I'm Getting Married!!! Live music expenses??

[NatDeroxL7]

So naturally, I've convinced her to go the live music route for both the ceremony and reception. This thread is specifically about the money, not looking quite yet for band recommendations, offers, etc...

Ceremony will probably be a string quartet, since I'm a long time violinist. Not sure how much help I'll get here, but how much could i expect to pay per hour for a really, really good string quartet? I'm picky so they would have to be top notch, and I would probably select some challenging/my faovirte pieces to play.

Here's where y'all come in. Hourly rates for a band for the reception! Looking for a 5-6 piece setup: 2 guitars, vocals, drums, bass, keyboard...fairly standard, obviously I don't care if a guitarist doubles as vocals as long as they are a great sounding band with a diverse and flexible range of styles. What can I expect to pay per hour for something like that?

In both cases travel is paid for by us, food is provided by us, and if necessary we will pay for lodging as well.

We will be getting married in fall of 2009 in upstate new york. It would be a pretty small wedding, family only, definitely less than 100 people

thanks for the help!!

[lalaland]

Pay them what you wish you got payed to do those gigs...

[JamonGrande]

great questions! I'm looking forward to others' responses. For my wedding a month ago, I made music one of our top priorities. I feel like I payed the band relatively fairly, and made sure they were fed and drank well (I knew a number of them from around town). I had a 10 piece James Brown tribute band play the reception, and hired the 3 horns from the group to play processional and recessional music for the ceremony. I ended up writing the charts for those pieces as I had some pretty specific ideas (Frisell, Van Morrison, Bobby Bland). 2:30 hours of reception, plus those tunes: $2100. Actually, I felt like that was cheap, and thus made sure it was an enjoyable gig for them as well (or at least how I would want to be treated at an ideal gig).

I've done some weddings here in SD and St. Louis. For ceremonies, I ask $200 for solo guitar. They usually last about half-hour. Mostly the standards, though I do offer my clients 1 or 2 requests (one was Somewhere over the Rainbow, another was Smashing Pumpkins). I also through in some different stuff, again Frisell, some Bela Fleck. Somewhat jazz influenced over strictly classical. Ceremonies in which I have specific parts to play (i.e. Catholic mass) maybe $50 more, as it means a little extra learning/practice. Small PA, additional charge if needed (I see it as a 2 jobs for 1 vendor service).

Reception music: I'm currently working my projects towards a $75-100/man/hour rate. I think it's pretty reasonable considering preparations going into, and providing good entertainment. I won't lie, it's not easy, especially for relatively new projects. I'm hovering more around the $40-50/man/hour range. So what you're looking at, $1000-1500. I would think around $500-600 for a solid string quartet (no?)

My opinion, don't skimp! Get exactly what you want, and every one else will dig it. As one of the guests at my wedding told me,"It's nice to go to a reception where the band really makes you want to dance." One of the best compliments on the whole thing that I received.

oh yeah, the whole wedding thing is such a friggin racket! As soon as you say it, boom the price goes up compared to any other event. And of course, that's wher I'm looking to make some money...

joe

[NatDeroxL7]

Pay them what you wish you got payed to do those gigs...


I've never played anything other than frat parties and as a hobby, never played to support myself.....I don't really know anything about the world of working musicians and what to expect.

[jimfog]

For the reception, minimum $350 per man, double that for the leader......maybe add in a helper/sound guy, too.

...and that's cheap.

String Quartet, you're on your own................but I expect it to be very pricey.

[Neer]

I'd say your typically going to pay $500 per piece and more. That's what they get in the NY/NJ area, and that's on the low end. For a 4 hour wedding, you're probably looking at $3000-4000 for a 6 piece.

[devinb]

For the strings, you may want to look at what exists at local colleges...I did my undergrad at a state school that always had an amazing graduate quartet in residence. A lot of conservatories have ways to hire musicians directly from their websites.

[Mark Ray]

In this area, where prices are a bit less, the "wedding band" I was in typically got $2500 for 3 hours. That was a 5-piece unit (vocalist, keys, guitar, bass, drums), with plenty of lights, disco ball, etc.

Mark

[burningyen]

$100/musician per hour sounds about right, not including travel/lodging. I just got married in NYC in August, and this band (http://lapisluna.com/) did an outstanding job for us. They only do swing/jazz, though.