Reply: Try a clip-on miniature omnidirectional mic (lavalier mic) on the minister, at chest height, to pick up the ceremony. The minister's mic will pick up the bride and groom. A suitable Crown model is the GLM-100. An alternative microphone is the Crown PZM-30D boundary microphone, which can be placed on the floor near the ceremony, about 1 meter from where the minister will stand. Set the high-frequency switch in the PZM-30D to "rising." This will boost the high frequencies and will aid intelligibility.

A suggested microphone to pick up the reception music is the Crown CM-700. It is a professional-quality cardioid condenser microphone. If you are recording in mono, place the mic about 2 meters from one of the band's PA speakers, aiming at the band, so that the mic picks up both the PA speaker and the band itself. (Try taping a rehearsal or sound check to determine a good microphone position.)

All Crown mics require a phantom power supply, such as the Crown PH-1A. Connect the phantom power supply between the microphone and the camcorder mic input .

When you record the band, be careful that the mic's output signal does not overload your camcorder mic input. You might need to insert a 10 dB or 20 dB microphone pad between the phantom power supply output and the camcorder input. Such a pad is available from www.shure.com (see the mic accessories section, problem solvers).