Thread by @mclaff_cfr

ANCHORING A NIGERIAN WEDDING: A tour guide. (A THREAD)

Here we go!
A very good afternoon to you all, Let's get to the point ASAP.
My name is David, popularly known as MC Laff. A very funny HANDSOME husband material who is an EmCee, a comedian, ocassional OAP amongst other things

I have anchored weddings across Nigeria and I decided to do a compendium of DOs and DON'Ts of anchoring a wedding reception in a Nigerian setting.

#WeddingMCMasterclass #McLaff

I have seen grand weddings fall off plan due to slight negligencies, I have made mistakes, I have done perfect gigs too. On the overall sha, these are some of the things I have learnt.

I have a lot to say, but I won't want to bore you with 50 slides and above. I will just

touch each point, if you need more explanations, we can do that in the DM via voice notes.
Typing is not easy, so you might want to forgive typos and lexical errors in the course of the class.

After you've done the negotiations and you've been given the gig, it is important that you
1)Know the relevant things you need to know about the couple and family. This cuts across their names, correct pronunciation (very important) where they met, Where they are from, are

their parents still together, is anyone late, can they dance together, brief profile of the couple's parents etc.

You won't want to be caught in the crossfires of divorced parents, or repeatedly pronouncing names wrongly.

2. Draft a skeletal order of program with the couple and affix names of whoever will be taking each segment (say opening prayer, chairman and stuffs like that).

3) On the day, Be properly dressed, you won't want to anchor a wedding reception with joggers and flops (May God

not catch us)

4) Get to the venue early, do your sound check YOURSELF, meet with the DJs, ushers, bouncers and other people you'll be working with and introduce yourself. Try to get closer to the Engr., Dj, and live band.

5) Don't start until the bride and groom are present (not necessarily in the hall) at least they should be in the premise of the event. Severally, you will have the event planners try to push you into starting, POLITELY decline. It is better to start late than to start and take

recess of like one hour waiting for the couple.

As a comedian, there was a time an event planner said I should start with jokes and engage the crowd pending the time the couple will show up, You won't want to know what later happened 😂🤦🏽‍♂😣. Oga! it's a wedding and not a

Comedy show. They are there for the couple, Not you. 😒

Typing is not easy óò 🤦🏽‍♂

6. When you are sure the bride and groom are around, You welcome people into the hall an behalf of the families of (surnames of the bride family and the groom family)
You can draft out your own

signature opening monologue or check on Google. Sha don't waste time on the welcomings.

Try to point the ushers or the 'ask me' guys, the emergency exits the locations of the restrooms, etc.

There are some people who feel irritated when they here the word TOILET when they are eating. You can try using words like restrooms, gents, ladies etc.

Acknowledge the presence of the grooms family first, this is because - Most times, the brides family are always enmeshed in

sorting out hospitality palava at the beginning of event, they fit never get your time. And you know now, it's the brides family that account for an higher percentage of population during weddings. NOTE : The grooms parents should be in front of the train.
#McLaff-InXX

8. When welcoming the couple, Pronounce names correctly, Tell the ushers and bouncers to POLITELY help you clear the aisle. Don't mix up titles and prefixes, i.e don't introduce a Prof as a MR (I will never forget that day at Ogunbanjo Hall, OAU. I apologised pa)

9. You should have made background checks on the chairman and introduce him in two minutes. Some chairmen will give you 5 A4 pages of citation, you don't need all that. make it brief, talk about his title, how long he's been married, a bit about the wife two, hype their marriage.

"With an encouraging round of applause please make welcome the chairman of the day for the chairman's speech. I promise you he won't take much of our time. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr Ademonkey"

Note, the chairman speech should only happen after the couple are already on seat.

I forgot to add, if there will be confetties and smokes for the couple entry, make sure you have announced already. For the sake of the hypertensives and avoid unnecessary panic.
I have seen this disrupt a wedding before. #iLaff

Recognise Royal fathers if any - let the couple be aware of games they'll play - too much surprises aren't fresh - If you will call friends of either of the couple to come and talk about them, do that early into the program. You won't want somebody talking under the influence of

alcohol. He/she might miss-talk (it happens) - The person who will say the testimony about each of them should highlight kind gestures they've made (you can suggest that to the couple friend) - Be very sensitive, Have foresight and read people's faces.

-I'm running through it nw

Do the couple feeding each other thingy and add spice (be creative and spontaneous) - you should have found out if you the couples would like to kiss themselves in public. Don't assume, Some don't like it.

For the parents dance, if you can you have the luxury of a live band

and a DJ, use DJ for the couple and live band for the parents (you should have know the kinda songs they can dance to - Gospel/secular)

Throw the bouquet, do a game around that - you can tell me if you want suggestions.
A game or two extra is okay.

Some people don't like it when people spray money on their forehead, avoid that (Some family members will do like goat though - sha announce) - You must have

trained the groom on the vote of thanks, he should avoid unnecessary specifics.

#WeddingMCMasterclass

Sell your market before leaving.
Introduce yourself, and a succinct advert ( 1½ minutes max) You can tell the groom to do a review video with you. Instagram video length

Drop the mic after a closing remark (max of 4 sentences)
That's all I can do for now.

I hope you learnt a thing or two.
DM me hour questions, I will answer as many as I can.

For your events, corporate or casual, anywhere in Nigeria, I am your guy.

08090573318 (WhatsApp), IG and Twitter - @mclaff_cfr

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