Weddings Sound for the Ceremony - Is One Handheld Mic Enough?

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cinepro

cinepro

DJ Extraordinaire
Jun 11, 2018
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I have usually only done the music for the dinner and reception, but I have two upcoming weddings where a small ceremony is being done right before the dinner. They weren't planning on having sound, but both are outside, so I offered to let them use my equipment.

I have a Sennheiser wireless handheld mic, and several wired mics. I was just planning on setting up my Yamaha DXR12s and using my small 4 channel mixer to run any music they might want.

My question is if it is too ghetto to just have one handheld mic that the officiant and bride and groom use (and pass around)? I'm obviously not going to go with body packs and multiple lavelier mics, but I have other wired mics as an option.

So the question is, what is the bare minimum for a respectable setup during the ceremony? In the future, I'll focus more on this aspect and upcharge the sound for the ceremony and buy some better equipment, but for now, I'm just getting by.
 
A typical ceremony for me is one headset/lav mic on the officiant. Some guys like to put a 2nd headset/lav on the groom. I usually only have a hand-held for other people who are doing readings. Never try to use a wired mic for a ceremony as it shows up in pictures.
 
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cinepro said:
I'm obviously not going to go with body packs and multiple lavelier mics, but I have other wired mics as an option.

So the question is, what is the bare minimum for a respectable setup during the ceremony? In the future, I'll focus more on this aspect and upcharge the sound for the ceremony and buy some better equipment, but for now, I'm just getting by.
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It sounds like you know it's not the right way to do it... but plan to anyway. If the client's expectations are low, then perhaps it is enough.

The key to wedding ceremonies is not ruining their photos. They key to not ruining their photos is by not having big, visible mics in every shot. And the only way to do that is lapel mics.
 
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well said Ross. I also hide the omni mic under the shirt (behind the tie) or whatever so the mic is invisible. Also helps with wind noise if outside.
 
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I tried out a new guy last night and he took an interesting approach on ceremony sound. He hid a bodypack/lav in a flower arrangement, behind the minister. At first it struck me strange but sound was very good. This was indoors for 90 guests. The minister was standing about 3 feet in front of the where the mic was hidden. Food for thought.
 
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TES3S said:
well said Ross. I also hide the omni mic under the shirt (behind the tie) or whatever so the mic is invisible. Also helps with wind noise if outside.
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One of my approaches that works well. One less thing to interfere , ( Wind )
 
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rickryan.com said:
I tried out a new guy last night and he took an interesting approach on ceremony sound. He hid a bodypack/lav in a flower arrangement, behind the minister. At first it struck me strange but sound was very good. This was indoors for 90 guests. The minister was standing about 3 feet in front of the where the mic was hidden. Food for thought.
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I would think the gain would have to be incredibly high for this to work.
 
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ittigger said:
I would think the gain would have to be incredibly high for this to work.
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Me too. I was shooting pics at the side of the wedding party. Kept thinking, "this ain't gonna work" but it worked very, very well. You could hear the preach and the B&G perfectly and all at the same volume (no swells like when I'm trying to ride gain).
 
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I use a lav mic for the officiant,
and I sometimes add a handheld on a very short stand in between the B&G.
(short enough to stay out of the pictures)

I am considering getting a shotgun mic and/or a parabolic dish....
so I can be well out of picture range.
but I really want to field test one before I buy anything..
 
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rickryan.com said:
Me too. I was shooting pics at the side of the wedding party. Kept thinking, "this ain't gonna work" but it worked very, very well. You could hear the preach and the B&G perfectly and all at the same volume (no swells like when I'm trying to ride gain).
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I would have been skeptical as well, especially as it was placed behind the minister. Any idea what make/model of bp and mic he was using?
 
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