10 Tips on Writing a Wedding Reception Script

So you’re about to do emcee work for a wedding reception- how exactly do you come up with a script for an occasion like this?

Putting together a wedding reception script isn’t all that hard, really. Bear in mind that as the evening’s master of ceremonies, you also have to play the part of a good host, and pretty much fill in everyone on what’s going on.

Here are a few tips on writing a wedding reception script.

1. Remember: this is the newlyweds’ big night, so the spotlight should really be on them, not on anybody else. Everybody else- family, friends, colleagues- can get their share of the limelight that evening, but special attention must be given to your couple every single time.

It's their night- so make it memorable and special!

2. Get with the Master Plan. Consult with the future husband-and-wife exactly how they want things to happen. If you are to set the tone for the wedding reception, you have to take your cues from them. Sitting down with them will enable you to find out exactly what’s important for them:

• Would they want it to be done and over with as quickly as possible?
• Would they want to have lots of ballroom dancing?
• Do they want to incorporate particular wedding traditions on top of, say, the wedding bouquet and garter tosses?
• Maybe they want their reception dinner completely untraditional- so what other fun stuff can you think of working in?

Whatever the future husband-and-wife wants, it is your mission to essentially carry out their wishes. After all, it is their night- you want it to be as memorable and magical as possible for the newlyweds, as well as for their friends and relatives.

3. Remember that you’re writing a wedding reception script. Which means that once you’ve worked out the general plan with the couple (and with the wedding planner/s, if need be), you’re now off to a PC or a laptop somewhere ready to work your magic.

No need to go verbose and all wordy. Keep it simple, short and sweet. In fact, get straight to the point.

Get a draft prepared well ahead of time, touching all the pertinent events of the reception according to the couple’s wishes. Submit the drafts to the couple (and the wedding planner/s, if need be) to get their input. If you’ve listened well and worked in their needs and wants, then you should do just fine.

The Money Dance is a great way to get relatives and friends pin some cash onto you. Who could say 'No' to some free cash?

4. The usual program flow:

• introduction of parents, principal and then secondary sponsors/wedding entourage
• introduction of the newlyweds
• dinner, as well as accompanying toasts and speeches
• traditional ceremonies, wrapped up by garter and bouquet tosses
• acknowledgments and thank you’s

Modify elements according to how the couple wants their wedding reception done. For example, the bride would probably want a bouquet toss, but something a more out-of-the-ordinary, like tossing out multiple smaller bouquets instead of just one, or incorporating more cultural traditions into the program.

Ask the couple if there would be family members giving speeches or preparing toasts, or even friends who might be singing, dancing or otherwise have something prepared for our newlyweds that evening.

Once you got everything, go right ahead and work those elements right into the script.

5. Get to know a little bit more about the couple’s family and friends. One of the more important things- pronouncing names. You’ll be introducing members of the wedding entourage, acknowledging the presence of guests who may have flown in from some faraway country, or calling them out for a speech or a toast.

You might know who they are, and your other relatives (or friends) probably also do, but remember that other half of the room might not, so introducing them properly to all guests present would work well for everyone.

My cousins flew all the way from Toronto just to be at my brother's wedding in the Philippines. Good times!

If anyone should know how certain names or surnames have to be pronounced, it’s the couple. So go ahead and ask questions if you have to. If all else fails, look the person up yourself and ask him/her how to pronounce their name or how they want to be introduced. It’s all part of the evening’s fun, meeting new people.

Mmm. Cake. I liked the idea of having smaller cakes prepared- little replicas of the original, bigger wedding cake, so guests can eat it on the spot or take it home with them.

6. Make the effort to get the story on the smaller details. Just enough detail to come up with the couple’s story.

Maybe you can find out why the bride wanted the motif for the day’s affair. Is there a story behind the wedding cake- say, any particular reason why the couple chose this specific design or make? Does the couple have a special song? There’s always lots of stories behind songs.

Maybe the couple has a bunch of pictures flashing up on screen- you can use those as well to tell the story of how the couple met, or how he proposed, or some other significant event in their relationship.

Play up the little things that are special to the newlyweds, share their story, and convey that same warm and fuzzy feeling to your guests at the reception. Work those into your script as well.

7. Print out at least three copies of your wedding reception script- one should go to the couple, another to the wedding planner (or program coordinator, or whatever equivalent), and one for you.

