grow up, I'll figure it out.
Yeah, Yeah. Yeah, now we're brought up to 5
fast questions, right? Lee rode in.
Can we mix my uncle Barry and a professional MC?

(37:00):
Yes you can I have seen it done before.
I've Co emceed with family members where they will you know
introduce him but then or or they will do the first speech
and introduce the next line of speeches.
Or it can be done. I mean if you're paying for an
MC just let them. Let them do it.
If someone wants a bit of limelight, they should do that

(37:21):
in their speech, or be part of or create a game or something
that they want to host. Yeah, that's a good idea.
That's a good idea, Taz wrote. Can a family member or friend be
the only MC? Yes, yes, absolutely.
I mean, if that's what you want said, yeah.
And you might not have the budget to have a professional,

(37:42):
and that's fine, yeah. Yeah, Maddie said.
I wanna ask my brother to be an MC, but he can be a big drinker,
yeah. No, don't do.
It if you've got a big drinking vibe of people that really know
you brother, and he's he's he's a fun, he's a fun drunk and you
know, he's gonna but if he's gonna be a little bit of a messy

(38:02):
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Uh oh, that dinner has come out cold and I'm in trouble.
Yeah, they're the things. So just because someone's funny
and everybody loves them doesn'tmean they're gonna make a great
MC. They gotta be well organised,
that's what I say. Make sure they're well organised
and they are not going to come up to you.
Yes, at cake cutting time going.Should we cut the cake now?
You're the MC, you run the night, the bride and groom sit

(38:24):
back and enjoy. It they relax.
They relax. Does my MC need to chat about
personal experiences? No.
That's from Sue. Depends.
I mean, not really. That's like I said before.
Yeah, a professional may not do that.
You need to be prepared for that, and that's fine.
No, exactly. Yeah, let let your speeches be
because they. Don't know you so unless you

(38:45):
give them the story, but it might not sound as natural
coming from them so you might aswell just let them do their job.
I mean, I will, I mean, sometimes I'll do like a table
trivia for like getting the people to go up and have dinner.
I my, my questions that I'll askis something from the ceremony
or something from the night or something about the bride and
groom. So that's I don't really need to
know about them, I've just been listening and I know their story

(39:06):
anyway, so. So that comes from being a
professional. Too Absolutely get the info,
yeah. Kay wrote.
If I use a friend, do they need their own equipment?
This is a touched on that before.
That does come down to the entertainer.
I mean, if, if say they've got afriend, they're clearly not
going to have the adequate equipment for a venue in my, in

(39:28):
my quote, I've got in there. You know, if I'm not the MC,
sometimes I'll, I'll rent the microphone because as my
microphone's worth a lot, 1000 bucks, 1100 bucks.
And I've had a bride one night go, all right, ladies and
gentlemen, let's get messed up. And then she dropped the
microphone and it's got the little receiver on the back.
It's it's made a massive sound through the whole system broke.

(39:49):
So I mean, I don't mind people using my equipment and I've got
to keep an eye on it. You've got to have your, your,
you know, let the bride and groom know we are using my
equipment for the speeches. Obviously your MC is not going
to have all the equipment, but. Just it is at your own risk.
Yeah, that's right. You're responsible for any
damaging. Some venues and some venues

(40:09):
absolutely, and it's terrible guaranteeing.
Terms and conditions, You're gonna pay for that if it's oh so
beyond, beyond that. Yeah.
And it's in the terms anything of my equipment that's damaged.
So I mean, I'm covered for it, so it doesn't really matter.
And I usually would give the microphone convenient.
It is inconvenient, but if you're a DJMC entertainer,
usually you've got a a stack of old microphones that you've spat
in for too long and you've bought a new one and so.

(40:31):
They can use that. That's the one that they get, so
they don't know about it until now.
You're listening, so yeah. That's fine.
It still worked for their weddings, yeah.
Yes, absolutely. So yeah, I'm happy to use
people, use my equipment, but that's personal.
Ask your DJ. Ask your entertainer.
Yeah, Yep. Good idea.
Yeah. Yeah.
So that is, that brings us to. A close yes beauty.

(40:53):
Thanks so much Maddie for comingback again.
Really appreciate it. Amazing.
Lots of valuable. Information there, Yeah.
And if anyone wants anyone wantsany free info, I'm always up for
giving out knowledge and I'm stoked to be here because what
you guys are doing is bringing awareness to couples that can
really just get free informationright?
That's the idea. They can.
Drive to work and they can listen to oh, hang on

(41:15):
stationary. I haven't thought about that.
I can listen to the stationary podcast.
So what you guys are doing a good pleasure to be here and
thank you and hopefully everyone.
This is my opinion. So other entertainers, if
they're listening, might have a different opinion, but this is
how I've done it, is what I've grown my business into and.
That's it. And if you have any further
questions for Maddie and you want him to answer them, they

(41:36):
can come through us. We're happy for you to send them
to us and we will get you an answer.
Yes, we will. Yes.
OK. Thank you everyone.
Peace out. Thank.
You On the next episode, we willwelcome Susie from An Eye for
Style. She will talk to us about hair
and makeup and how to get your skin looking its best on the
wedding day. That's all for.

(41:58):
Today, thank you for joining us for the Bridal Brief.
If you want to hear more, don't forget to click follow on our
podcast. Please send us any questions you
need answered or contact us directly at the
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