Weddings Ceremony setup: front or back?

Bill Kexel said:

Where do you typically set up for a ceremony?

I prefer to set up in the back behind the guests either to the right or left.
I don't want to be up front & have all the guests watching me during the ceremony, or in the photos. Plus by being in the back it is easier to coordinate things without guests seeing you running to & fro.

The only problem I have is if it's a large wedding (lots of guests) when they are standing, they can become a wall/barrier to the signals to the wireless mics. I've had weddings where the minister forgets to ask everyone to be seated.

This past Saturday, I had that happen, I could see the RF meter dropping in & out. I was able to get the minister's attention & motion for everyone to be seated. He got the hint & asked them all to be seated.

Is there a device that will help amplifiy the signal for my (2) EV RE2 wireless mics? (or other mics) and does it work well?

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How about setting up off to the side? That would be a good compromise.

Sharkfin antennas. I forget the actual name.

The GTD Audio mic systems are good for about 400 feet indoors and about 600 outdoors.

The gtd mics have a better range but to use your evs either a fin or just get the antenna above the crowd. I've also seen some 1/2 save antennas on eBay you might try.

I just got a set of 1/2 wave antennas for my ATW 2000 and had zero drop outs at Saturday's ceremony. I set up to the side near the back.

I tested the new antenna by putting the transmitter in the car with the radio on for reference. The receiver was inside the house at the back, so the signal had to go thru the car and the wall of the house. Not a great distance, but around the same distance in a ceremony situation.

The Pastor inadvertently rubbed the mic with his clothing quite a bit which added a nice scratchy sound.

rickryan.com said:

The gtd mics have a better range but to use your evs either a fin or just get the antenna above the crowd. I've also seen some 1/2 save antennas on eBay you might try.

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The GTDs have better range than what? Hopefully you are not referring to the EVs. I have MCs who take my mics out in the parking lots and they still transmit. My Rack faces me, the Receiver and Antennae are just about 18" from the floor and all this behind a solid Facade.

ahoustondj said:

The GTDs have better range than what? Hopefully you are not referring to the EVs. I have MCs who take my mics out in the parking lots and they still transmit. My Rack faces me, the Receiver and Antennae are just about 18" from the floor and all this behind a solid Facade.

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That EV RE2 appears to use a 1/2 wave antenna setup. Funny, none of their spec. sheets actually show a listed range of operation. Most of the wireless units I've seen go to about 300 feet and I believe most of those use a 1/4 wave antenna. I'd be curious to see what a GTD would do with a 1/2 wave on it.

Bill Kexel said:

Where do you typically set up for a ceremony?

I prefer to set up in the back behind the guests either to the right or left.
I don't want to be up front & have all the guests watching me during the ceremony, or in the photos. Plus by being in the back it is easier to coordinate things without guests seeing you running to & fro.

The only problem I have is if it's a large wedding (lots of guests) when they are standing, they can become a wall/barrier to the signals to the wireless mics. I've had weddings where the minister forgets to ask everyone to be seated.

This past Saturday, I had that happen, I could see the RF meter dropping in & out. I was able to get the minister's attention & motion for everyone to be seated. He got the hint & asked them all to be seated.

Is there a device that will help amplifiy the signal for my (2) EV RE2 wireless mics? (or other mics) and does it work well?

Click to expand...

I'm not an engineer but here is what I have done to combat the issue you are having. Unless you are more 250 ft away you should not have an issue with uhf. Check your open frequency chart for your area. I did a quick check and if you are between 614-638 you will have signal strength issues. Try a different channel 644-650 or 674-676. These are showing open frequencies in your area. Antenna placement (V) shape was to be the best from what I was told. Multiple systems close by can cause issues as well. Try one at a time to see if they will operate correctly. Change to a different channel and see if that works.

My Sennheiser iem system was dropping out like crazy at 150ft. Checked out that I was very close to the TV channel in my area. Moved to a higher channel and had no issues. I have a list of channels that I can use in different areas when I travel to do different events. I am running 4 Shure PGX UHF hand helds, 3 Sennheiser G3 lav mics and the Sennheiser G3 IEM all at the same time and keeping a close eye on geographic location and open channels it has worked much better than trial and error.

Hope it works out for you.

I prefer to set up at the side or the back corner. Back center is bad usually the photographer gets the bride entrance picture there and I don't want to spoil anyones pictures. Ceremonies are a great up-sell second only to up-lighting for me.

Bill Kexel said:

In most cases I do. I'll set up in either an 8:00/9:00 oclock position on the left, or 4:00/3:00 position on the right, but in some cases it's not possible. It's usually a 7 or 8. Plus my EV mics are dual rack mounted on the top of my (podium type) case with the antennas on top. I used to have them rack mounted in the front (facing me) & that turned out to be problematic.

Someone had posted a product that acts as a signal booster, but I forgot the name of it.

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Bill,
There are a few things you have to do with the EVs EVERY time you use them, especially from one place to another. First you need to do a scan on the first one until it finds and locks into the best available frequency for that place and time. Second, manually repeat the Group # on the second receiver but manually select and change to another channel.
So for instance if the first receiver after scan gives you Group 12, Ch 6 then you should set the second receiver to Group 12 Channel 10. Needless to say your handheld should correspond with it's receiver. Hope this helps. Maybe that is what you already do.

I use 2 RE2 lavs (and an RE2 handheld) in my ceremony rack, and have them all going into a single EV APD4+. This nifty unit is a single-space antennae combiner and amplifier that lets you combine the signals for up to 4 EV mic units into one pair of antennae. I have a sing pair of 1/2 wav top-mounted on my rack. Another cool benefit of this - kind of a bonus - is that it acts as power distro for the mics as well, so it gets rid of all the dead weight of the EV wall warts inside your rack.

ZERO dropouts so far with this setup - had it for about a year now. Ben at NLFX hooked me up with it.

Not the cheapest solution, but the best solutions rarely are.

@ Sounds To Go, Hey you ole buzzard! Where have you been hiding?

It's been far too long Kanute, hasn't it? I hope to be around more again now. A lot of good folk I miss and need to catch up with/on.

Sounds To Go said:

It's been far too long Kanute, hasn't it? I hope to be around more again now. A lot of good folk I miss and need to catch up with/on.

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Well welcome back my friend! Sit a spell!Take yer shoes off!, Come back now, hyar!

ALWAYS set up at the back for the ceremony

I am not sure if this applies to everyone's mic system but my AT 3000 series has a menu option in the transmitter to select the signal strength. The factory setting is low so I switch it to high for outdoor ceremonies and for other times I feel it's needed. Sometimes it pays to read the manual guys.

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I did an outdoor wedding a few weeks and the closest power was behind the audience. I was about 15 yards from the last row and another 30 to 40 yards from the front where the ceremony was taking place and the GTD's sounded great. Had the preacher mic'd and a handheld for the soloist. Not a single drop out. Antenna's were inside the rack about 3 feet off the ground and everyone clearly heard every word.

Where?

Anywhere but front. I will go with whatever is logistically sound (pun intended) and "out of the way". Never front, too much action and video and pictures and the last thing they want is the DJ in the middle of all that. At the reception...Fornt and center please. hahaha