As for your copy, you may want to come up with easy-to-use cue cards. You are going to glance at them every now and then, as you go about your hosting duties for the evening, so keep them handy. Also have a pen with you to scribble down notes and maybe some last-minute changes.

8 . Yes, you’ll be reading off a script, but you don’t have to sound as if you’re reading it.

More importantly, you have to sound natural and as real as possible. The guests will be getting their cues from you, so your words have to radiate warmth, confidence and a sense of welcoming, but at the same time, deliver the appropriate level of formality for the affair at hand.

Make eye contact with your guests, inject just a little bit of personality, and be generally pleasant.

9. Even the best-made scripts are just guidelines. There may be some last-minute changes, or some sections you might have to do away with really quickly.

Regardless, you might have to make improvisations and maybe even have to adlib on the fly. Don’t forget to get all your cues from the newlyweds- if anything needs to be changed, it has to be on their say, and you must be prepared to do so at a drop of a hat.

Don’t worry about it- as long as you stick to the couple’s Master Plan (see #2), everything will be just fine.

Instead of having the couple move from table to table, why not have the guests come to them instead? That way, your couple can actually relax for a change, and you don't have to lug around your camera crew all over the place.

10. Bear in mind that you’re also playing the part of a secondary host, someone who would be welcoming guests and keeping them engaged while the newlyweds are attending to other friends and mandatory photoshoots.

So take ownership of your role in the whole affair. Be cordial, be pleasant, be sensitive to the needs of your guests and of your newlyweds. Almost like hosting a party at home, only with more formal clothing.

There you have it. I hope this helps.

I used to do a lot of wedding receptions and hosting gigs- mostly back in my earlier days of radio.

Hosting a wedding reception might be a little taxing, but they are lots of fun. It’s a big night, everyone’s all dressed up and in a festive mood, made even more memorable by the presence of family and friends- and particularly means so much more to the newlyweds.

Cristina and myself, just before sampling that wonderful bottle of wine at my brother's wedding. Cheers!

Cheers, everyone!

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Barongs Are Cool!

Light and breezy! Sure beats a tux or a suit!

No, seriously, they are.

Made of light, translucent embroidered material- usually of hand-loomed fiber from pineapple leaves, abaca, silk organza or banana- the traditional barong tagalog is worn untucked, like a coat dress of sorts, over a light undershirt.

So in a warm and humid tropical country like the Philippines, the ingenious design of the barong tagalog makes it the attire of choice for most formal Filipino gatherings. As in this case, my brother’s long-awaited wedding. That’s me with my uncles and cousins hamming it up for the camera to the right- and yes, we all look smashing in our barongs.

I’m inclined to get myself an couple more of these to take with me back to Los Angeles.

The best barongs are, as mentioned, made of either piña (pineapple) fibers, jusi (from hemp, or silk organza), banana fibers, or an innovative mix pineapple and hemp known as piña-jusi. The piña variety of barongs are the most expensive, since pineapple fiber is getting rarer nowadays (exactly how many weavers specializing in pineapple fiber do you know anyway?).

Gaining more popularity is the piña-jusi variety of barong- which has pretty much the same sheerness of piña, but with the improved sturdiness of jusi- so you can still wear these on formal occasions, and it doesn’t have to cost as much.

Barongs used for more everyday functions- like office-wear, for example- are made of more common, but still lightweight fabrics- linen, cotton, ramie, etc. Called gusot-mayaman (“gusot” meaning “wrinkled”, and “mayaman” meaning “wealthy”), these barongs are probably the equivalent of a suit and tie- definitely a step above casual wear, and just formal enough to attend certain functions.

Show us a move, Uncle Donny!

More enterprising barong-makers have also come up with more funkier, more colorful designs- still formal just enough, but a little bit more fun than the usual traditional fare. One of our uncles changed barongs right before the reception- a blue-green number, and upon checking it out, my cousin wanted to get similar designs for himself- something of an olive/military green, brown or black variety.

Barongs of all kinds are usually available in most major shopping centers and specialty stores in and around Metro Manila, and sometimes, you can even commission a custom-designed piece from a tailor who works in barongs.

Cheers, everyone!

Living Solo: What To Do With All Those Plastic Cutlery

You must have noticed by now that when you’re living solo, you end up ordering out a lot and dining in, and taking lots of food home.  Give yourself a few months of doing just that, and you’ll find yourself soon enough with a whole lot of plastic forks, knives and spoons.

Uncle John's Plastic Forks and Knives!

