from Erik Michaels of Megasound
As a bride, this question will come up while planning your wedding. How long (how many hours) should I hire you for? At first glance, this may look like an absolutely ridiculous question. However, there ARE certain questions you will want to ask yourself before making this decision. The first question is how long have you rented your reception hall for? If you only have the hall rented for 5 hours, it would be silly to pay your MC for 6 hours.
The second question you will want to ask yourself concerns your guest list and the type of atmosphere you wish to create during your reception. Does your family like to dance? How about your friends? Will you be expecting 100 guests or 500? If you have a large guest list, you will want to have your MC on hand longer than if your guest list is small. If you know that your family or friends love to dance for hours, or if you are holding a cocktail hour before dinner, you will want your MC for longer than if you simply want background music for your entire reception.
Most receptions last 5 or 6 hours (and occasionally even longer), and hiring your DJ/MC for your entire event is generally considered preferable to hiring them for 3 or 4 hours and having them set up during your dinner or not show up until dinner is over. Unless there are certain reasons your reception is shorter than 5 hours (such as an early afternoon reception), you should probably hire your DJ/MC for at least five hours so that they will be ready to perform your introduction when you and your wedding party arrive and still be able to play music for open dancing for a couple of hours at least.
Keep in mind that most receptions don't actually get underway until the wedding party arrives. On average, for most weddings, the dinner and traditions take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This leaves, on average, 3 to 3 1/2 hours for dancing PROVIDED the wedding party arrives right at the beginning of the reception. More often than not, the wedding party is later than originally expected due to photos taking longer than expected, travel arrangements (such as a limo or trolley) arriving late, the ceremony starting late, and/or a variety of other unexpected situations (including weather, road construction, and traffic patterns). I can count the number of four hour receptions I have been hired to perform over the last ten years on one hand, and even then, several of those ended up hiring me for an additional hour during the reception (a much more expensive proposition than booking the extra hour to begin with).
One other suggestion I have to help with your overall reception plans is to make sure that you have your photographer hired to cover the first three hours of your reception so that they will be able to get pictures of all of your traditions as well as some of the open dancing. Recently, a bridal couple only had their photographer hired for the first two hours. Had their wedding party arrived at the beginning of the reception, this would have been just fine. However, they did not arrive until an hour after the reception started. This meant that the couple had to hire their photographer for an hour of overtime that night to cover the additional time. Planning ahead to allow for unintended situations and delays is always a good idea. Whether it is for your DJ/MC, your photographer, videographer, security, bartender, or any of the other professionals, hiring them for just a bit longer than you actually need will allow for a more relaxed atmosphere during your reception instead of having them rush around trying to get everything accomplished within the time frame allotted (and pushing everyone in the process).
The second question you will want to ask yourself concerns your guest list and the type of atmosphere you wish to create during your reception. Does your family like to dance? How about your friends? Will you be expecting 100 guests or 500? If you have a large guest list, you will want to have your MC on hand longer than if your guest list is small. If you know that your family or friends love to dance for hours, or if you are holding a cocktail hour before dinner, you will want your MC for longer than if you simply want background music for your entire reception.
Most receptions last 5 or 6 hours (and occasionally even longer), and hiring your DJ/MC for your entire event is generally considered preferable to hiring them for 3 or 4 hours and having them set up during your dinner or not show up until dinner is over. Unless there are certain reasons your reception is shorter than 5 hours (such as an early afternoon reception), you should probably hire your DJ/MC for at least five hours so that they will be ready to perform your introduction when you and your wedding party arrive and still be able to play music for open dancing for a couple of hours at least.
Keep in mind that most receptions don't actually get underway until the wedding party arrives. On average, for most weddings, the dinner and traditions take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This leaves, on average, 3 to 3 1/2 hours for dancing PROVIDED the wedding party arrives right at the beginning of the reception. More often than not, the wedding party is later than originally expected due to photos taking longer than expected, travel arrangements (such as a limo or trolley) arriving late, the ceremony starting late, and/or a variety of other unexpected situations (including weather, road construction, and traffic patterns). I can count the number of four hour receptions I have been hired to perform over the last ten years on one hand, and even then, several of those ended up hiring me for an additional hour during the reception (a much more expensive proposition than booking the extra hour to begin with).
One other suggestion I have to help with your overall reception plans is to make sure that you have your photographer hired to cover the first three hours of your reception so that they will be able to get pictures of all of your traditions as well as some of the open dancing. Recently, a bridal couple only had their photographer hired for the first two hours. Had their wedding party arrived at the beginning of the reception, this would have been just fine. However, they did not arrive until an hour after the reception started. This meant that the couple had to hire their photographer for an hour of overtime that night to cover the additional time. Planning ahead to allow for unintended situations and delays is always a good idea. Whether it is for your DJ/MC, your photographer, videographer, security, bartender, or any of the other professionals, hiring them for just a bit longer than you actually need will allow for a more relaxed atmosphere during your reception instead of having them rush around trying to get everything accomplished within the time frame allotted (and pushing everyone in the process).
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