No electricity?

forensicgirla

We are being married in a beautiful park...but they do not allow us to pierce the ground and do not provide electricity service. My fiance, cousin (who will marry us), and I are ok without microphones...however I would like music to walk down the aisle.
Since we have differing tastes in music, my fiance and I thought to play a band named Bond, an all female classical band. This would save us money over hiring someone, but the next issue is how to play the music? I've thought about just bringing a boombox with a CD, but how can I do this while hiding/drawing attention away from it? Also, would it be loud enough?

 Has anyone overcome a similar situation?

PeachesNCream22

I don't think a boombox will be loud enough unless it's a really small wedding. You can rent generators but they are loud and a little smelly so you need long extension cords to keep them far from the ceremony. You can also use a car battery hooked up to an inverter if you're not powering a lot of stuff, and that's quiet and small. 

southernbelle0915

How big is your wedding? Would you have the budget for a generator and sound system? 

If you have an intimate wedding, I think no sound system is fine. If you're having a larger wedding, I think you should figure out a way to ensure people can hear the ceremony. I LOVE wedding ceremonies and there's nothing worse than going to one where you can't hear what's being said.  

Peaches has good advice on options to provide power. If you go the generator route, I would fire it up so you know how loud it is (they are LOUD). Test with various extension cord lengths so you know how much you'll need. Most equipment rental companies (probably the company you're using for chairs) rents sound equipment and microphones.

emilyb213

What about hiring live musicians? I looked into this option and found that it was pretty reasonable to have a violin & guitar duo, and it would probably be about the same dollar amount as you're going to spend renting a generator and speakers (depending on where you're located). Craigslist and your local universities would be a good place to start to find affordable musicians.

I agree with southernbelle, if you're having a large wedding, I really would look in to a sound system for the ceremony. I've been to several outdoor weddings and it seems like every bit of background noise is magnified when you're trying to hear an officiant with no microphone.

[Deleted User]

We have a crappy sounding boombox but found good speakers to plug in to our laptop and it sounds great. We're not hiding it because we thought that would draw more attention to it, we're putting in to the side on a table. Would that work?

forensicgirla

The speakers sound like a great idea. I'm not sure if we want it "in the open", but what could we do to hide it? Besides, even if it's out of our theme, my fiancé is really into technology and it probably wouldn't phase anyone haha

southernbelle0915

forensicgirla said:

The speakers sound like a great idea. I'm not sure if we want it "in the open", but what could we do to hide it? Besides, even if it's out of our theme, my fiancé is really into technology and it probably wouldn't phase anyone haha

You could cover them with white linens (that's what our RD venue did and it looked good. Put a couple floral arrangements on them.

davisse3

Inverter Generators tend to be smaller, quieter and cheaper than other generators and are pretty portable. Check around with rental places - you may be able to rent one and plug speakers into that. Make sure the wattage (starting and running) is enough for any electronics you need for it. 

If you use a generator, make sure you keep the exhaust pointed 180 degrees away from guests and the further away you can keep it from guests, the better. Also, find out in advance what you can plug into it - you may need adapters. 

octoberbride9

I was going to say the same thing as davisse3. My man is an electrician and a small inverter generator was our plan...until we found out our venue (a state park) doesn't allow any amplification.  We can't have a sound system and can have one acoustic musician....so guitar player it is!  And we're just going to have to speak up for the ceremony (and we're going to face the crowd instead of the pastor).