Wedding DJing - equipment question - please help, DJs of ILX!

easiest way to go is powered speakers, jbl eons or Mackie SRMs. You may not think you need a subwoofer, but it can help it sound good and you'll find you can actually keep the volume lower and have a more full sound. 2400 sq feet is pretty big though, and while ambitious you may want to think about 4 speakers. 4 smaller speakers spread out will cover better then 2 larger speakers blaring from the front. But most likely you'd be fine with just 2 JBLs, these are pretty standard:

http://www.jblpro.com/eong2/eon15g2.htm

you don't need to worry about amps and all that stuff.

dan otm.

also, if you're planning on using multiple audio sources (playing a song from your iPod and then switching to one on your laptop) you're going to need some kind of a basic mixer. look for a 2-hannel DJ mier or a 4 channel PA mixer. this will also allow you to hook up a microphone if you're planning on doing any toasts or anything.

my best advice: find someone who knows about this stuff like a friend of a friend and offer them a little cash to take care of it for you. it will be worth not having to worry about it when you've got so much else on your plate.

best wishes.

my best advice: find someone who knows about this stuff like a friend of a friend and offer them a little cash to take care of it for you. it will be worth not having to worry about it when you've got so much else on your plate.

verily. the playing songs off your iPod idea probably sounds better on paper than in practise. leave it to a professional i say.

thanks for the advice. yep, the plan is definitely to have someone else take care of the actuall playing of stuff, although it doesn't seem like we know anyone who has any more technical knowledge than i do (i.e. almost none), unfortunately, so we need to figure out the technicalitlies in advance. but basic 2 channel mixer plus powereed speakers sounds fairly simple (and that's all we'd need, plus cables, right?).

yup. Just make sure you are aware of the output of the mixer and the inputs of the speakers. Most cheaper mixers only have stereo RCA outs, and the speakers are likely to have quarter inch or XLR inputs. Get adaptors accordingly!

Easiest and cheapest to rent as a package, decks, mixer, pa, everything works together.

Sorry to come back with more dumb questions... so, I'm now thinking that the easiest way to do this is just to use one laptop (with another one available as backup) and some basic DJing software, as the people we have DJing are all more used to computers than to mixers (and it'll be cheaper). If we do this, do we just need some of those powered speakers, and appropriate cables - no amp or anything?

Powered speakers would be fine. Bear in mind that people will not be able to cue their tracks un;ess you have a multi-out sound card.