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[Brian Larson]

I have a client that has asked for sound reinforcement for the ceremony of an outdoor wedding under a floral arch. They have requested no visible microphones (even e6 headsets were nixed) so we were thinking of attempting to hide one or more microphones inside the floral arch itself to pick up the officiant and vows.

Has anyone tried this before with success? I imagine the couple will stand just in front of the arch. What pickup pattern would work best in this application? Omni, hypercardiod, shotgun or maybe even a boundary mic? Any specific product recommendations also accepted.

Any suggestions would be great!

[Mike Caldwell]

I have a client that has asked for sound reinforcement for the ceremony of an outdoor wedding under a floral arch. They have requested no visible microphones (even e6 headsets were nixed) so we were thinking of attempting to hide one or more microphones inside the floral arch itself to pick up the officiant and vows.

Has anyone tried this before with success? I imagine the couple will stand just in front of the arch. What pickup pattern would work best in this application? Omni, hypercardiod, shotgun or maybe even a boundary mic? Any specific product recommendations also accepted.

Any suggestions would be great!

Sound reinforcement with no visible microphones!!! Guess who will be first to complain when they can't hear "I do".

If there standing in front of the arch as in their backs are to the arch I think you'll need an other plan.

I can't see where a small lapel mic on the groom and who is conducting the service would not work.
Another idea that was mentioned a while back on this same topic was to clip a mic on the edge of any paperwork used in the service. Will anyone be holding a bouquet, that could be a place to hide a mic.

I have a lapel mic that I painted white along with the most of the cable and use it with a small white windscreen.

[Brian Jojade]

You need to make sure your client understands the trade-offs that their demands are creating.

Using a distant mic for recording purposes can work fairly well, but for amplification, it becomes much more difficult.  In order to prevent feedback, you'll need to make sure your speakers and the area you are trying to increase in volume don't overlap with the source of sound.  If the participants don't speak up enough to overcome that, it's never going to work.

[Helge A Bentsen]

Shotguns (the mic type) is your friend in these applications.

DPA 4017, Sennheiser MKH416 or similar has an impressive «reach» but they need to be aimed well.

[Luke Geis]

Physics do not give a shit about what they want to see......... If they are making you do it that way, make sure that they also know there is no guarantees about the quality of sound or the volume. No one could and even if they paid 10X more money, it wouldn't make the outcome guaranteed or for certain. It comes down to one thing really. MATH. Punch in some PAG/NAG calculations online and you will quickly see what potential you have. Playing with the numbers will allow you to see what the best odds will be. Good use of EQ and expansion will help gain a little bit more. The point of diminishing returns is when you get the PA to be as loud as the officiant and the bride and groom at the mic. Considering typical conversation levels and the Inverse square law, I don't see you getting much better than 80db out of the PA before it's on the verge of feedback.

I did a quick PAG/NAG Calc just now, and using what I assumed would be typical for a 200 person wedding, you are going to have issues. You will want to get the speakers as far away from the mic as you can and the speakers as close to all the attendees as possible. This may be tough considering how staunch they are about even seeing a mic; they may not want to see the speakers either....... You will probably need at least 4 speakers to cover the seating area, and you will need to have at least 25' between the mic and the first set of speakers. Keep in mind that the PAG calc doesn't consider being in between two speakers. So you will lose another -3db in potential gain due to the coupling of the two speakers.

[Michael Lascuola]

The last one I had like this, a wireless lapel mic on the officiant covered everything nicely, both for recording and sound reinforcement.

[Steve Crump]

I have a client that has asked for sound reinforcement for the ceremony of an outdoor wedding under a floral arch. They have requested no visible microphones (even e6 headsets were nixed) so we were thinking of attempting to hide one or more microphones inside the floral arch itself to pick up the officiant and vows.

Has anyone tried this before with success? I imagine the couple will stand just in front of the arch. What pickup pattern would work best in this application? Omni, hypercardiod, shotgun or maybe even a boundary mic? Any specific product recommendations also accepted.

Any suggestions would be great!

I was asked to do the same last October at an outdoor wedding. I ty-wrapped a Advanced Audio CM87 to the top of the arch with the diaphragm pointing straight down. Speakers were on a deck perpendicular to the guests and arch. Maybe 80 guests seated at tables. Worked okay, nothing to write home about, but you could hear the service fine...

[Stephen Kirby]

There was a discussion recently about attaching a PZM to a panel within the arch.  I don't remember if this was tried or how it came out.

In my experience with these things, most often the people in the first couple rows hear the actual voices of the participants.  So I start with speakers a couple rows back and then extras down the sides as the size of the gathering dictates.  I haven't tried the lapel mic in the officiant's book yet but will the next time this comes up.

My son recently got married on the beach and the video folks put a wireless lav on him and the officiant.  Was enough on a recording to hear over the waves but I'm not sure how well it would have worked with a PA and 100 people.

Maybe explain to the coordinator/couple how it's done in theater with mics in the hair and wireless packs strapped to thighs.  They may readjust their expectations. 

[Tim McCulloch]

Maybe explain to the cordinator/couple how it's done in theater with mics in the hair and wireless packs strapped to thighs.  They may readjust their expectations. 

They will be mortified and look at you like you have grown another eyeball in your forehead.

The only time I've had success micing up a bride - she was a musical theatre actress.  The rest?  Either the bride, her mother or the coordinator reject the idea out of hand.  I hope you all have better luck than I've had.

[Mark Cadwallader]

They will be mortified and look at you like you have grown another eyeball in your forehead.

The only time I've had success micing up a bride - she was a musical theatre actress.  The rest?  Either the bride, her mother or the coordinator reject the idea out of hand.  I hope you all have better luck than I've had.

You just have to remember to lose the pack before they do the garter toss thing. (I'm old. Do they still do that?)

[ProSoundWeb Community]