Wedding PA Setup
Hey everyone!
A dear friend of mine is getting married in two months and he asked me to be his dj (this is his wedding gift lol) . The biggest problem I am having is I have no idea what kind of PA system he would need for about a 200ish person event (I normally only play in clubs and what not). So my question is this: For about 200 people, what kind of PA setup would you rent? Wattage etc etc…?
Thanks in advance!
Pandemic
Try to rent two QSC KW122 and one QSC KW181.
Pretty popular so you should be able to find them at a decent price.
Maybe around $300 to rent for an event.
Remember to get 2 stands for the tops. Put them up around six feet high to get projection across the top of the crowd.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll see if I can findem!
maybe i would use 2 subs for 200 people, depends a little on the night and the room your in, need the ump ? bring 2 subs.
i own the 2 ev elx115p and elx 118p subs, this is about right for 200 people depending on room size and music choice
From the experience of a Wedding DJ:
You will never have more than 1/3 - 1/2 of the People dancing. So planing a Soundsystem for 200 isn’t a deal.
You only have to make Music for the “Dancefloor Area” (the place the People will Dance) Because the 1/2-2/3 of the People not dancing don’t necessary want to have full volume Music bombed to their ears, if they do not Dance it’s mostly because they enjoy sitting there and talking to the others, so Background Music Volume is appropriate for them.
I never ever used a Sub for a wedding. As you mentionned yourself, it’s a wedding not a Club, People do not expect you to Play only Boom-Boom Electronic Sound like House, EDM or so…You definitively have to be way more versatile than just to Play Bass Bumping Music, a good Mix from 50’s R’N’R (You might not think how grandMa is gonna love you for that) till todays Charts this is what the Guests want (Be sure to ask the Bride & the Groome if they definitively want their style or Music their Guest would like). As said, there are gonna be 3-4 Generations of People at a wedding.
Think about a easy to Transport and easy to build up PA. I work with a Fender Passport Pro (500W) and when the Venue is bigger an additional Fender Passport Venue (600W). You can plug an additional Sub into both of them if you really feel like you Need one.
DJs so many times tend to build up PAs that are way too big for a wedding. How many times did I talk to People who have been at a wedding and when I asked “How was the DJ?” I got the answer “LOUD”.
Sorry but I don’t want to be known for being loud, I want the People to talk about my Music, my selection, maybe my skills and the athmosphere I created. So please think about this.
NExt and final advice: Go to a Rental Company that is Close to the Location the Wedding takes place. They may know the Location and exactly know what is best for this Location. Sometimes the amount of guests is not the main reason to select one or the other Soundsystem. (Highness of the rooms Roof, are the walls covered with Hood, is the room mainly made of concrete, Glas-construction, Does the Room have big Curtains, etc… those are all things that may Change totally the Color of your Sound and this is something a “Close to the Location”-rental Company possibly knows).
Dude you use a Fender Passport Pro for weddings?
Do you only play jazz standards? There is no way that system will be adequate for 200 people (100 people on the dance floor) if you’re playing any new music. Even country pop.
And a sub is a good idea. Pro audio tops are not designed to fill the bottom end around 40-60hz. It makes a huge difference. And it helps the tops out when they don’t have to struggle to get bottom end.
Ask Bose if subwoofers make a difference.
Well it makes a difference I agree, but how many percent of the Population would realize?
It’s a wedding Due, not a Club…If I put several Millions in a Soundsystem like CLubs in Vegas or Ibiza, then I can ask for High End Standarts. Fender Passports did it each time by now…as I said I make Sound for the Dancefloor which is mostly never bigger than 10m x 10m, and as Background during dinner.
But as I said many DJs tend to exxagerate and think they Need to build up something similar as in a Club but Weddings don’t have the same Needs.
And also as mentionned it is not the amount of People which is relevant but the Location, you will Need another Setup for a Party Open Air with 200 People than somewhere inside for example, or in a room with low ceilings, etc…
Fender Passport are Top for me and my customers and we do not Need anything else.
And as I said I have 2 Systems for bigger parties like with 200 People.
Most people might not be able to tell you what’s wrong, but they might notice something isn’t right. Maybe this is just me (and obviously I have a bias) but I feel like people would notice a lack of lowend, even if they can’t articulate it. I don’t know how to brew beer, but I’ve had homebrew where I knew it was missing something.
I think most importantly though, it’s their friend’s wedding so they might as well try to pull out all the stops for their friend’s big day.
Renting a Sound system for the number of guests is not the way to do it.
Rent a sound system for the size of the room..
Speak to whoever you hire the gear from, they’ll likely be well experienced in this field, they’ll know what their system is capable of, and take it from there.
Having access to the gear is one thing, how you use it is another.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
That QSC system will handle anything from a low ceiling indoor venue to an open air venue.
The dance floor will sound great and you can leave it low or turn it up with plenty of headroom.
All great advice, It is an outdoor event, I don’t have the exact dimensions of how big the dance “floor” is going to be.