Questions and Answers

First, you need to distinguish between sound recording engineers (capturing sound recordings for mixing, distribution etc.) and live sound engineers who bring or use a PA system.

For recording engineers, search for recording studios or mobile recording engineers.

Live sound engineers can be £200-£500+ per day on the freelance market. If you need an engineer with equipment, small/shorter jobs could be £250-£300, larger wedding receptions and day jobs could be £400-£800, larger jobs still would be bespoke pricing. Pricing factors can include location, ease of access, length of available set-up time, complexity of the bands on stage, the degree of unknowns, and presentational requirements (see what does a live sound engineer do?). Lighting and AV could be quoted together, too.

You may get a better price if you have a strong handle on the event organisation: venue details, end-to-end schedules, acts/presenters and their requirements, the works. Every unknown is a risk that could end up being factored into your quote. It’s possible to pay someone else to do the production work, liaising and bringing everything together, but it’s a skill and work in its own right.

To see how I price my jobs, see my pricing page.

Free options
For basic use for speeches, many wedding venues have their own PA systems of some sort. Smaller venues often use all-in-one combo amp bluetooth speaker things, which can be just about passable but sometimes sound a bit rough, suffer feedback issues and have low-grade radio mics.

Larger venues and those that double up as conferencing venues might have an installed sound system that you can use or hire. Some can be good. Make sure there’ll be someone on site when knows how to troubleshoot it, just in case.

Wedding DJs will often provide a hand-held radio mic for speeches, but may charge if they need to attend for longer to do so. Try and check they’re using something from a competent brand like Shure or Sennheiser. On the upside, they should set it up and manage it for you.

Similar to the wedding DJ option, a band you’ve hired with their own PA could likely provide a hand-held radio mic for speeches, maybe with a surcharge for their longer day. This also depends on your venue layout.

Paid options
For a simple DIY sound system for a small venue, with basic mics and speakers, for speeches and modest disco volume, maybe £100-£200 at the low end. Perhaps £200-£300 for something louder for a bigger crowd. You will need to collect and return it, and have someone set it up and operate it, unless the rental company explicitly offer to do it for you. Check your insurance for damage cover.

If you’re already hiring a sound company for your evening entertainment, ask them about covering your ceremony and/or speeches as well. (See: I’ve booked a band. Do I need to book a sound engineer?) If a separate system is needed, that will be more equipment and time – the uplift could be maybe £50-200 to cover some common scenarios.

Covering a wedding ceremony with hand-held mics is quite easy at a technical level, compared to using discreet lavalier mics on each participant, with require more skill due to the hugely increased propensity for feedback. 

For a professional provider to do your speech PA, shop around but £250-£500 would be likely for typical venues. A lot of that budget is for the attendance of (hopefully!) an experienced and skilled engineer to deploy the kit properly so you get natural reproduction and no distracting feedback.

(See also: What does a live sound engineer do?)

Let’s cover speeches first.

If you have fewer than 25 guests and none are hard of hearing, you can probably just speak up.

The reality of most weddings is that speeches are by people who haven’t been trained in voice projection, the furthest listener can be quite a way away, a few guests will be hard of hearing, and on top of that, the people speaking will need to overcome chatty wine-soaked guests and excited children. Speeches are integral to proceedings and deserve to be heard by all.

So, yes, you probably do need a sound system. If the venue has one, check:
– It’s part of your venue booking
– There’ll be someone on the day who knows how to set it up
– That person is available during your speeches

I’ve come across quite large venues that have sound systems but sadly some are old and neglected, often not optimally set up and the people who switch them on are not PA specialists and will be doing multiple roles. Question the venue and make a call based on your budget, venue size, how much you trust them and how much of a risk it is for you.

I provide PA systems for weddings and there’s a lot of overlap with the requirements from business customers for conference-type work. Generally it needs to be a system that’s discreet but with clear, even coverage. The system should ‘just work’ and not draw attention to itself. The fee for a system for up to 200/300 guests would likely come in at £250-£500. For the variables that can affect the price, see my pricing page.

If you’ve hired a band and they don’t come with PA, you’ll most likely need to hire a PA company to provide a sound engineer and equipment. See other questions in this page for how to do that. The fee for a sound system for a band in a hotel function room or marquee for 200 guests is perhaps £250-£600. Once a provider is booked for band PA, the extra cost for speeches PA and/or band lighting can often be smaller than the main PA fee, as the transportation and labour is already there.

Not necessarily! It’s possible to hire a freelance sound engineer on their own. Times you might do this:
– Cover for an existing engineer.
– You are a band with a PA system but no engineer
– You are a production company and need extra engineers for a busy day or larger job.
Even an engineer ostensibly coming without equipment may well still carry a case of sundry audio-related tools and problem solvers.

The most common scenario for an end customer is to hire an engineer with equipment, either because they operate as a full service sound provider (like me) or because they’re a production company (and so provide a wider service to service your event).

First off, ask the band if they have a PA system big enough for your venue.

If they do, that might be fine, provided that they’re competent operating it. I say this, because some bands don’t take a sound engineer, instead they operate sound themselves. On a basic duo or trio, that might work, if they know the technicalities and craft of sound engineering as well as their musicianship, and their needs are static from song to song.

For a larger band or dynamic group, the only reason not to operate without an engineer is because there’s simply no budget. If the band has their own PA, their engineer or a freelance engineer can run the sound from an audience perspective, which is difficult for a musician on stage to do. The results are noticeably better, not to mention less stressful for the band.

If the band doesn’t have their own PA, you need to hire a sound system. Except for some touring bands who have their own engineer, you’ll need to hire an engineer as well, usually as a package price. See my example prices to get an idea and find out what does a live sound engineer do?