Mic setup for a wedding

[steveandbelinda]

I did one wedding before using only the onboard mic. It didn't pickup the best that I would have liked, but the Bride & Groom loved the finished product. I just booked another wedding via the first wedding, but would like better sound, especially when it comes to the vows. Could someone explain to me what is the typical setup when it comes to a wedding? Do you lavalier mic the Bride, Groom, and Pastor?
Do you use wired mics, or wireless? I looked on a site and they said that you will always get better sound with wire, vs. wireless. And if so, how is the mc wired up to the camera? Mic directly into XLR connector or what.
Thanks

P.S.. Plus I don't have unlimited income, so I prefer to have something that isn't so expensive. (ie 450. or so
rogar-Dum(DBG):

 

[ryan brown]

My typical wedding setup:

One wireless lav on the Officiant (pastor), and one on the groom. The groom's will pick up vows, etc, and the officiant one will do the rest. Never mic the bride cause she's wearing white and the lav's show... plus it's not needed when your other lavs are setup correctly.

Check out this thread that I wrote up awhile back:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=64115&highlight=guide+weddings

 

[Scott F]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=274577&is=REG

This Sony lav kit is pretty solid for $500. Plus you get a $50 gift card, so that kinda puts you in your $450 range. (It does say they're out of stock right now. Damn, I need to pick one up myself)

Oh yeah, to clarify, I have used this lav kit at weddings and it worked well. Not a blind endorsement.

 

[mcp]

I usually use 1 lav (since that's all I have) and put it on the officiant or groom (if there are 2 officiants) lower than you usually would place it. That way it will pick up the others without the one who is wearing it blowing you away.

On the other channel, you can use the built-in or a shotgun (I've got the Rode NTG1, I think) to pick up nat. sound, music, and just as a cover in case the lav dies.

 

[griffin]

I've done a handful of weddings and I've had best results with a wireless lav on the groom. The priest or who ever usually has a mic that's hooked up through the places pa system and sounds fine.