Why Do I Need A Sound System for My Outdoor Ceremony?

No matter how perfect the setting, your wedding ceremony won't be much fun for your family and friends if they can't hear what is going on. If you are planning a very small ceremony--under 50 people or so--a sound system may not be necessary. In the vast majority of cases, however, the benefits provided by a dedicated ceremony sound system and a qualified operator far outweigh the costs. A PA system is especially important if you are having an outdoor ceremony.

Outdoor Ceremony Sound Reason #1 : Ambient Noise & Wind
Even for someone whose voice carries well in an indoor setting like a church or courtroom, moving outdoors is a completely different ballgame:

Is your ceremony setting near a roadway? You now have traffic noise to compete with.
Are there any trees or shrubs? If there is any wind whatsoever, rustling leaves can be quite loud.
There are no walls to contain the sound and reflect it back inward. Even if your wedding is in the middle of the desert and there is zero wind, voices won't carry as well as they do indoors.

Outdoor Ceremony Sound Reason #2: Volume Consistency
Ok, let's say your wedding is going to be in the middle of the desert, you are 100% positive there will be no wind AND your officiant has a great voice. You're set, right? Not exactly.

The officiant won't be the only person talking at your reception. You're going to repeat your vows, you might have a scripture or poetry reading, there may be a vocalist, etc. In the case of your vows, you're most likely going to be facing each other--so your voice isn't pointed toward the crowd--and you probably don't exactly want to scream into your partner's face anyway.

Ideally, you want your guests to be able to hear and enjoy everything in its entirety--including your vows. This is much easier to accomplish when microphones are used, as the operator can adjust the volume to ensure each person is heard appropriately.

Outdoor Ceremony Sound Reason #3: Musical Flexibility
Are you planning to have live musicians provide the music for your wedding ceremony prelude, processional, and recessional? If so, you may think that reduces the need for a PA system. However most instruments suffer the same effects of wind and ambient noise as speech--and while you can ask them to play louder there is generally a limitation on how loud is possible (or it will come at the expense of volume dynamics and expression).

Or perhaps you have musicians to play the processional and recessional--but not the prelude as guests are arriving. Then what?

Having an appropriate ceremony sound system helps overcome these issues. In the cases of electronic instruments like a keyboard, the musician can feed their signal directly into our speakers--which are positioned for optimum coverage of your entire audience. For string and wind instruments, microphones are positioned appropriately to amplify the sound--which allows for greater total volume, far better control over volume, and more even coverage of your guests.

If you aren't having live musicians--or only have live music planned for certain components of your ceremony--we can play recorded music through our system with no hassle whatsoever.

Outdoor Ceremony Sound Reason #4: Skilled & Experienced Operator
Perhaps you could rent or borrow or equipment at a lower cost than using our full-service wedding ceremony PA coverage. You may even know someone with a little bit of experience doing live sound for their band or church to run it for you. But there are significant disadvantages.

Our personnel are specifically trained in doing sound for wedding ceremonies--and experienced with this specific situation and the potential problems that may develop.

They know who to watch for coming down the aisle, and can fade out a song early if you and your wedding party walk down the aisle quickly--or make adjustments to seamlessly repeat the last verse so the music doesn't run out when you're still 10 rows away from your groom.

Microphones are only live when they're in use. The microphone sitting on a stand off to the side for the poetry reading won't be picking up wind noise or snickers from the groomsmen. Your officiant can help direct the flower girl and ring bearer where to go as they come to the front without your guests hearing him. Your musicians can switch their sheet music without everyone hearing the pages rustle through the speakers. Don't risk a careless comment being heard by every one of your guests--get a full service package with an operator specifically experienced with providing wedding ceremony sound.

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Toasting Tips

Generally, the best man and maid of honor are each expected to propose a toast to the bride and groom during the reception. We will communicate with you at the reception to determine exactly when and how the toasts will occur. Having seen our fair share of poorly executed toasts, here are some suggestions to help make you look like a rock star.

Plan - Take time at least a few days before the wedding to think about what you are going to say. You may find it helpful to write your speech out in its entirety, but when you deliver it at the reception try not to read it word-for-word. Instead of a complete script, we recommend making a few notes (an outline or key words) on an index card. You can lay the note card on the table and glance at it as needed to make sure you’re on the right track, and it will sound much more natural. This method allows you to make eye contact with the bride and/or groom, as well as the audience, instead of just looking at a piece of paper for the entire speech.

Content - What you choose to say is up to you, but here are some things that may help get you started:

Start with a brief introduction, making sure to identify your relationship with the bride and groom.
Determine whether you are going to give a more touching speech or a more humorous one. Keep this tone in mind as you write your speech.
Describe the bride or groom before they met their new spouse, and then how you’ve seen that person change after they met.
A quote, story of how the bride and groom first met, or a fond memory of you with one or both of them may also be nice to include.
Keep your content PG-rated—there may be children or elderly guests present.
Avoid making the bride or groom look bad or mentioning anything that might be embarrassing.
Keep your speech light-hearted. Guests want to be entertained—not taught a life lesson.
Don’t forget to raise your glass! Often, less experienced toasters get so caught up in the story aspect they trail off and pass the microphone without ever raising their glasses to salute the bride and groom. Decide how you’re going to finish your toast ahead of time—a special wish, recited traditional toast, or blessing of the bride and groom all work well. Raise your glass with a resounding congratulations or cheers, and don't forget to clink glasses and drink to your own toast!

