Guides
Look at any published wedding reception timeline and you will find the word emcee doing a lot of quiet work. The Knot’s version, which is the one most planners hand out, says the emcee will announce each wedding party member by name. It says it as though everybody already knows who that is.
Most couples do not. They booked a band or a DJ, they booked a photographer, they booked a caterer, and somewhere between the last of the cocktail hour and the first course it turns out that a dozen small announcements have to happen in a particular order, and nobody has said out loud whose job that is. Here is the whole list.
At a wedding reception the announcements are usually made by whoever is already holding a microphone and watching the room, which in practice means the band or the DJ unless somebody decided otherwise on purpose.
The emcee, or MC, is the person who tells the room what is happening next. They welcome guests, introduce the wedding party and the couple, call the first dance and the parent dances, hand off to each person giving a toast, open the dance floor, and signal the cake and the last dance. Brides splits the job into what guests see and what they do not: the announcements themselves, and the behind-the-scenes work of keeping every vendor aware of what is coming next.
Times below follow the published reception timeline, which assumes a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour and an 11:00 p.m. finish. Yours will differ. The order is the part that holds. The last column is the thing nobody tells you, which is who each announcement is really aimed at.
| Roughly when | The announcement | Who it is really for |
|---|---|---|
| 6:30 p.m. | Cocktail hour is ending, please find your seats | The venue staff, who need the room settled before the entrance, and the caterer, who is timing the first course |
| 6:45 p.m. | Wedding party entrance, each person by name | The photographer, who has to be in position, and the people being named, who need to hear their cue |
| 6:50 p.m. | The couple, introduced for the first time | Everyone. This is the one announcement the whole room is waiting for |
| 6:55 p.m. | The first dance | The band or DJ, who start on the announcement, and the photographer |
| 7:10 p.m. | Welcome, and any blessing | The room, and whoever is giving the blessing, who needs to know they are up |
| 7:15 p.m. | Please start eating | The caterer. Guests will not touch a plate until somebody tells them it is allowed |
| 7:35 p.m. | Each toast, one at a time, by name and relationship | The speaker, who needs to be in the room, know where to stand, and be handed a live microphone |
| 8:15 p.m. | Parent dances | The parents, who are usually not watching a schedule, and the band |
| 8:25 p.m. | The dance floor is open | The room. This is the announcement that decides whether the floor fills in two minutes or twenty |
| 9:10 p.m. | Bouquet and garter, if you are doing them | Guests who need gathering, and the photographer |
| 9:45 p.m. | Cake cutting | The caterer, who is switching to dessert and coffee, and the photographer |
| 10:50 p.m. | Last dance | The room, so people know the night is ending and get back on the floor for it |
| 11:00 p.m. | Send-off, and where to go next | Guests, who otherwise stand around, and anyone running an after-party |
Short. Warm. Nobody wants a host with a routine. Three examples, and they are close to all you need:
Notice that each one tells people what to do with their body. Sit, stand, come here, stay there. That is most of the skill.
Somebody whose only job is the room. Worth it when the evening has a lot of non-musical program, or when you want the guest experience hosted rather than just announced. They also do vendor coordination nobody sees.
The default in the United States, and usually included. They are already at the microphone, already watching the floor, and already starting the next song. Ask specifically who does it and whether they are singing at that moment.
None of those are performance problems. They are all handoff problems, which is why the job tends to sit with whoever can see the whole room.
Decide it out loud, early, and tell the venue and the photographer what you decided. If the answer is your band, ask which specific person and whether they will be mid-song when the moment arrives. In our case both frontmen share it, which means the person talking is not the person who has to start the next song. That is a structural difference rather than a talent one, and it is worth asking any band you are considering.
If you are still weighing it up, whether you need a separate MC is its own question with a real answer on both sides.
Usually the band or the DJ. The standard published timeline has the emcee announcing each wedding party member by name as they enter, and in the United States that role has traditionally been attached to the bandleader or the DJ. It is worth confirming rather than assuming, because some bands do it and some will not.
Around twelve, from asking guests to find their seats through to the send-off. The ones couples forget to plan are the invitation to start eating, which guests will wait for, and a warning before the last dance so people come back to the floor for it.
Late, and briefly. The Knot puts it about an hour before the reception ends and notes that cutting the cake signals to guests that it is acceptable to leave. Announce it, take the photograph, and get back into a song that pulls people onto the floor.
Ask about the setlist, the show, or what we need from your venue. If you want a date looked at, I can send it straight to the band.