Question about ceremony music for outdoor wedding

My DJ offered to do both! Sometimes they charge a small setup fee... but mine was all included! Ask your DJ if he/she can do your ceremony as well!

How many guests? iPod set up with small speakers may not be loud enough. You may likely have to rent a decent PA system as you may need to have a microphone as well.

The DJ's stuff should already be set-up, so you're right not to count on that. It is worth asking if he/she can somehow do both though if at the same venue.

Where is the ceremony? If its at the same venue as the reception they should have something in place for that.

Usually DJ's can do both, but they may charge you a fee for the extra equipment and setup. Is the DJ also providing microphones for the ceremony?

Talk to your venue coordinator about how others have done this, and look at your DJ package and contract. Mine includes sound for the ceremony (wireless mic on celebrant, speakers). If we can't get a live group to play, we'll ask him to provide some music through the same speakers.

Thanks, everyone! My ceremony and reception are all at the same place, so I'm sure I could get my DJ to do both. I'll check with him to see if that was already included, or if not, what the extra cost is.

My DJ will do both. He has a smaller set up for outside and it didn't cost much extra.

DJ did both, also mic'ed up the officiant. If your'e outside, mic yourselves up for the love of god!

Does your officiant have sound equipment? Ours did, and he brought an assistant to run it.

Our DJ does both, we just had to pay an extra $100 for him to bring all of the equipment that he needs for the ceremony.

Most of my weddings either have an acoustic/jazz/classical group for the ceremony or their dj. Keep in mind that not all officiants supply their own mic, your acoustic etc group probably won't, (because usually they don't use one) your venue might, but the officiant needs to be mic'd.

Thanks for all the help! I feel like I remember either our venue or officiant saying that they have mics for outside, but I will double check on that too. Also, I'm glad that it seems like a lot of people are still on WW. The Facebook group is nice, but the forums are a little easier for me during the day while I'm at work. And as I get closer to my date, I know I'll be coming up with more questions!

We hired 2 acoustic guitar players that were so affordable for ceremony and cocktail hour and we loved it! You can find some live musicians for cheap if it's just for ceremony and/or cocktail hour. It brought a different element to the wedding before the party started.

We had asked our venue the same question and the coordinator says usually the DJ can bring a smaller setup with them to be able to do the ceremony outside.

We did end up booking a ceremony musician though. It was surprisingly affordable.

We had the same situation and paid $750 extra for the outdoor ceremony with DJ set up. Sometimes there is an extra charge, sometimes not, but in my experience there usually is.

ETA: Slightly related, but ask what the costs will also be if you have to switch your ceremony inside due to weather. A contingency plan. What will your ceremony look like (do they have the space?) and will there be an extra cost?

We had a string trio for our outdoor ceremony and DJ for our indoor reception. However, our DJ provided the mics and sound equipment for the ceremony for an extra $100, so he was already there. I am positive your DJ would provide ceremony music as well, for a small additional cost. Keep in mind that your officiant may or may not have a mic, and you will need a mic for readers/soloists, etc!

We are setting up an iPod

Our DJ had two different setups. One outside for the ceremony and another for the indoor reception.

My husband and I dj occasionally for weddings (he does most of it, I just help with setup) and the last one we did had an outdoor ceremony, and indoor reception.

We were lucky to have 2 speakers, and were in a close enough set up area to not have to move anything, other than changing the speakers out...and we found out about it the night before (at the rehearsal)

With enough notice, your dj should be able to accommodate something, although there may be a fee involved.

@Celia or @m - Do you feel the officiant should be mic'd even for a smaller wedding -- i.e. 35-40 peeps?

DJ is doing our indoor reception and outdoor ceremony. I believe he as smaller equipment that he uses for the outside part