Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I've recently had a few requests for weddings - upcoming - and we did do a couple of St Patrick's gigs.
I have a feeling we undersold ourselves and we could have got more. In fact, for one we did, the guy organising it slipped me a load more money!
Our session sound is tight, as we play together weekly, or even more, and have a fair selection of tunes. Now, I'm not saying any of us are virtuosos. But it sounds tight. Of those whom I consider "On the Payroll" for such events, there are no slackers or people getting carried. We have flute, whistle, fiddle, box, banjo, spoons and bodhran. Before any of ye scoff at said spoons or bodhran, save it till you've heard us - or say it to said bodhraner/spooner. One is a shuttering carpenter and the other a former boxer, so come on down.
What do others charge? --- per player, or for the whole band?
Email me if you would rather not divulge this on a public forum.
If any of the purist brigade are thinking of coming out with -- "Oh, traditional music is for everyone and you shouldn't charge people" load of bollix --- Oh please. Don't waste my time. Before you even think about it. I'm not interested.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My husband and I charge $200 for the ceremony, including a consultation with the bride and groom. If they want a special song that isn't in our repertoire, it's an additional $50. Anything beyond the ceremony is $100/hr. If it's just for the reception, it's $200 for the first hour, then $100/hr thereafter. Everyone says we don't charge enough.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Everything is worth what somebody will actually pay for it.
You might start negotiations with a high number. Then the client suggests a much lower one, and you haggle until you agree.
Or ask the client what the budget is, for musicians. If it sounds too low, say that you probably can't get the other players to agree to that number--perhaps the budget could be increased a bit?
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
From the players point of view £ per head is important, from the "client's" it's the total bill, therefore there's a lot to be said for a small band.
Oxfordshire - ceilidhs, paid pub band gigs, other events, in the range £40 to £85 per player's head. (The £40 is a ceilidh band that is bigger than it "need" be, but it'smore fun with all of us.)
($80 to $170 I guess at current x-rates.)
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Depends what you are doing.
We play as background music between the dinner finishing and the disco starting, and charge about £250 which is a snip. Most people charge say £500 for the same thing.
Put it this way, the DJ/computer buff is probably charging £1,000. The average wedding is now £20,000 to 30,000 so the loving couple don't even blink at the cost.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
By the time you've factored in travel, wardrobe, equipment, and potential taxes, I don't reckon £100 per head, or $200, is undercharging, if you are any good.
I stil treasure the letter from a bride and groom, both thanking us for our work, and regretting they hadn't booked us for the whole evening, as the disco was rubbish !
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
"By the time you've factored in travel, wardrobe, equipment, and potential taxes, I don't reckon £100 per head, or $200, is undercharging, if you are any good."
I don't understand what you are saying. Are you saying that the pay should be less? I do a least one consultation (hour), the rehearsal (another hour, at least), and the ceremony for $200. Factoring in the travel, wardrobe, equipment, and taxes, most would think we ought to charge more.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Danny - I've played in a five piece wedding ceilidh band that got £600, if my share is anything to go by. The best man also slipped us £100 cash. I've been in a six-piece that got £1200 for a wedding ceilidh. Weddings are one-offs (hopefully) so people don't mind spending a bit extra.
Being able to play the tunes isn't usually enough - you need a dance-caller/MC bandmember who is experienced at weddings and getting people dancing.
If you're a good band (not the same as being good individual musicians), then your reputation will spread by word of mouth
If it's a ceilidh, and not just background music, I mean.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I charge per musician and on distance - if they pay for 3 they get 3 - if they want 5 they pay for them.
If they want a gig locally - probably £80 per musician
if they want a gig an hour away - £110-120 a piece
max 4 hours - negotiable overtime after that.
(we always try to get at least MU rates)
we dont always charge a small local gig as much as a wedding, especially if we think we will get more work out of it
if anyone wants to haggle on price, make it a shorter gig
band rules - no disco (unless it is on our terms i.e. as soon as the disco starts, the band goes)
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
£100-£120 each for the average local Saturday wedding, a bit less for any other night of the week. Three musicians plus caller is around £500 locally, but if they want you to travel further they pay more.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I think it's helpful to say it's "X" amount and that it works out at "Y" per musician - because the advantage (assuming you're a good band) is that the more musicians, the more variety of instruments / sounds they're getting for their money. Also I think it puts it into perspective for people when they know what that works out at for each individual musician - often not as much as we'd all like!
