Wedding with no PA system???

[mark-mvs]

So yesterday's wedding was a first for me. It was a full sized wedding (about 130 guests) outdoors at a resort and there was.... no mic system for the guests to hear the officiant or bride or groom. Has this ever happened to you guys before? I thought ALL large outdoor weddings used some sort of PA system for the guests. As a result you couldn't hear anything of the ceremony (but you heard plenty of boat engines as the resort was on a lake!)

Anyway I put a lav mic on the officiant and ran it to my Zoom H4n. I've only spot checked the audio at this point but it seems to have come out fine. I guess I won't make assumptions about wedding ceremonies and PA systems in the future.

[DavidPartington]

The one I shot yesterday had no PA system and was outdoors.   I had a wireless lave on the groom that picked up the B+G+Reg, a wireless lav on the registrar's table (the registrar was stood behind the table) that also picked up the B+G+Reg (I like to have backups!) and a Zoom H4n with a Rode NTG2 in a Rode Blimp + a Shure SM58S plugged in to capture the readings and the 4 person choir.  Wind was a little bit of a problem for the choir but I think the Blimp did it's job and it's all worked out OK.

Normally my ceremonies are all indoors because you just can't trust the British weather!

My biggest issue is when the speeches come at the end of the wedding breakfast (the 'meal' for those who don't know what a wedding breakfast is!) and there are 280 guests and no PA.  While I have wireless mics (and usually a Zoom too) by the speakers, if the people at the back (where I am with the camera) can't hear, they get bored and start talking amongst themselves.  It's pretty rude IMO because the noise in the room just gets louder and louder and soon no one can hear the people speak.  Nasty.

[HankCastello]

We have a Peavy portable PA system which we rent out for such occasions.  Our online form that the bride fills out, asks about PA and DJ, etc.  When there is no PA, especially if outdoors, we push pretty strongly for our system to be used.  Have only used it a dozen times in past three years, but it saved the day everytime.

[HankCastello]

Forgot to mention, we paid about $300 USD on ebay (used) for the Peavy, and rented it out for about $60 a whack, meaning we've earned more than double what we paid, plus got some personal use out of it (oops! is the IRS monitoring this thread???) and it helped our videos since I always tapped the device and often people would come up and take the mike to offer toasts, etc. and once to sing.  Those people would have been unmiked otherwise.

[Waldemar]

Yes, I notice this happening more and more often.  Frankly, that is just fine with me.  Fewer issues to have to resolve.

In the recent past most of the wedding PA systems  I had to experience were those provided by DJ's who had no experience with multiple microphones in invariably placed a directional hand mic on a floor stand in the vicinity of the ceremony and placed loudspeakers at the back of the "house" aimed directly at the wedding couple.  When feedback occurred (I could almost time it with a watch) the DJ usually had no idea how to solve the issue nor the necessary equipment if he had any knowledge regarding the problem.  It only took one of those frightening experiences for me to make clear in both contract and consultation that loudspeaker placement for a ceremony was under my direct control.  The on-site reality was more like, "Hey, guys, if the loudspeakers are placed here and there, feedback probably won't happen, and we can all focus what we were paid to do.  I'll be glad to help move the gear."
The "Hey Guys" thing worked so well I quit providing on-site PA systems.  Less headache, less backache, less inventory, less property use tax.  More focus upon what I was paid to do.

Since the "recent past" referred to earlier several of the DJ's I usually work with have gotten better, or something, as the feed back issues have diminished. It could also be I have chosen to limit my annual wedding video projects to six.  In any case, live PA systems during wedding ceremonies are not as common in my area.
That said, a wedding ceremony ... particularly an outdoor wedding ceremony ... for more than 30 guests without a PA strikes me as very odd.