Wedding Gig Friday

[johnwalser]

I played at the chapel Christmas Eve in front of a fairly large crowd and a couple of days later got a call asking me to play for a wedding this Friday. I immediately said yes and then was amazed to hear the words "What is your going rate?". Once I got my heart restarted, I told them I had spent quite a bit on Christmas this year and could only afford to pay them $20 to allow me to play. He laughed and said I should take something so I can brag that I'm now a professional. Maybe I should take $1 and mount it on a wall. The point is, this is a fellow I have known for years and he is asking me to play at this once in a lifetime event (or in his case, a 4 time in a lifetime event), but who's counting marriages.
Playing mandolin is a HOOT!
John

[ShaneJ]

I've played guitar, piano and sang at a TON of weddings -- didn't think all my friends and family members would EVER finish getting married! I usually do it for free, but I've charged a few times for people I didn't know, etc. It really is a lot of work to do a wedding. You're lucky if the bride ever wants you to play/sing anything that you already know, so you have to learn new songs. Sometimes they want you to sing with some other person they know, so you have to get together with your new music partner and practice. Then there's having to be in contact with the bride's mother....

$100 is WAY too cheap!

[JimD]

OK -- I'm going to add my two cents here (20,000 cents to be exact)

Many of us make our living from playing music and people who play for free or too little make life harder for those of us who do this professionally.

For weddings, I don't go out the door for less than $200 (and that is for my own church --I charge more at any other location) -- granted, I've been playing for a while. If I play for free at a friend's wedding, I make it clear that it is a GIFT (a $200 one at that).

It is the only way to be fair to my colleagues -- and to myself. As much fun as it is to play, there is much preparation, rehearsal, travel and time to be considered -- not to mention training and experience.

I agree with SJennings that $100 is way too cheap -- even if you are just beginning to play out, that should be a lowball minimum.

[diamond ace]

I don't know if you mean your playing alone or with a group but my band did about 7 weddings this year. We have 4 members and never got paid less then $150.00 apiece. (thats $600 per wedding min.)

Hope this helps.

[JimD]

I should have mentioned that my comments were about wedding ceremonies.

I don't play receptions any more (I prefer situations in which people are listening) but I would charge much more for receptions -- they are usually at least three times the length of the ceremonies and require much more preparation.

[J. Mark Lane]

Jeez, if a friend asked me to play at his wedding, I'd gladly do it for free. But then, my friends have more discerning tastes...at least in music.

[Dennis Schubert]

Perspective: If this is a typical wedding, somebody (bride's pa?) is paying a lot of money for hall, food, booze, etc. -- to the tune of many dollars per guest. What's another $1.00 per guest for a live entertainment budget? And, this Friday is New Year's Eve -- when musicians typically charge double or triple, if they can get away with it (in the old days this was due to supply and demand for live pickers on that night, since "DJ" wasn't an alternative).

Now, with that in mind, what is reasonable amount to charge for your services? $50 or $100 or $200?

If you are very close to the bride and/or groom, consider giving them your high-priced services as a wedding present. Our band has done that for a few close friends, and even printed up bogus gig posters with the wedding event listed instead of the usual bar/time/covercharge info, to share with the guests.

[Tyler]

I have played piano for a few folks' weddings around here, and, even if I know them well, I charge somthing for that. I agree with the "extra dollar per guest" idea. Get a rough head count and charge a dollar per for the entertainment. I guess that only works if you collectivly know a lot of people...???
But really, though. If playing music is how you feed your family, then I agree whole heartedly that you aught to charge your friends for your services. If you are giving them your services as a gift, perhaps you could leave a card with the gifts that others bring that said somthing to the tune of " Thank you kindly for the opportunity to play at your wedding," or somthing, so that they remember that as the gift you provided to them on that occasion. Just a thought.::

[cbogle]

If you want to know what to charge to play a wedding, just do a little investigating: find out what they're paying for the flowers, then charge half of that amount. You should walk away with a net of somewhere between 1000 and 2500 dollars!

[dwc]

I was married last year, I asked my wife what we payed for the string quartet that played our service/reception. They played for about 3 hrs total (subtract off around 30 minutes for setup and travel and another 30 minutes for a dinner break during the reception, so 2 hrs total playing time). We paid $600 ($150 per musician)plus a $200 dollar tip at the end. It seemed fair to us, after all they are professionals. $150-200 per musician for 2+ hrs seems fair. However, I would assume that the standard "friends and family" discount of double rate would apply.

[Walter]

John, What songs do you plan to play? Did they give you a list, or are you going to play something you are already familiar with? Maybe we can suggest an amount based on the "degree of difficulty"

(PS. Please do not play "Sit'n on Top of the World")

[johnwalser]

This is a bummer!! I had all my songs ready (they wanted several Sinatra songs + Stardust, Someone to watch over me, etc.) and I'm ready to play! Eighteen inches of snow has fallen between last night and now and the snowplows have not arrived yet. I then get word that the power is off at the chapel. This is what comes of living 7000 ft. up in the High Sierra mountains. Anyone out there want to get married? This boy is ready!!!
John

[J. Mark Lane]

What, they canceled the wedding? Jeez. Living in that part of the world, why do people even bother to schedule things in the middle of winter? Don't you guys have snowmobiles or something?

Mark (safe and sound in sunny New York)

[johnwalser]

We normally only get that big of a one day snowfall a few times a year. Now there was the February of 1998 when we got 13' of snow, but that was rather unusual. When someone wants me to commit to something in the winter, I always tell them I'll be there, weather permitting.
You only ride snowmobiles as far as you're able to walk back home. They break down as often as Evan Marshall plays tremolo.
That said, I'm probably one of the very few mandolin players that can play beneath a 1500 year old Giant Sequoia tree 50 ft. from my front door. I've lived in Hawaii, Australia and in Santa Barbara for many years and now I just live a little closer to Heaven.
John

[John Craton]

A little word of advice: I once played at a wedding at which the bride ran about 15-20 minutes late getting ready to come down the aisle. I was supposed to play only a few short pieces before the ceremony, but was asked to keep going until she was ready. I kept pulling things out of my repertoire that, luckily, I was able to do at a moment's notice, but when my check came at the end of the wedding it was only for the amount I normally would have gotten for half the amount of music I actually played. That's the only time I ever had that happen, but perhaps it's not a bad idea to set some sort of contingency fee ahead of time should the situation arise. Anyone else ever have an experience like this?

[withak]

My band charges around $100-200/hour for wedding-type stuff, but we usually play friends' (and lately band members') weddings for free.