I’ve noticed I’ve been amassing quite a stockpile of plastic cutlery in my apartment.  Sure, you could throw them away, or do the more socially responsible thing by requesting restaurants to NOT include plastic sporks in your take-out, but it seems that you actually end up getting lots of them anyway.

So here’s what you do:

Set aside a clean little bin and dump all your unused plastic spoons, forks, knives and sporks in there- the ones that usually come with your take-out or home delivery food, right?  That way, you can break them out whenever you host a party at home, have a picnic, or even just bring all those to the office where you might need a fork to dig into somebody’s birthday cake.

Really handy when you have loads of guests dropping by- say when you have an instant family reunion happening at your place, or when there’s a sleepover or DVD marathon and you’d rather spend more time with your guests rather than wash a whole ton of dishes after every meal or snack.

Also, you might have the occasional problem of having no water- so having a stash of plastic cutlery might actually be more useful than you think, so you can just toss away those disposable sporks in the trash as soon as you’re done, instead of having a bunch of unwashed dishes pile up in the sink overnight (or for days!), attracting roaches, rats and all kinds of pests- you definitely don’t want that happening in your pad.

Cheers, everyone!

Reconnecting With Family

Donna, Mary Rose, Johanna, Denille and Lourdes with Lolo Fidel Viloria, taken just before Lolo's 84th birthday, during their visit to the Philippines in July/August 2008.

It has been a very hectic two weeks for me.  I had a whole bunch of cousins, aunts and uncles fly in from Los Angeles, Vancouver, Boston, UK, Scarborough, and Toronto, mainly for my brother’s long-awaited wedding, but also to join us see Dad off to his final resting place, join up with our Grandfather for his 84th birthday, and generally have a great time here in the Philippines.

Most of them have already gone back home (because of work!), and even as I write this blog entry, I can’t help but wish that we could’ve spent more time together goofing around and doing all sorts of cool stuff.

Here I am sorting out all these great pictures I took- grouping them in folders, renaming them, uploading them on Facebook, Photobucket and Shutterfly, and burning DVDs of em- and it feels warm and fuzzy inside knowing we’ve made some very meaningful connections, even if they’ve only been here for a few days.

Aunt Gilda and Cousin Paul, shortly after Paul's arrival, July 2008

The truth is, I’ve only been interacting with most of them through Facebook and phonecalls- some of them I’ve actually only met for the very first time- like Johanna and Theresa, for example.  The others, well, I could only barely remember from years ago.  I last saw Lourdes when she was 4 years old, and her sister Denille was just a little baby when they left in 1991.  I also last saw Paul in 1991- he was around 11 back then- but now he’s all full-grown and married and totally different from how I remembered him from way back.  I also remember playing with Troy when we were both little kids (I think I was 3 when they left for Canada)- now he’s got a family of his own- with Adriana and little Terence.

So you could just imagine there was a lot of catching up going on, in between stories and jokes and lots of pictures and food and all that.  Not quite enough though- after all, you could only do so much interacting in a few days’ time.  Still, it was a springboard of sorts- we all promised to keep in touch and hang out as soon as I fly back to Los Angeles.  And yeah, you gotta thank Facebook for keeping the family fires burning.

Cheers, everyone!

My Issue with Globelines Resolved

First of all, I’d like to fill you in on what has happened with my Globelines landline and internet connection.  As you all know, I’ve written up a post not too long ago on how long it took for Globe to restore my connections at home.  So here are some updates:

• My landline and broadband internet connection had been restored seventeen (17) days after complaining.
• Apparently some switch just outside my apartment door had been tampered with.  Can’t tell for sure if some neighbor was toying around with it, or some previous tech team from Globe left it that way.
• My connections have been running smoothly since then.
• Lastly, Globe had adjusted my bill for this month; they didn’t charge me for the days without internet or landline connection.

So, with all that has happened, some much-deserved thank-you’s are in order.  My gratitude to all the good folks who have helped me out with my issue with Globelines:

• My girlfriend Cristina, who has actually made it a habit of calling up Globe from her home and office, for keeping the pressure on even as she accompanied me to the service centers, and yes, for allowing me to mooch off some internet time from her place for a couple of days.
• Janette, who has not only provided some very useful information on consumer protection guidelines, but has also helped forward my issues to the head of customer services.
• Another friend of mine, Zandra, who had also pulled some strings to get my complaints heard by the right people.
• Everyone who has read my story (on this blog and on other blogs), shared their own experiences and shared it with others.

Cheers, everyone.

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