Bringing your own sound speakers to wedding?

[Adrian Tan]

Does anyone bring / has anyone thought about bringing their own speakers and microphone(s) to weddings?

Would be useful in the following circumstances:

1. Ceremonies where they just use their natural voices and don't have a sound system, especially outdoors
2. Receptions where they don't have a sound system
3. Smaller receptions regardless of whether they have a sound system -- ask them to go through your microphones and speakers instead

[Arthur Gannis]

You gotta be kiddin' ! With all the stuff we already are haulin' around, now we have to think about more stuff. The couple should have thought about hiring a DJ for all their audio needs. The audio without a sound system ? It is what it is.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Adrian

A lot of venues have a house PA but if you are going to do something then do it correctly and get a decent PA. However if the celebrant here doesn't use a PA I'm happy cos my lav mics don't pick up any crappy sound from the celebrants tiny PA system so my audio sounds good.

Nope, I don't think it's worth trying to become a sound system supplier as well ..can't see the point and as Arthur says ...more gear to carry. Let the DJ or celebrant handle it!

Chris

[Don Bloom]

What Arthur and Chris said.
Listen, Adrian...At some point you have to be willing to say to yourself and the clients..."it is what it is...you didn't hire a DJ or rent a sound system, nothing I can do about it. You didn't hire a baker to bake your cake, nothing I can do about it, you didn't hire an officiant to marry you...nothing I can do about it."
If you don't learn those words, you'll be needing a 45 foot tractor trailer to move your gear.
Sorry but it is what it is.

[Steven Davis]

I tried to get Don to tote my PA system around, but he refused. So unless I can get him on board, I don't plan to bring my own system.

[Don Bloom]

You did try but I did say No! ;-) I couldn't get to your place in time.

[John Knight]

I do.

It has made a world of difference to the quality of speeches, especially no more hassles trying to get decent feeds from DJ's and/or inhouse systems. I just park this baby in the corner, hide the existing mic and replace with my own. Then plug a Sennheiser transmitter into the line out. Wouldn't do a wedding without it!

MIPRO - Products

[Noa Put]

I do.

Although the idea sounds great this wouldn't work with the majority of the weddings I do, most venue have their own soundssystem with speaker attached to the ceiling and spread out across the room so they can assure everyone can hear what a speaker says, a soundsystem like you have wouldn't cope with such an environment, and they certainly wouldn't let me switch out microphones to bypass their system.

Also something to think about is that if there is a malfunction of some kind, you have to fix it, not the dj so that's another thing to worry about.

I could see it working in some very limited cases such as very small weddings where they have a "rent a priest" and when there is no sound system in place, those guys often bring their own sound device, similar to that mirpo soundspeaker so if you could persuade him to leave his gear in the trunk then it would work.

I have seen Philippine videographers that bring their own (big) lights on a stand to place in the church and in the venue actually dictating what the mood should look like to suite their videoproduction, this is somewhat the same as bringing your own soundsystem, in both cases you'd increase productionvalue but in my country that would be not done, they expect you to deal with whatever they give you.

[James Manford]

Lol ... No Thank You

Like we don't have enough to lug around already!

[Don Bloom]

Noa brings up a good point.
If there were to be some sort of malfunction with the sound system that you bring and insist on having everyone use, you lose. You either have to troubleshoot and fix it or it might cost you money when you refund some cash to the couple due to faulty equipment and "ruining their wedding". also placement of the speakers might have to be such that some people can't hear. Ooops, let me adjust things while I'm trying to do my main job and that is shoot the wedding.
I'm sorry but that is not something I want to get into. As it is, if they find one little thing they don't like about the video they're on the good ole interweb threatening you with lawyers and bad reviews.
Just sayin...anything can happen and when it does...BAM! It blows up real hard, real fast and it's usually in our face. Why tempt fate.

[Chris Harding]

We have many venues here where the DJ is not allowed to bring his PA. Only his desk! The venues all have their own in-house systems so that's less for the DJ to carry and less to worry about breaking down too.

Our celebrants also use Mipro portable systems ..they usually work quite well but would be totally inadequate for any venue. One DJ brought one to a hotel venue and it was awful!!

Chris

[Robert Benda]

I do use this kind of setup for ceremony rentals, but definitely not for free.

Chris, I looked up that portable system. Wow. Not good stuff. Rated up to 111db with their "average" being 96db (readings are typically at 1 meter) and 190 watts which is not very impressive.

I would recommend the speakers I use, EV ELX112p, or something similarly professional, so you can rise above the various background noises at every wedding. That speaker which can do two inputs, (it has two XLR inputs) can plug in a mic, or an RCA, so it's pretty flexible, but gets up to 132db at 1000w. Of course, you wouldn't use it that loud, but the extra head room means it will sound a lot better than pushing that MiPro junk to it's limit. When I use it outdoors, I also bring a battery system to run power.

The problem with bringing your own gear is being flexiblity to cover various situations. Even if it's a simple setup, I will still have one wireless microphone (a good one, not cheap junk that sounds bad or can only go 100 feet) backed up by a corded microphone (with 50 foot cable) and if I'm to be relied upon for a ceremony, a 2nd speaker as backup as well. Various backup cords in case one stops work. An extension cord in case the power plug-in in far away. A tripod to raise the speaker up.

[Paul R Johnson]

This is how I have always operated - Be prepared. A small system quite suitable for speeches consists of as a minimum, a couple of powered speakers on sticks and a microphone/cable. You can get some nice gooseneck mics and a solid base, and provide a perfectly usable system for a modest amount of money. You might be able to charge a bit more for it, but even if you can't - using it improves your product's quality, and solves problems. It takes up little space packed away - and some are actually pretty good, and can have background music or whatever feeding in too. Some people wish to keep equipment and complication to an absolute minimum. Others like the benefits a little more effort generate.

I have a couple of systems - one powered speakers and another with a CD, amp and ipod dock in a small rack. I often take one with me and they get used quite often. Maybe a dance event (I don't do weddings) where they're using a rotten feeble stereo, and they can get a bit more oomph from mine, or parties, or wedding anniversaries with a little light entertainment. For a few hundred pounds having them available gives another edge. I rarely use my jib, but when I need to, it's another tool - same with radio mics and other gadgets.

[Jeff Harper]

Here in Cincinnati the DJ or band always provide a wireless speaker to the toaster, etc. I cannot remember doing a wedding where the DJ or band was not in control of the audio for the toasts, etc. Over there in the UK and other places you guys must do a lot of smaller, more intimate weddings without decent sound reinforcement.

[John Knight]

Hi Jeff, weddings I do here in NZ are usually 80 guests in smaller venues. Since the earthquakes took out all our churches, it's mainly all vineyards, golf courses function rooms etc. The MiPro is 10x better than the inhouse systems which are often echoy and crackley. The MA707 has a rich deep sound, fantastic mic that you don't need to stuff you face into, MP3 via USB, CD, and runs on battery for 8 hours (great for beach weddings). For smaller gigs it's brilliant.

I used to hire it out for $200 - but quickly paid it off. Now I just include it free if it's required - another point of difference from the competition.