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
It's someone who calls. For dances, that is. Amazingly skilled job. I think that, for the most part, the job is a relatively recent one, in that, at one time quite a lot of people would have known the sequence of steps and positions for a good few dances. Nowadays, sadly, hardly anybody does, so you need a caller to first walk them through, so they know what to expect, and then to 'call' the steps and movements as they are about to happen.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
A caller "calls" or explains the dances at a barndance.
Couples getting married nowadays do not look for value for money, that's the whole point of it. £100 for balloons, £3,000 for a photographer, £400 for someone to tell you what is happening "The cutting of the cake CEREMONY" not to mention 5 bridesmaids, 5 best men, and 25 kids dressed up like extras from a period costume drama. Ask for plenty, that impresses young couples.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
... btw, a good caller also controls the musicians, in terms of the tunes they play, the tempi, when to change tune and so on, so you can see how skilled it can be.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
He gets more than the musicians? Not if the musicians refuse to play, he can call all he likes. I think you could easily make an offer that the caller can't refuse.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
And that would be fine, except that, without the caller, often there's no gig at all. And there's plenty of musicians and not many callers. Not good ones anyway.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
You know how much management consultants get out of bed for? Or footballers? Some one told me recently Amy Winehouse charges (wait for it) $1000000 per gig. I think everyone here has massively undervalued themselves. It takes a lot of commitment to get good at this kind of music and ITM is popular at the moment. I would say £200 to £250 each would be the mimimum. We've all been taking £30 a session for far too long. (Actually 40 tonight for me!)
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Ramiro--from what I have seen, a caller for a ceili dance is really a dance teacher. He or she encourages the audience to get up and try it out, and shows them how to line up and do the set dances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BfByaH6BZ4 shows some set dancing, and you can hear a woman shouting some instructions as it goes (I can't tell if she is one of the dancers, or is standing off camera). Some callers use a wireless headset microphone for this.
A good caller is a big plus for a gig, really adds to the fun. And at the last wedding/ceili dance I played for, the hosts thought of another fun touch: They provided green ribbons for headbands, so everybody could look like Michael Flatley!
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
The caller we are lucky to be able to use entices people onto the floor, teaches the dances, and has everyone raring to go by the time the band starts up. She keeps total control over the proceedings; managing dancers and band simultaneously, and we are happy to give her three times the rate that an individual musician receives.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I typically charge a minimum of $300 for a wedding ceremony, assuming two of us and playing for 1/2 an hour before while the guests are arriving, processional, maybe some special tune during the ceremony and a recessional. If they want us to stay and play the reception, I charge a flat rate of $75/person per hour, plus a little more if I need to bring a PA, or if we have to drive long distances.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My wife and I paid US$1,000 for a four-piece "session"-type performance at our wedding. These are professionals who have a "formal" repertoire for such performances. Therefore they were surprised when we told them that we didn't want them to be formal -- just dress in everyday clothes, be comfortable, and play. They are world-class players whom many of you have heard of and met, and they played during our "cocktail hour" and over dinner -- a total of about 2-3 hours. We also paid a little extra for two of them to play during the wedding ceremony itself, and kicked them an extra few bucks tip. They were worth every penny of it.
It sounds like your six-piece outfit could easily justify charging that much.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Some of these are rich.
On the south side of Chicago typical wedding ceremony fare is $125 to $150 per person. Alot of vocalists only charge $75.
However, I know several individuals who charge $150 to $250.
I hate doing weddings though. It's like playing religious top 40 with 'Our Lady Of Knock' thrown on top (actually a wonderful song but grossly over used)
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
You have to divide the task into sections and charge what you think each is worth. The pricing sections for us are as follows.
* ceremony
* reception
* dinner
* dance
(Each of the above sections lasts an hour more or less.)
You might do all of the above or only one or two, but figure an hour for each and decide what each member should get per hour. (We have decided the per-hour rate by consensus.)
Then you have the extraneous expenses if needed:
* sound system
* travel
* dance caller
For the sound system we came up with a rate that can be split between members for having to haul, set up & break down. We came up with a per-member, per-hour travel fee, and we have a caller who commands his fee as well.
Because of these factors the ultimate price can be extremely varied depending on what the client wants and where the wedding takes place etc.
If you choose to become a wedding band you should develop an appropriate repertoire of pre-ceremony music, i.e. planxtys etc., a good processional and recessional, (you may need multiple processionals,) and lovely incidental musical motifs and short pieces to be interspersed into the ceremony if needed. You will also need to have a system for organizing cues with the wedding managers, arrangers, etc., and set up good communication lines with the Bride.
