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Master of ceremony - MC - in English
Weddings are exciting in their own in
any way, they're even more thrilling when different cultures smash to
each other and you're the one who should keep peace and order. As MC of
many bilingual weddings, let me show how it is happening through my
last opportunity when an Englishman married a Hungarian girl.
Organizing the wedding in Hungary
The preliminary meetings were held via Skype - as none of us wanted to
cross 2000 km. We talked about the schedule of the day, cleared which
traditions we keep from the two cultures, and agreed in many questions.
Before the big day we met once more in person - in my office - to
recheck the schedule and to close a few still open questions. This time
I helped finding the perfect music for a few moments as well.
Day of the wedding
On Saturday I arrived sharply - as Englishmen are known to be very
punctual. The first task was to catch up all the local information I
needed from the local event organizer. The decoration was 99% ready,
and we were waiting for the weather to decide if it wanted to rain or
not. After 15 minutes the groom arrived with his best man and all the
ushers and we all decided, that we risk the rain and prepared the scene
on the terrace for the wedding ceremony.
The first guests arrived and the first Guinness beers were draught in
the bar.
During the arrivals, I checked in at the registrar - we agreed how I
translate her words to English (it was an official translation, I even
signed the book). Then I set the ring bearer little boy and the
flower-girls, music in and the bride arrived with his father, stepping
down on the stairs as a princess.
Hungarian official wedding - the registrar
The official wedding in Hungary has 3 parts:
1st -
official part
Has to be translated properly, no
music, has to say "yes" in Hungarian ("Igen" [ighen]), signing the
book, witnesses present
2nd -
"decorative elements"
Speech by the registrar, quotations,
changing the rings, songs, greeting the parents, etc.
This is when music has importance.
3rd - closing with champagne
The registrar closes the ceremony and
the couple, the parents and the witnesses drink champagne
The translation become a bit hard, as the registrar quoted many poets.
I tried to translate them... I interpreted Gyula Juhász this way:
"There
are days, which won't fade away, then stay forever,
And shine as stars on the sky, Light
up spring, summer, fall and winter.
Oh, big day, Oh nice day, blessed
from this moment,
Bring us new song, new light, new
world - till time ends"
(I would say they don't sound bad in English, and they mean the same as
in Hungarian.)
After the ceremony we got the congratulations. While people were
queueing, I was handing out the rice to everyone, so after the last
guest in the queue, it was easy to announce it.
MC speaking English AND Hungarian - how to solve a bilingual
wedding?
Speaking in both languages needs an extra effort from me, as I don't
want to repeat everything twice, everything twice... So I "invented"
ZIG-ZAG Speaking. This is how it's done:
Hungarian
info1
English info1 + 2
Hungarian info2 + 3
English info 3
Hungarian ending
English ending
This way it is not boring and it has almost the same dynamics as
natural speaking without translation. Of course it burns out my mind
after 6 hours, but I'm getting used to it. :)
Dinner, toasts, speeches, traditions
After entering the restaurant, I greeted the guests, properly
introduced myself and we watched a short clip about the couple on the
big screen. At the end they entered the room in a huge applause.
In Hungary it's a tradition, that toasts and speeches are before the
dinner. This time by the groom's family's tradition we started
dinner and had the speeches after it.
Before we started the speeches there was a bet, how long the best man's
speech would be. We passed a beer mug, everyone put one Pound in it (or
300 HUF) and wrote his/her bet on a paper. Whoever was the closest
would get the whole money in the mug.
The bride's father started - who surprised everyone speaking English. I
translated him to Hungarian. Then came the groom who spoke shortly
about childhood and maturity, thanked everyone for coming and finally
mentioned that his mother had flown for the first time in her life to
get to Hungary for this wedding. Then came the best man, who told
short, but meaningful stories about the groom, mentioning all the seven
professions the groom already tried, and closed with big thanks for the
bride, settling down him. His speech was 31 min. 21 sec.
Opening dance - and the party starts
At the moment the speeches ended, fireworks started and everyone
gathered around it outside.
When they came in, we already set up the dancing field and the band was
already on his place for the grand opening dance. The couple was quite
well-prepared, their choreography was stunning, at the end I invited in
the parents, then after a minute or so the family and finally the
friends.
From this point the party went on its own, the band's play was great.
Before the wedding cake we had my own candle-waltz where all the guests
were standing in a circle with a candle in their hand, the couple
danced in the middle and at the end, after everyone has blown their
candle the wedding cake came in with sparkling jet on its top.
After having the cake it was easy to build up the party again, the band
played tunes which were well known for everyone. At midnight I
introduced the bride's dance (menyasszonytánc) and all the male guests
equally fought for the last chance to dance with the bride. This time
we made it clear, that Hungarian music is enjoyable for even Englishmen.
After the bride's dance we let the band to have a short break and I
played the hits of the charts of the 60's 70's and 80's from my iPod.
When the band got over the music again it was time to answer the
groom's invitation and drink with him a fine cold Guinness.
Summary
- I'm always certain at the beginning of a multicultural event,
that if everyone is up to enjoy it - it will be fantastic. My most
important job is to eliminate the walls between the different
languages, and to do it without showing, it's a big effort.
- The best job I do is when no one can spot I'm working.
master
of ceremony mc
in english
hungarian
mc english
speaking mc
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