Skipping the mc and announcements

I've never been to a wedding where there wasn't an MC or the bridal party and couple weren't announced. I think an MC is important because it helps with the flow of the evening and gets guests attention when important moments are happening.

I'd say 90% of weddings i've been to in the last 15 years have had an MC and I have hated every single one. Announcements are weird to me - we know who you are, that's why we're at your wedding and I dont' care who your bridal party is if I don't know them already. People will sit down when others start to sit down for dinner. Dances don' need to be announced, just do them at an appropriate time and it will seem normal. I dont' understand what their real purpose is other than to be loud and make a nice event seem like prom.

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100% agree, I don't like the feel of MC/DJ's so we won't be having one - and the party vibe doesn't fit with what I want. My venue has microphones avaliable for use, I'm sure our MOH or Best Man wouldn't mind announcing when dinner was starting or anything,

We are skipping these and I’m totally okay with it !!

Every wedding I have been to has has some form of direction. Many have had MCs, both most of the higher end weddings I’ve been to utilize a professional to provide direction in a more subtle manner. They will simply announce the couple’s arrival over the mic in a normal fashion (not like a sports announcer at a boxing match). The wedding party is not introduced by names like a sporting event either, simply “ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. so-and-so”. The introduction is not to make sure everyone knows who they are, it is simply to make guests aware that the couple has arrived to the cocktail hour or reception. The same goes for dinner. A very simple and tasteful announcement will be made, such as “ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats so that dinner may be served”. Personally, I do not like the loud “party” MCs and don’t feel that the crowd needs “hyped up” for the couples entrance, the cutting of the cake, being seated for dinner, etc. I also don’t think every single event needs to be announced. However, events run much more smoothly when there is direction provided, so we will have minimal announcements done in the fashion described above, and will only be announcing our entrance (for the courtesy of our guests, so it doesn’t feel like we “snuck in” to our own cocktail hour or we don’t want to conversation with our guests, etc.), when guests should be seated so that dinner may be served, and at the end of the night FH and I will take the mic to thank everyone one last time and to let them all know that anyone who wants to continue the evening can join us for the after party.

I think it depends on the vibe of your wedding. 70% of the weddings I worked the DJ doubled as the MC, and they always found out what the party wanted as far as intro (or lack thereof) went. Buffet style dinner is the norm in my area, so having them there to help coordinate the dismissal of tables was a necessity. They also brought attention to special touches/smaller events like the cake cutting.

The 30% of weddings I went to that didn't have a DJ/MC were kind of a train wreck. But that had a lot to do with no direction for dinner and then people kept finding ways to hijack the music and either skip songs or play their own.

I think if you're doing a much more relaxed affair or not planning on dancing they're not really necessary.

ETA: It's also really nice to have one to make sure you're able to do everything you want. We had a wedding once where they didn't have a DJ/MC and no one knew when the cake was supposed to be cut. After a while the catering company thought they had just missed the ceremonial cutting and started cutting the cake. That was a fun time.

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The last wedding we attended had a dj covering all the music (that is a must) but he didn’t announce/MC. There was a party vibe but the event flowed organically without announcements because everyone followed the couple’s cue and it didn’t feel chaotic at all, and the buffet dinner went fairly smoothly. I can see where it depend on the group. If a group doesn’t know what to do without being told then they would be more lost than someone else who has a feel for the general timeline of events from others they have attended as they don’t stray that much.

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Thank you for the insight.

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Yea the problem with the buffet is too many tables getting up at once and there being a huge mass of people. I've always coordinated with DJs to release tables so there's not a ton of people standing in line.

The only other announcement other than cake cutting was grabbing a drink for toasts or something like that to prevent the bar from getting slammed.

I look at an MC/DJ as a person there more to help the other vendors from getting bogged down/slammed with a rush of people than it is anything fully necessary to the guest experience.

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That’s my observation from past weddings and several others we know feel similar. I have nothing against djs but most don’t feel the need to MC and guests are able to follow the couple’s lead as to what is happening more often than not.

I've never seen a wedding without a DJ acting as emcee, and I've worked hundreds of weddings. It would be way too chaotic without one centralized person to announce when dinner is ready, when the bar is open, when the dessert table is open, etc. Asking a member of the WP to do it could end in a disaster since most have been drinking heavily by the time the reception rolls around. And asking any non-WP family member or friend to do it for free would be rude.

Having the DJ also emcee is ... standard in my area. Unless the wedding was very small, I'd likely be a little confused without one.

Buffets can be handled by the wait staff, but it's still nice to have someone giving simple, clear directions to everyone.

My friend did not have a DJ or an emcee for her wedding. Everyone was very confused. No one knew when to start dinner (buffet). There was no organization for dismissing tables to get their dinner. There just wasn’t any organization.