You also need to consult with the bride about these details. This could be time consuming and you might want to add a bit for the trouble. Sometimes they want you to come to the rehearsal, but I just ask them to provide a script or outline with the places they want the music highlighted. I also ask them to provide an approximation for the duration of each musical inclusion for the ceremony so I can determine which piece will best fit.
There are also good things to remember to help your contribution to the wedding flow better, i.e. breaking for dinner at the same time they start their toasts, taking breaks in-between sections... things like that. If you don't think it through you'll be breaking when you should be playing and waiting with your instruments in your laps when you should be taking your break.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Some brides are pickier than others - 15 or 20 emails / phone calls can be the norm for a fussy wedding nowadays - but at least everyone knows what to expect.
You need to be a sociable band (or start a card-school) as there is often 2 hours plus hanging around waiting at weddings - medics seem to have the longest speeches.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My record hanging-about was 2 and 3/4 hours ! Yes we were that late in GETTING INTO the hall to start setting up, 1 & 3/4 hours after we were due to start !
And the bride and groom were pretty indifferent to us, but the parents all loved us, and they were paying, so that was fine then. And a good meal before we started too.
And I always say we play for free, it's the logistics that cost the money and take the time.
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
"And I always say we play for free, it's the logistics that cost the money and take the time." - really intrigued by that! Was that tongue-in-cheek, or is this what you actually do say to clients?
Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I've recently had a few requests for weddings - upcoming - and we did do a couple of St Patrick's gigs.
I have a feeling we undersold ourselves and we could have got more. In fact, for one we did, the guy organising it slipped me a load more money!
Our session sound is tight, as we play together weekly, or even more, and have a fair selection of tunes. Now, I'm not saying any of us are virtuosos. But it sounds tight. Of those whom I consider "On the Payroll" for such events, there are no slackers or people getting carried. We have flute, whistle, fiddle, box, banjo, spoons and bodhran. Before any of ye scoff at said spoons or bodhran, save it till you've heard us - or say it to said bodhraner/spooner. One is a shuttering carpenter and the other a former boxer, so come on down.
What do others charge? --- per player, or for the whole band?
Email me if you would rather not divulge this on a public forum.
If any of the purist brigade are thinking of coming out with -- "Oh, traditional music is for everyone and you shouldn't charge people" load of bollix --- Oh please. Don't waste my time. Before you even think about it. I'm not interested.
Genuine advice will be gratefully received.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My husband and I charge $200 for the ceremony, including a consultation with the bride and groom. If they want a special song that isn't in our repertoire, it's an additional $50. Anything beyond the ceremony is $100/hr. If it's just for the reception, it's $200 for the first hour, then $100/hr thereafter. Everyone says we don't charge enough.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
p.s. When I play in a string quartet, we each receive $150 for a ceremony, more if we also play the reception.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Everything is worth what somebody will actually pay for it.
You might start negotiations with a high number. Then the client suggests a much lower one, and you haggle until you agree.
Or ask the client what the budget is, for musicians. If it sounds too low, say that you probably can't get the other players to agree to that number--perhaps the budget could be increased a bit?
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by mickray
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
From the players point of view £ per head is important, from the "client's" it's the total bill, therefore there's a lot to be said for a small band.
Oxfordshire - ceilidhs, paid pub band gigs, other events, in the range £40 to £85 per player's head. (The £40 is a ceilidh band that is bigger than it "need" be, but it'smore fun with all of us.)
($80 to $170 I guess at current x-rates.)
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by TomB-R
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Depends what you are doing.
We play as background music between the dinner finishing and the disco starting, and charge about £250 which is a snip. Most people charge say £500 for the same thing.
Put it this way, the DJ/computer buff is probably charging £1,000. The average wedding is now £20,000 to 30,000 so the loving couple don't even blink at the cost.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
In a recent blind taste test of wines, people consistently rated a certain variety higher if they were told it was expensive.
So the more they pay, the better you will sound. ;>}
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by mickray
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
By the time you've factored in travel, wardrobe, equipment, and potential taxes, I don't reckon £100 per head, or $200, is undercharging, if you are any good.
I stil treasure the letter from a bride and groom, both thanking us for our work, and regretting they hadn't booked us for the whole evening, as the disco was rubbish !
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
"By the time you've factored in travel, wardrobe, equipment, and potential taxes, I don't reckon £100 per head, or $200, is undercharging, if you are any good."
