02.08.2025 [saugatuck]
It’s no secret. Saugatuck is fantastic. My comprehensive list of “best beaches” for southwest Michigan is far from complete, but one or two from this town are for sure on the list. This is also town where it’s ok to be yourself and love who you love. Not to mention one of my favorite restaurants is here, too! No town is perfect but when the summer sun is out this place is hard to beat being JUST 40 min down the road. The only person I can think of that couldn’t find something to enjoy here, is the kind of person that quotes the bible all the time- but DON’T actually know SHIT, and also thinks Jesus had blue eyes :)
Lol. So anyway, there are some amazing wedding venues here. The one I find myself at today is Ivy House. I have been here before, and will be here several times this season. It’s lovely. Like so many lovely people, places, and things… [nouns?]… it’s got it’s quirks too. There are two spots for a ceremony onsite: a small, secluded section outdoors; and a greenhouse for larger ceremonies. Generally, the challenges for ANY ceremony go something like this…
most venues want you in the back
most officiants want a lav mic [hands free, clip-on style]
you’d like to be more heard than seen, but what is heard need to be decent.
the additional layers to this cake [chocolate for me]…
most people’s ears are on their heads, you know? Facing forwards?
lav mics ARE THE MOVE, but unless conditions are solid you’ll contend with feedback, wind noise, and mic positioning that could pick up materials rubbing together [shirt/tie/blouse/blazer].
optimal sound & coverage would suggest speakers be up front, ideally L/R configuration.
We know you can’t have your cake and eat it too. So really, you’ve got to ask yourself who [guests in attendance] is actually going to eat [or hear] this cake, and will they care if it’s a bit over or under [unevenly distributed] as long as it’s the right flavor [volume]. Savvy?
A practice in noble compromise ensues. It’s FINE to be in the rear shooting sound in the wrong direction, but I avoid it if I can. It’s never exactly the same, but I try to apply the same principles every time. In the end and on this day, here is what that looked like…
Even without the x-mas trees, this speaker and position are what we in the biz call “pretty chill”.
Speaker up front, hidden/obscured [JBL Eon One MK2, wide 140 dispersion]
lav mic, [slx-d5 w/Shure WL93, sm58 + sennheiser xws or wtf for backup]
I positioned myself in the back with a straight shot to the speaker [bluetooth approx wtf many yards idk] with wedding party entry points directly to my right for cues, etc.
And just like that, we’re off to the races. I’ll stop just short of “high art “ for the technicalities going into this show; and I’ll tell ya now… the real magic is in the timing. “Tasteful Fade” will be a chapter in my memoire. It ain’t shit you can teach, either- you either got it or you don’t. It’s usually 30 min or under- and we like that- but you never know. The truth of it, I do my best planning between the metaphorical sheets here [cues] for what’s next in the reception. In perfect conditions I can see just shy of the future. Lol at anyone reading this basically but standing by every word!?!?
This wedding was super solid on all fronts. Unexpected cables runs, requests, and other stuff- meet the “Five ‘d’s of Dodgeball”, SIRS. Likely the farewell voyage to the current aesthetic too. End of an era. Way more dramatic than I thought this ending would be, but I don’t write this stuff I just report it.
