Will you be bringing a microphone to the ceremony?
"Will I still need the DJ for sound?" Videographers get these questions a lot. The microphones we use are not the same as the ones used to amplify sound to the loudspeakers. Even wedding officiants and planners are often confused by the whole microphone thing. When we shoot video of the ceremony, we always strive to make the best and clearest sound recording possible.

That means we need to put a mic on the minister, the groom, the readings and the music. Our mics go directly to our video cameras only. When you talk into our mics it will not go to the loudspeakers. The sound guy, often the DJ or Audio Visual tech at the venue may also be putting microphones on the same subjects so that the sound can be amplified to loudspeakers. Sometimes the sound techs use a mix board and other times they'll have a simple PA system (Public Address system) that they'll set-up and leave unattended.

 Each microphone has a different purpose. If there is a professional sound tech who we know and trust with a mix board who'll be monitoring and mixing sound the entire time, we sometimes take a feed from their board. If it's a simple PA system that a hotel A/V tech has set up for amplification, we typically will not use their feed for our primary sound source because it may not be reliable. We cannot risk something as important as our clients' ceremony sound to the possibility of receiving nothing but static or distorted sound.

During the reception we also take a feed from the DJ board to capture clear recordings of your toasts. We can record the DJ's announcements and the music coming from their board. If you are planning an outdoor ceremony, make sure that you have arranged for the right PA system so that your guests can hear the entire ceremony clearly. We'll take care of our video sound.