Ipod ceremony music? Which speakers?

[So_happy]

There is never a dull day when you''re planning a wedding.

I have this crappy feeling my much gushed-over Spanish guitarist may bale on us soon

FI and I remember him telling us he''d only charge us $60 because he''s never done a wedding before but now he''s claiming he said $150

. At this point, even if he decides to do it for $60, I kind of don''t want a resentful musician on my hands y''know? I''d worry too much that he''d be late on purpose or do other things to "act out". I still want to feel him out in his response before I make a final decision on him but for now I need a back up plan just in case.

So, as a back up plan, I want to start considering using my Mp3 player for the ceremony. My thing is, our ceremony is in a park so it''s a big beautiful open space. I''m not sure my little JBLs could handle that. They might, but I can''t get down there to check it out right now. I know there are others on here that are using thier Ipods/Mp3 players for such things (at least, I think I know that!! lol) so I was wondering which speakers you will use and if you''ve tested them out to see if they sufficiently fill the space?

Thanks!!

 

[snlee]

Aww, sorry to hear about your guitarist. Reminds me of the person we rented chairs from. She was just starting out her business so her delivery fee was much lower than normal. We booked her about 6 months in advance. As time went on, she caught on to the business, and asked us for a deposit, which we were fine giving her. Then she tried to up our delivery fee. Good thing we had previous invoices to show her. She ended up giving us the lower fee. However, I was still worried that we might have pissed her off and our chairs wouldn't be delivered. Worst things could happen so I wasn't too worried. Thankfully everything turned out great!

I think it's wise to have a back up plan for music, as that is very important. I used an iPod speaker for my outdoor garden ceremony. I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it. We went there ahead of time to test it out. I thought it was fine. But the day of the wedding we had some minor glitches. That day with the music turned up to the max, the music sounded staticy at times. Not very good quality. From far away it sounded fine but closer up it wasn't so great. There was also a long pause before we walked down the aisle as a married couple but it wasn't a big deal. My suggestion is to buy a few speakers to try them out. Test it with the volume to the max (account for the noise volume to be louder the day of with everyone talking pre-ceremony). Listen to the sound quality from near and far. It's also a good idea to have the person who is in charge of the music present so they know what works best. My person wasn't able to make it to our test run. Hope this helps!

 

[So_happy]

Thanks, Snlee! That does help. I hadn''t thought about the noise level of our guests talking in addition to just filling the general area with sound, so I''ll test for that as best as possible. The way I see it right now is we were having just one guitarist so maybe even he would get a bit drowned out in the sea of 100 voices. I have these little JBLs that are really portable and have always filled a hotel room up nicely when on trips with my laptop so I''ll try these first. They''re pretty teeney tho. Oh well, it''s not like I''m trying to have bass or anything during the processional

 

[eks6426]

I used an IPOD and speakers for my outdoor wedding in 2005. I got married on the Quad at the University of Illinois campus so we had a huge area for the sound to dissapate. My musician husband actually hauled in giant 1970''s speakers down for the event (they are 4 feet tall, and 2 feet wide & deep). I thought he was crazy so I insisted that we bring the smaller Bose type speakers. We brought and tested both and I have to tell you that the sound off the huge speakers was way better. We were able to get sound that actually filled the space and didn''t sound "small." So, if you have any friends in their 40s or 50s you might ask them if they still have their big stereo speakers. That or rent serious speakers.

 

[So_happy]

Date: 7/6/2007 8:39:53 AM
Author: IslandDreams
I used an IPOD and speakers for my outdoor wedding in 2005. I got married on the Quad at the University of Illinois campus so we had a huge area for the sound to dissapate. My musician husband actually hauled in giant 1970''s speakers down for the event (they are 4 feet tall, and 2 feet wide & deep). I thought he was crazy so I insisted that we bring the smaller Bose type speakers. We brought and tested both and I have to tell you that the sound off the huge speakers was way better. We were able to get sound that actually filled the space and didn''t sound ''small.'' So, if you have any friends in their 40s or 50s you might ask them if they still have their big stereo speakers. That or rent serious speakers.

My sister actually happens to have some of "those" lol (and she''s only 27). I''d ask her to use hers but, get this................there is no electrical equipment allowed at the park; it all has to be battery operated

. Sorry! I forgot to mention that part

. So, I''m stuck with speakers that will operate without having to be plugged in. I know my JBLs can be plugged in or used w batteries so I need something like that......but maybe bigger? I probably won''t find anything that can run off of batteries AND has a powerful sound but I''m trying.