It is not uncommon for couples to think that a wedding leader is only necessary for big weddings. Then you should remember that even at a small wedding, someone must take care of the well-being and entertainment of the guests.

When it comes to a wedding of 50 or more guests, the question of the need for an evening leader usually does not arise. The couples understand that someone has to entertain the guests and they cannot do it themselves. However, when 20-35 guests are planned for the wedding, couples often start to consider the idea of ​​not being able to do without a leader of the evening. But the task of entertaining guests does not disappear anywhere. I suggest you carefully study this topic.

What does a wedding director do?

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the tasks of the evening leader is conducting contests. This is partly true. One of the tasks of the evening leader is to lead the activities. But they are about 10% of the entire evening manager's work.

Here are the tasks that I, as a wedding organizer, give to the leader of the evening.

Welcoming guests at the place of celebration and/or ceremony

Part of this is also done by the coordinator, helping guests to find their room for the night and to understand the future plan of the day. But it is the wedding leader who can create the right mood for the guests from the very beginning.

Remember that your guests may have had an anxious morning - the whole family had to get ready, iron their clothes, not argue while getting dressed, not forget all the necessary belongings and gifts, go in for flowers and, in the end, not be late for the wedding. So there is a chance that they feel a little put on when they arrive at the wedding.

Then it is very important that they are met by someone who can relax them a little and even make a joke if necessary. Not only their mood for the following day depends on it, but also yours, because if you see a spoiled guest, it can spoil your mood too.

Referral of guests

In order for the guests to understand what will happen now, what to do and where to go, there must be a person who will tell them and, more importantly, whom they will listen to. I have seen situations where, for example, the mother of the bride invites everyone into the hall because the dinner is about to start, but most of them stay in the buffet area. This is not because the guests do not respect the mother or the couple. No. It's just that everyone is busy with their own work (talking, taking pictures, smoking, publishing stories, etc.) and believe that nothing crazy will happen if he joins later, but they can do without him.

But it must be understood that if the guests do their own thing in different corners, no festive mood will arise and it will look more like chaos. Therefore, the guests need a person who will announce quite loudly, clearly, convincingly, at the same time, kindly, cheerfully and friendly, that now we all gather together, line up in two rows and wait for the new couple after the photo session, but now it will be the couple's first dance, so we all enter the hall.

Creating an overall mood

How you will remember your wedding day depends largely on the host of the evening. The wedding leader is the person who creates for you and the guests this sense of unity, festive mood and atmosphere, that it is a wedding - a celebration in honor of the creation of a new family, and not just another party - a reason to drink and have a good time.

Managing the evening program

this point is closely related to the previous one. The evening leader creates the evening program and includes both leisurely and active activities. However, the evening program does not only consist of activities. Quite a large part of the program for a good leader is occupied by dialogues with the guests and the couple.

The leader, by asking questions and directing the dialogue, finds some interesting stories related to the couple, and also manages to make jokes at the right place and time to lift everyone's mood. And above all, he involves more or less both the guests and the couple in all the activities, so that everyone feels included in the process, instead of sitting like a concert during the star hour of the evening host.

Prompt correction of the program if necessary

This is a task that 99.9% of brides do not know or think about. In practically every wedding, some unexpected situations happen. This is normal, it should be accepted as a fact. And especially many such situations arise if the couple did not have a wedding organizer, because many nuances remain unnoticed due to ignorance.

In such cases, the leader of the evening is a person who can make sure that no one notices these situations and does not pay attention to them. For example, the couple may be late for the photo session, the caterers may be delayed in serving hot food, the waiters may not be able to promptly bring out the cake, the bride may not be able to find where she put her bridal bouquet , or after some time the dancing with the folklore group should start, but the bride has been unexpectedly stolen.

There are a million such situations, but in them the host of the evening will react quickly and will be able to reorient and smooth out these situations, instead of emphasizing them even more.

Are the responsibilities of the host of the evening different for large and small weddings?

No. Point.

these same tasks are relevant for both 20-person and 80-person weddings. Līgavām sometimes it seems that if the wedding is small and only with the closest ones, then the guests will be able to entertain themselves - find topics for conversation, play something, etc. But even 15 people - that's a lot, so that they can find common topics and not forget that they are at the wedding of Liene and Peter, not in a political science group.

There are often awkward pauses when guests don't know what to do. But there is one universal way that guests usually save themselves from awkward pauses - "Bitter!" and raising glasses. I think there is no need to explain that after the fifth toast in an hour, the evening will most likely not end positively.

As I remind you - the entertainment part is only one task performed by the wedding leader. No one has canceled the other duties of the evening host. And don't you want to create a beautiful holiday for yourself and your closest people?

Can ushers or friends officiate the wedding?

Theoretically it can. But again, I invite you to go back to the list of duties and make sure if, for example, your carriers will cope with all these tasks. I have coordinated weddings where ushers presided over the evening. Diemžēl viņi nespēja savākt kopā viesus, kad vajadzēja no ceremonijas zonas pāriet uz furšeta zonu un no furšeta zonas un vakariņu zāli, tāpēc viesi bija izklīduši pa teritoriju un daudzi bija palaiduši garām kūkas griešanu furšeta laikā.

And when the caterers prepared the hot food for 2 hours and 40 minutes instead of 2 hours and 40 minutes, the presenters failed to disguise it, quickly introduce changes in the evening program and distract the guests, so the guests sat almost in silence and without food for almost an hour and a half.

Wedding manager - experienced professional

I would like to draw attention to the fact that all the above-mentioned benefits of having an evening leader at a wedding are written specifically about professional evening leaders who perform their work with high quality. Therefore, I definitely do not recommend taking which one every evening host.

As a wedding organizer, I only work with professional evening leaders and I know how to determine during the first meeting whether a wedding leader is a professional. However, if you don't want to delve into these infinite nuances and just want to enjoy the wedding planning process, I recommend that you contact a wedding planner. In that case, you will be sure to experience your dream wedding without unnecessary stress and worries.

Author of the article: Oksana spakova | Wedding Fairy

Wedding leaders: Aleksander Zinko , Kristaps Rasims, Renārs Zeltiņš

Wedding photographers: Miks šēls , Klaids Lielbiksis , Linda Ungure, Santa Apšeniece , Lichttrunken , Amanda Gillian photography