Wise After the Event was recorded from October to December 1977. The first sessions took place across two weeks in October at Essex Studios in London, using a 16-track machine with added Dolby noise reduction. These were followed by sessions in November and December on the Manor Mobile studio and The Farmyard, a facility in Buckinghamshire. Here, the final takes of the backing tracks were recorded and transferred onto 24-track for the recording of the overdubs. The final sessions took place in December 1977 at CBS Studios in London. After recording finished, the album was mixed in December 1977 and January 1978 at Trident Studios in London. Minor overdubs were recorded at the studio, including the guitar solo on "Birdsong". The orchestra session for "Regrets" took place on 6 December 1977, and recorded onto 24-track.
