Weddingbee boards

I didn't have an outdoor wedding, but I recently attended one. The officiant and the groom wore lapel mics. I didn't see one on the bride, so I'm assuming she wasn't wearing one. I think they also had a wireless handheld for the readers.

Another option is one of the mics that you put on a table and it picks up the sounds from the area. I don't know what the technical name for these is, and I'm not sure how well they work, but I got married in a church and there was one of these on the altar to pick up our vows (we weren't wearing mics).

How large is your wedding?  Ours is just over 70 people, and since we're both teachers and accustomed to speaking in front of large groups, we decided we could go without a microphone.  Our officiant agreed that one was not necessary.  But if you have anything close to 100 or higher, I would say you should go for one.  I would not use the lapel microphone.  People will hear the officiant, but they won't be able to hear your vows.  Either hand held microphone can be directed at you by the officiant, so your voices will pick up.  I would try for wireless if you can afford it though. 

Our officiant wore a lapel mic and our readers had a wireless handheld.  My husband and I weren't mic'd, but it was fine, we just spoke up, and we had about 100 in attendance who all heard us.  You just have to make sure that the dj table is set up somewhere where he receives an uninterrupted signal from each mic--ie nothing in the way.