Doing my first wedding, need audio advice

[randomname]

While the majority of the video is going to be edited to music (no audio from the event itself) it was important to the bride to get a good amount of audio from the actual ceremony. There are going to be 4 people speaking and to make matters worse the whole thing is on a beach. I have a Zoom H4n, I'm shooting on a T2I, and my B-camera is a HV20, a great boom mic and 2 wireless lavs, whats my best option? I have some money that I can spend on getting new audio eqiupment but $200 would be my absolute maximum.

 

[manglerBMX]

i'd say scratch buying anything and see about hiring a sound guy to come in just for the ceremony.

 

[Captain Pierce]

Wow, that's one hell of a first wedding.

$200 is not much of a budget, either to buy gear, hire somebody, or even rent...

Are they going to have any kind of a sound system so that the guests can hear what's being said? If so, there's a chance (although admittedly a slim chance) that you could piggyback off that.

Otherwise... you have wireless lavs, and a good omnidirectional wireless lav on the groom can usually pick up him, the bride, and the officiant. Depending on what wireless systems you have, could you maybe find a compatible handheld transmitter to put on a stand for the other speakers to use? If not, you could consider putting your boom mic on the stand, but running the cable across the beach could be problematic.