Officiant Requiring Microphone

I would have the microphone. It’s nice for guests to be able to hear the ceremony.

I would get your officiant the microphone so your guests can hear the ceremony.

Definitely need the mic. It's hard enough to hear without a mic in an indoor venue, much harder outdoors. Our DJ is providing the mic for our ceremony. I would say you could skip it if you have a small amount of guests. Like less than 40 or something. But the guests in the back won't be able to hear without the mic.

You definitely need a microphone. My dad is has officiated so many weddings where he didn't have one and people complained they couldn't hear, even if there were only 50 guests.

Are you sure you would have to pay that much for the dj? That seems like a high price just to use their equipment. Ours offered it free of charge.
You can probably rent the microphone, or even buy a basic one on amazon, for a lot less than the hourly rate of a dj.

As a guest at a wedding where there wasn't one, I found it to be an issue for me as a guest personally. I would have liked to hear the ceremony and vows.

@Rica, where are you seeing a price?

The problem is, he would have to show up to the venue two hours earlier, so it'll be a charge for his time. Like I said, I am completely willing to do it, I just wanted to see what experience everyone has had.

You ladies sealed the deal! I am going to reach out and get my officiant a mic

Definitely get the DJ for the extra time and have a microphone for the ceremony. We did this and the DJ played music for 30 minutes before the ceremony while guests were arriving (and many commented on how great his choices were and that he really set the tone for a great celebration, he was able to fade processional songs out when necessary and he was able to seamlessly restart one of the processional songs because my FG and RB still needed to get down the aisle and the music was going to run out, he provided a microphone for the ceremony, made sure everything was at the perfect volume...he did everything and and he did it well. He was one of the reasons our ceremony had no issues.

I've been to outdoor ceremonies where the officiant and couple didn't have a microphone. As a guest, it's hard to hear what is being said. One ceremony in particular was outdoors at a zoo. There was flowing water surrounding the ceremony area, so it was difficult to hear anything over the sound of the water. The cage for the howler monkeys was behind the ceremony area, and the howler monkeys we're very loud. The couple thought it was awesome, like the monkeys we're cheering them on...but they were able to hear the officiant and hear their own vows over that babbling brook between monkey cheers. If they had sprung for the microphone, guests would have been able to hear over the water and most of the monkey noise.

@BlueHenBride A zoo seems pretty cool but I could see how it could create a distraction!

We actually have a harpist and cellist doing our ceremony music (starting 30 minutes prior to start of ceremony), which is why I originally only booked the DJ for the reception. But it is very clear the consensus is "pro-mic" (I even reached out to my DOC from the venue and she said absolutely), so the DJ has been contacted and we are getting him for the extra two hours

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I mean the hourly rate. Mine is quite high, so I'd be looking for a different way to go about it. But I did misread your comment at first, and now see that the cost isn't an issue, so definitely go for it!

Yes, for a ceremony with 150 people absolutely. I would recommend a DJ anyways to play your ceremony music and light musi while you’re guests enter the ceremony area

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It is going to be a bit steep just for the mic basically, but at this point, I'm just like "F it". Since he charged by the hour and not equipment, am going to to just see if he can "hook up" (no pun intended) my harpist and cellist since he is already there

I have a hard time focusing to begin with so if I wasn't able to hear I would definitely zone out. I agree that you should get the mic!

With such a large guest list and an outdoor ceremony, I'd definitely make sure you have a microphone.

For those who are hard of hearing or have a hearing disability, a mic is indispensable. It's a great idea to get one! (Hopefully it's not too expensive)

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You are 100% right! I can't believe I didn't even think of that before this (face palm)

Get the mic - he will need it so guests can hear him plus your guests will want to hear you and your groom say your vows.

You definitely need a microphone for 150 outside ESPECIALLY if the officiant is requesting it (they’re the ones that get screwed over if they have to yell to be heard!)

ive considered buying a microphone and using it with speakers we already have instead of getting the DJ for a second set up though. But we’ll do some trial/troubleshooting with that before ruling out the DJ (he’s on standby!)

With that many people I'd definitely say you need a microphone!!

Our officiant asked us for microphone too. Our DJ provided it to him since our DJ was a musician and he was at our ceremony so it was no problem.