I don't understand what you are saying. Are you saying that the pay should be less? I do a least one consultation (hour), the rehearsal (another hour, at least), and the ceremony for $200. Factoring in the travel, wardrobe, equipment, and taxes, most would think we ought to charge more.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
A piper of my acquaintance charges €350-400 per wedding (for playing during the ceremony and at the reception) and he's in heavy demand.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Danny - I've played in a five piece wedding ceilidh band that got £600, if my share is anything to go by. The best man also slipped us £100 cash. I've been in a six-piece that got £1200 for a wedding ceilidh. Weddings are one-offs (hopefully) so people don't mind spending a bit extra.
Being able to play the tunes isn't usually enough - you need a dance-caller/MC bandmember who is experienced at weddings and getting people dancing.
If you're a good band (not the same as being good individual musicians), then your reputation will spread by word of mouth
If it's a ceilidh, and not just background music, I mean.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by Bren
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I charge per musician and on distance - if they pay for 3 they get 3 - if they want 5 they pay for them.
If they want a gig locally - probably £80 per musician
if they want a gig an hour away - £110-120 a piece
max 4 hours - negotiable overtime after that.
(we always try to get at least MU rates)
we dont always charge a small local gig as much as a wedding, especially if we think we will get more work out of it
if anyone wants to haggle on price, make it a shorter gig
band rules - no disco (unless it is on our terms i.e. as soon as the disco starts, the band goes)
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by geoffwright
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
This is all in line with what I charge here in SWFL, though with the dollar sinking like a stone I may start charging in pounds sterling or Euros.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
£100-£120 each for the average local Saturday wedding, a bit less for any other night of the week. Three musicians plus caller is around £500 locally, but if they want you to travel further they pay more.
# Posted on March 19th 2008 by tlittlewazzock
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I think it's helpful to say it's "X" amount and that it works out at "Y" per musician - because the advantage (assuming you're a good band) is that the more musicians, the more variety of instruments / sounds they're getting for their money. Also I think it puts it into perspective for people when they know what that works out at for each individual musician - often not as much as we'd all like!
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
ps for those people who say performers should be free, all I'd like to know is where I can find other professionals who don't charge for their time!
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Mark Harmer
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
What is exactly the job of a 'caller'?
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
It's someone who calls. For dances, that is. Amazingly skilled job. I think that, for the most part, the job is a relatively recent one, in that, at one time quite a lot of people would have known the sequence of steps and positions for a good few dances. Nowadays, sadly, hardly anybody does, so you need a caller to first walk them through, so they know what to expect, and then to 'call' the steps and movements as they are about to happen.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
A caller "calls" or explains the dances at a barndance.
Couples getting married nowadays do not look for value for money, that's the whole point of it. £100 for balloons, £3,000 for a photographer, £400 for someone to tell you what is happening "The cutting of the cake CEREMONY" not to mention 5 bridesmaids, 5 best men, and 25 kids dressed up like extras from a period costume drama. Ask for plenty, that impresses young couples.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
... btw, a good caller also controls the musicians, in terms of the tunes they play, the tempi, when to change tune and so on, so you can see how skilled it can be.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Skilled? The bloke Shane MaGowan modelled himself on useed to be our caller. Skilled? p*ssed more like it.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Hmm... I don't think we have something like that in Spain. Can anybody point to a youtube or something?
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Round these parts, BB, if the musicians are getting £100 apiece, the caller is probably getting £250.
Come to think about it, perhaps that's why he's p*ssed ...
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
He gets more than the musicians? Not if the musicians refuse to play, he can call all he likes. I think you could easily make an offer that the caller can't refuse.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
And that would be fine, except that, without the caller, often there's no gig at all. And there's plenty of musicians and not many callers. Not good ones anyway.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Solidarity comrade among musicians solves that problem. Our problem was the caller was also the best musician, so often had to call while playing.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
You know how much management consultants get out of bed for? Or footballers? Some one told me recently Amy Winehouse charges (wait for it) $1000000 per gig. I think everyone here has massively undervalued themselves. It takes a lot of commitment to get good at this kind of music and ITM is popular at the moment. I would say £200 to £250 each would be the mimimum. We've all been taking £30 a session for far too long. (Actually 40 tonight for me!)
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Rob Millner
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Ramiro--from what I have seen, a caller for a ceili dance is really a dance teacher. He or she encourages the audience to get up and try it out, and shows them how to line up and do the set dances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BfByaH6BZ4 shows some set dancing, and you can hear a woman shouting some instructions as it goes (I can't tell if she is one of the dancers, or is standing off camera). Some callers use a wireless headset microphone for this.
A good caller is a big plus for a gig, really adds to the fun. And at the last wedding/ceili dance I played for, the hosts thought of another fun touch: They provided green ribbons for headbands, so everybody could look like Michael Flatley!
