Darn wind!
 

Ceremony this past Sat. was outdoors (at a golf course, no less); it was thought we might have to move it inside, and I wish we had. Winds gusted to 25+ mph (40+ km/h); bride's veil almost came off and string quartet's sheet music blew everywhere. I do not have a "dead cat," but after this, I plan to get one for both the camcorder and the lavalier. I don't know if even that would have helped in this wind.

So...is there anything I can do to save this? The audio from both sources (camera mics and groom's lavalier) is pretty much ruined. I told the boss and thought I would get scolded for it, but he said "well, the couple's just gonna have to understand..." I suppose that should make me feel better, but it doesn't. I've tried running it through a parametric EQ, and all I got was muted wind noise with the groom sounding like he's on the telephone. Not good. The only options I see are 1) getting the couple back together to recut their vows, which isn't likely, or 2) making it into a musical montage. Does anyone have a 3) ?

Running a noise reduction filter will help but in no way bring it back. I use soundtrack to sample a really bad section then reduce the noise on the rest of the clip. I would clean it up as nice as possible and include a semi-raw footage section with the real audio then do a nice montage with other audio.

Have the couple re-do the vows. I did this on my first wedding due to problems with a cheap lavalier and the bride was ecstatic with the video. Combine a bit of the music video editing feel and it should be fine. Have the couple re-record the vows together and it can be a sort of re-creation of their wedding day. If you wanted to use the actual audio in portions, people will understand hearing wind noise if it is obvious by the scene that the wind is blowing.

edit: I did a wedding recently on a golf course. Odd, huh? It was incredibly windy and I may have the couple record the vows. I did it for free and they knew the conditions were bad so they actually offered to do the vows over. To make matters worse, right during the groom's vows Air Force One flew over. BUUUUSSSHHHHHH!!!!! ...aaannndd CUT! Thank you Mr. Shatner. Crew, take 10.

The best thing to do is of course redo the vows with the couple but if they don't agree Patrick Moreau's suggestion is very good. I've done this in the past plus to hide the bad audio a little I've used a classical music background that contains heavy bassoon strings which also hide the wind very well. With a little creativity you can match the bassoon to the heaviest wind noises and make it look and sound like a million bucks production rather than a lost cause.

Patrick, I tried sampling some wind noise and subtracting it from the audio, and the results were, um, far from satisfactory. I knew the wind would be a problem, but I didn't think it would be to this extent. There is one portion during the ring exchange that I can make halfway decent; the rest of it is ruined.

The main office is going to contact the couple to see if they can redo their vows, but I'm not betting on it, seeing as they plan to spend a year in China (for his job). Assuming we can catch them while they're still in the area, I'm willing to come to them and make it as convenient as possible. No matter what, I guess I'll make a montage out of it - put the highlights over, say, Paul Stookey's "There Is Love." At least I have the boss on my side...

I'm in a similar boat, though I had wind, a river, and an overhead train to deal with. I tend to like a little bit of the natural sound. A wireless can sound a bit canned sometimes.

Here's what I get to deal with:

http://home.wowway.com/~jdizzle/wind_noise_sample.mp3

All...the...freaking...way...THROUGH! That was from the lav mike. There was supposed to be, like, talking and stuff there.

Ouch! That makes me feel a bit better about my ceremony with the groom's heartbeat. I hope you can arrange a redo of the vows. Even though your boss is understanding about it you'll feel better presenting the b&g with a clean version...Maybe you can get a trip to China out of this deal! BTW, how good are those 'dead cats' at reducing the wind noise?