Delivery - Make sure that everyone can see and hear you as you make your awesome speech.

Stand with good posture and hold the microphone at your chin to make sure it picks up your voice so all guests can hear you.
Your speech does not have to be long—no longer than three to five minutes or people start to get antsy.
Engage your audience by looking out across the room and also at the bride and groom—glance down at your notes only when you need to.
If you know you are likely to get emotional during your speech, be prepared with kleenex or a hankerchief.
Remember to enjoy the moment and have fun!

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Maid of Honor and Best Man Guide

As the maid of honor or best man, you have been selected by the bride and groom to have a special role at their wedding. This role is important during both the ceremony and the reception. There are many things you can do to ensure that their day is extraordinary, and here are a few tips to help you along the way:

Reception Entrance
Generally, your master of ceremonies will introduce the bridal party as you enter the reception. Parents and grandparents are normally introduced from their seats, then ushers are announced as they enter, followed by the bridal party, and finally the bride and groom. The bridal party normally enters with the best man and maid/matron of honor right before the bride and groom enter. The master of ceremonies will make sure everyone is in the right order before announcing you, however it is helpful for you to have some understanding of how this will work and keep the rest of the bridal party organized in one place so we don’t have to chase anyone down.

Bridal Party Dance
Help the bride and groom with song suggestions if they need it and make sure the rest of the bridal party is informed about when the bridal party dance will occur. When the time for the dance is approaching, keep an eye out for those involved and make sure they are present.

Money Dance
The concept of the money or dollar dance is that guests pay for the privilege of dancing with the bride and groom. This dance gives the bride and groom a way to spend a few moments with each guest and thank them for coming. The money is often used for the honeymoon or just to give them a little extra cash to start their lives together.

Collect money from participating guests on behalf of the bride or groom. Usually the maid of honor collects money for the bride and the best man collects money for the groom.
Keep the line moving. If given the opportunity, some guests will dance with the bride or groom for a whole song—which isn’t practical if there are 10 to 20 other people in line. To keep the money dance from dragging on, we recommend sending a guest to cut in after 20 to 30 seconds.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

You and the rest of the wedding party help set the mood for the event and other guests will look to you as an example. Your presence on the dance floor will encourage other guests to come out and dance as well.
Don’t drink to excess. Especially before your toast, alcohol can do more than just loosen you up—it can lead you to make a not-so-positive impression of yourself or the rest of the wedding party. Have fun, but know your limits.

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A Great Sound System: The Key to a Flawless Wedding Ceremony!

Your guests are taking time out of their lives--and often also traveling great distances--to share your wedding day. You should make sure that they are able to clearly hear the ceremony take place.

With all our services, we strive to do things the right way--even if the right way isn't the cheapest. Our ceremony sound package is no exception.

Wireless lapel microphone
Our ceremony sound package utilizes a high quality wireless lapel microphone with a large-area pickup pattern. Your guests will be able to hear the officiant--and every word of your wedding vows to each other will be crystal clear.

Microphones on stands for readers or vocalists
Whether you have someone read scripture, a poem, or share their vocal talents, it won't add much to the ceremony if the guests can't hear them. We provide microphones on stands as necessary to accommodate the specifics of your ceremony--and make sure everyone is heard!

Amplification for live musicians
If you choose to have live musicians provide some or all of your ceremony music, we can provide amplification through our sound system to enhance their performance. No matter the instrumentation, we will work with your musicians to provide them input into our system, or mic their instruments. We've worked with harps, string quartets, brass and woodwind ensembles, piano/keyboard players, guitars, and more!

A complete second sound system
We use dedicated equipment for all ceremony packages. This makes us more expensive than some providers, however provides significant technical and logistical advantages. Because the ceremony system is completely separate, the reception system is completely set up and ready to go for a smooth, immediate transition. Background music will be playing inside the reception venue as soon as your ceremony concludes. Using two systems also allows much better opportunity to test and adjust each sound system for its intended purpose--which is hugely important in avoiding microphone feedback and other problems.

Prelude music starting 30 minutes before ceremony
All ceremony-related equipment will be completely set up a minimum of 30 minutes before your scheduled start time. Unless you have live musicians playing the prelude, we will provide background music as guests are arriving and being seated.

Experienced DJ attendant
While we strive to be hidden in our role of a wedding ceremony, we do a lot to ensure everything goes smoothly. We have mute controls on all microphones--so your officiant or reader won’t have to remember to turn their microphone on or off. Any microphone not in use will be muted--which reduces the opportunity for screeching feedback or unnecessary wind noise. In addition, keeping microphones muted until they're needed allows private communication among your wedding party--if the officiant is instructing you prior to walking down the aisle or during a sand ceremony, your guests won't hear every comment. We are always monitoring and adjusting volumes to ensure optimal volume for your guests to hear what is taking place. On the music side, we are prepared to adjust songs longer or shorter as necessary. If your flower girl and ring bearer take some coaxing before they proceed, we're ready to keep the music playing until they make it to the front. If your wedding party walks down the aisle quicker than in rehearsal, we'll fade out and avoid the awkward waiting as everyone stands at the front waiting for the song to finish.

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