Every reception has a running order, usually called the run sheet. It’s the timetable for the night: what happens, when, who’s involved and what music is playing. As MC you’ll live by it.
You’ll rarely have to build one from scratch. Most venues have a standard running order they’ve used hundreds of times, and a planner will usually have a draft. Your job is to understand it, fill in the details, and make sure everyone is working off the same version.
A typical Australian reception
Most Australian receptions are a sit-down or shared-plate dinner of about five hours, with canapés and drinks beforehand while the couple are having photos. The times below are an example, so slide them to suit the real start time.
| Time | What happens | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5.30 pm | Guests arrive, drinks and canapés | The couple are usually off having photos. |
| 6.30 pm | Guests called in and seated | Allow 15 minutes. It always takes longer than you think. |
| 6.40 pm | MC welcome and housekeeping | Your first time on the mic. Keep it short. |
| 6.45 pm | Bridal party and couple enter | The DJ or band plays the entrance songs. |
| 6.55 pm | Entrée served | |
| 7.30 pm | First round of speeches | Usually the parents. |
| 7.50 pm | Main course served | |
| 8.40 pm | Second round of speeches | Usually the bridal party, then the couple. |
| 9.10 pm | Cake cutting | Photographer in position first. |
| 9.15 pm | First dance, then the dance floor opens | |
| 9.30 pm | Dessert or cake served | Often as a station, or plated while people dance. |
| 10.45 pm | Last song and farewell | Arch, sparklers or a guard of honour. |
| 11.00 pm | Close | Transport announcements. |
Why it’s in that order
Once you understand the logic, you can change the order on the night without breaking anything.
The food drives everything. The kitchen has a plan for when each course goes out, and once a course is plated it has to be served. Before guests arrive, ask the venue coordinator when each course will go out, how long they need to clear tables, and how they’ll let you know they’re ready.
Speeches go between courses. Waiters moving around and cutlery scraping on plates make it hard to hear a speaker. The best time is just after one course has been cleared and before the next arrives. Two rounds means nobody sits through forty minutes of speeches in one go.
Speeches go before the dancing. Once the dance floor opens and the bar’s been going for a few hours, it’s very hard to get a room to sit down and listen again.
The cake and the first dance go together. They’re the two big photo moments, so putting them back to back means the photographer only has to be on standby once.
The couple usually speak last. Their speech is mostly thank yous, and it’s a natural end to the formal part of the night.
The Wedding MC Handbook has the rest: word-for-word scripts for every part of the night, three full run sheets, every template, and seventeen chapters on doing it well, from someone who has done it hundreds of times.
Get the book for A$39Make it your run sheet
The couple’s run sheet is a plan for the whole day. Your version is a plan for what you say and do, so it needs a bit more detail. For each item, add:
- the time it’s planned for
- what you’ll say, as a reference to your script card number
- what music plays, and who presses play
- who needs to be ready, and who’s going to tell them
- what has to happen before you can start, like “tables cleared” or “couple back from photos”
Then put a version number and a date at the top. Run sheets change constantly in the last few weeks, and every time yours changes, send the new version to the couple, the venue coordinator, the planner and the DJ or band at the same time. Bring printed copies on the night, because someone will always have the old one.
Other formats
Cocktail receptions have no sit-down meal, which makes them harder to MC because there’s never a moment when everyone is sitting and facing you. Do all the speeches in one short block, make sure older guests have somewhere to sit, and gather people towards one end of the room before each formal moment.
Ceremony and reception at the same venue usually means a few minutes of housekeeping from you before the ceremony, then a gap of an hour or so while the couple have photos. Your job in the gap is making sure guests know where to go and when they’ll be called in.
The book has three complete, filled-in run sheets: a sit-down dinner, a cocktail reception and a ceremony and reception at one venue, plus an editable template.
Get the free starter kit. The welcome script word for word, a sample run sheet and the speaker briefing, by email.