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by mickray
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
The caller we are lucky to be able to use entices people onto the floor, teaches the dances, and has everyone raring to go by the time the band starts up. She keeps total control over the proceedings; managing dancers and band simultaneously, and we are happy to give her three times the rate that an individual musician receives.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I see, thanks.
Mickray, the caller in the video you posted could well have been 'c', as he has demonstrated before:
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/4898#comment188411
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I typically charge a minimum of $300 for a wedding ceremony, assuming two of us and playing for 1/2 an hour before while the guests are arriving, processional, maybe some special tune during the ceremony and a recessional. If they want us to stay and play the reception, I charge a flat rate of $75/person per hour, plus a little more if I need to bring a PA, or if we have to drive long distances.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by Michael Eskin
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My wife and I paid US$1,000 for a four-piece "session"-type performance at our wedding. These are professionals who have a "formal" repertoire for such performances. Therefore they were surprised when we told them that we didn't want them to be formal -- just dress in everyday clothes, be comfortable, and play. They are world-class players whom many of you have heard of and met, and they played during our "cocktail hour" and over dinner -- a total of about 2-3 hours. We also paid a little extra for two of them to play during the wedding ceremony itself, and kicked them an extra few bucks tip. They were worth every penny of it.
It sounds like your six-piece outfit could easily justify charging that much.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by browndog
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
I charge something between €200 - €300 pr. person, for up to 3 hours of music + transport.
# Posted on March 20th 2008 by ceili
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Some of these are rich.
On the south side of Chicago typical wedding ceremony fare is $125 to $150 per person. Alot of vocalists only charge $75.
However, I know several individuals who charge $150 to $250.
I hate doing weddings though. It's like playing religious top 40 with 'Our Lady Of Knock' thrown on top (actually a wonderful song but grossly over used)
# Posted on March 21st 2008 by zippydw
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
You have to divide the task into sections and charge what you think each is worth. The pricing sections for us are as follows.
* ceremony
* reception
* dinner
* dance
(Each of the above sections lasts an hour more or less.)
You might do all of the above or only one or two, but figure an hour for each and decide what each member should get per hour. (We have decided the per-hour rate by consensus.)
Then you have the extraneous expenses if needed:
* sound system
* travel
* dance caller
For the sound system we came up with a rate that can be split between members for having to haul, set up & break down. We came up with a per-member, per-hour travel fee, and we have a caller who commands his fee as well.
Because of these factors the ultimate price can be extremely varied depending on what the client wants and where the wedding takes place etc.
If you choose to become a wedding band you should develop an appropriate repertoire of pre-ceremony music, i.e. planxtys etc., a good processional and recessional, (you may need multiple processionals,) and lovely incidental musical motifs and short pieces to be interspersed into the ceremony if needed. You will also need to have a system for organizing cues with the wedding managers, arrangers, etc., and set up good communication lines with the Bride.
You also need to consult with the bride about these details. This could be time consuming and you might want to add a bit for the trouble. Sometimes they want you to come to the rehearsal, but I just ask them to provide a script or outline with the places they want the music highlighted. I also ask them to provide an approximation for the duration of each musical inclusion for the ceremony so I can determine which piece will best fit.
There are also good things to remember to help your contribution to the wedding flow better, i.e. breaking for dinner at the same time they start their toasts, taking breaks in-between sections... things like that. If you don't think it through you'll be breaking when you should be playing and waiting with your instruments in your laps when you should be taking your break.
I hope this helps.
# Posted on March 21st 2008 by Phantom Button
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
Some brides are pickier than others - 15 or 20 emails / phone calls can be the norm for a fussy wedding nowadays - but at least everyone knows what to expect.
You need to be a sociable band (or start a card-school) as there is often 2 hours plus hanging around waiting at weddings - medics seem to have the longest speeches.
# Posted on March 22nd 2008 by geoffwright
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
My record hanging-about was 2 and 3/4 hours ! Yes we were that late in GETTING INTO the hall to start setting up, 1 & 3/4 hours after we were due to start !
And the bride and groom were pretty indifferent to us, but the parents all loved us, and they were paying, so that was fine then. And a good meal before we started too.
And I always say we play for free, it's the logistics that cost the money and take the time.
# Posted on March 22nd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Typical Charges for Weddings and Similar Functions
"And I always say we play for free, it's the logistics that cost the money and take the time." - really intrigued by that! Was that tongue-in-cheek, or is this what you actually do say to clients?
# Posted on March 23rd 2008 by Mark Harmer