Hugh Jackman & Your Wedding

The Associated Press reports that Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in the "X-Men" movies, Van Helsing in the 2004 motion picture of the same name, and who will star in the upcoming "Australia" with Nicole Kidman, will host the 81st annual Academy Awards.

So what does this have to do with your wedding? Plenty!

YOUR WEDDING IS VERY MUCH LIKE THE ACADEMY AWARDS.

You and your guests are the stars of the night, and you are planning a lavish evening with great food and great entertainment at a very nice location.

• Many of you will hire a producer to help you scout locations and organize the finer details of the evening...in other words, you will hire a coordinator who will help you find locations for your ceremony & reception and help you put everything together.


• You will hire a Hair & makeup artist to make you look stunning.


• You will wear a gorgeous dress to walk down the red carpet...umm, aisle.


• The men, of course, will be in tuxedoes.


• Your set designer...ummm, decorator/linen specialist/florist will help you with the decor and look of the room.


• Like the Academy Awards, you will have photojournalists & cinematographers (photographers & videographers) to document the evening and take pictures of your guests (which hopefully won't get splashed on the tabloids the next day... :)


• The awards show will have many important presenters and speakers. Your wedding will have speeches by the Best Man, Maid of Honor, and other important guests.


• The organizers of the Academy Awards take a year or more to plan for the awards show. Most of you will take a year or more to plan for your wedding.


• The Academy Awards is a big-budget production. Your wedding may be a big-budget production.

And of course, there is Hugh Jackman. As the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, he is in charge of keeping the party interesting, flowing smoothly, and dealing with any awkward pauses in the presentation. He informs the audience as to what is going on, directs the activities, and guides the presentation.

OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS, HUGH JACKMAN WILL PREPARE & REHEARSE FOR HIS ROLE AS THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES.

He will not go into it unprepared. With the awards show in February, Mr. Jackman will take the next three months preparing his presentation, going over what he has to say, and rehearsing it over and over until it becomes second nature.

The result of all of Hugh Jackman's preparation and rehearsal will be a very smooth, very entertaining awards show that will be enjoyed by everyone. Those who attend will have some very good memories of what happened, especially if their movie won an award.

HUGH JACKMAN WILL NOT SIMPLY SHOW UP ON FEBRUARY 22 AND TRY TO "WING IT."

If he did, don't you think the awards show would look very unpolished and unprofessional? If the audience tuned out of the broadcast because they were not entertained, don't you think that the organizers wasted their time and money? And wouldn't the terrible news be all over the tabloids and Internet the next day, as what happened with Britney Spears' "comeback performance" at the 2007 MTV VMAs?

So for your wedding "awards show"...will you have a Master of Ceremonies like Hugh Jackman, who will be well-prepared and rehearsed for the presentation, and give you a party that you and your guests will happily remember forever? Or will you have someone who has had little preparation and will try to "wing it", potentially giving you a bad party that will be the hot topic of watercooler gossip at work or among family for years?

Stuff to think about...