Saturday Wedding Gig, €2K sounds a bit steep....

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RockerRocker Frets: 4941
Well to me it does.  I know nothing of the band, presuming it is a 4 or 5 piece outfit.  Also not sure if someone in the band is acting as DJ for the afters.  But €2K is excessive for a Saturday wedding gig.  

Someone I know is planning their wedding and that figure was mentioned.  And the photographer is budgeted at close to €1K.

What planet do these people live on?
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited July 2017
    Most function bands I played in around the central London hotels went out for an average of about £1500, and that was a couple of years ago. If we had to go further afield, to Birmingham or the south coast, it went up to £2K. Given inflation and the exchange rate to Euros, that price might not be far off what you've got here.

    I suppose it depends how many of them in the band and how good they are i.e. if they're well-established and whilst most bands provide background music, if one member of the band specifically acts as the DJ or brings someone in especially, then that's an additional cost.

    Don't forget, people pay for the band's time and that can sometimes be a 10-12 hr day from start to finish. They might need to get there early, set up and sound check before the ceremony etc and get out of the way or be curtained off as we were a few months ago (finished sound checking at 3pm and came on at 8.30pm). The endless sitting around waiting etc is still as much a part of the band's working day as the playing time.
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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    Weddings are a professional event for bands (or should be). The quality of the gear should be clean and reliable (expensive?) and the band must play material suitable for autie mable and cousin Raz at volumes to suit family members that only see one another every few years and need to chat. The need to be there and set up before the 'breakfast' and wait about until after the speaches (hours and hours) means the cost of a professional outfit is rightly high. You pay peanuts you get monkeys springs to mind. Yes you can get a pub band for a fraction of that, but they typically only know 25 songs plus Johnny B Goode and thats what you get while they turn up in T shirts and jeans to mingle with your guests who may have spent hundreds on thier outfits for the day!
    Bands in that catogory usually come through and agent so have some insurance and backup cover in case of sickness etc.
    It's a big market full of chancers. Photographer will be a basic shoot price, the prints, albums etc. will be on top of that. My former neighbour was a top photographer (lectured around the globe on the subject) and started his shoot price at £3.5k!
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    Indeed, and I just wanted to add that depending on where you're playing, in my experience, we needed liability insurance and PAT tested equipment and all that costs as well as having good, reliable equipment and backups. You need to be slick and professional and deliver. Don't forget that your performance, like the First Dance, is probably going to end up on the wedding DVD.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2176
    It's been a couple of years since I've done them but the price could be in the region of £2K depending on the size of the event and distance. But that was for a ~10 piece band with brass section.

    It's not a competition.
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  • maltingsaudiomaltingsaudio Frets: 3097
    edited July 2017
    As with all gigs its a lottery, and some people have more money than sense especially when it comes to their own wedding. 2k for the band doesn't sound out of place for a posh hotel wedding but it does for a do in your back garden or down the pub.And 1k for the photos again it depends what they are getting for that, if they have to buy the photos on top of it or the full wedding album filled with pics from  the bride getting dressed., up to the last drunk falling in the chocolate fountain. 
    www.maltingsaudio.co.uk
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    £2k for a professional band can be par for the course depending on a bunch of factors.

    I also don't understand why a music forum member wouldn't value a musicians time... if you do the maths the band members aren't getting rich on that money especially as it's not pure profit.
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  • RockerRocker Frets: 4941
    I do value musicians time.  It just seems that musicians value their time very highly.  They may be worth the cost but it remains to be seen....
    Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. [Albert Einstein]

    Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    The top earning band I'm in can pull 2K for a wedding and that's a 5 piece rock band. It's not about how good you are, it's more about the negotiating skills of your man when it comes to doing the deal and we have a very skillful guy indeed :)
    £1500 is a starting point generally, can go up to 2,5K 

    Last Wednesday we got £1500 for a corporate gig but our guy made them spring for hotel rooms and free bar as well as free meals so all in all they paid the best part of £2500 I would have thought ..... certainly I still had a hangover the next evening  :)

    I've done weddings where they have paid for £5K firework displays which no one watched cos they wouldn't leave the bar. I've seen cakes cost nigh on a  grand and all kinds of crazy puppet shows, chocolate fountains and fortune telling 


    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • MajorscaleMajorscale Frets: 1553
    Would love our band to get 2k for a wedding, we charged less than half that for the last one and got rave reviews. Hmmm!
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    It's a fairly standard figure for a pro band 
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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    edited July 2017
    Would love our band to get 2k for a wedding, we charged less than half that for the last one and got rave reviews. Hmmm!
    I agree about negotiating skills and yes, it does depend on the number of guests, size and type of venue but if prospective clients are shopping for a band and comparing, if you're cheap, they get suspicious and you can undervalue yourselves, as well as over-pricing the gig.

    I forgot that at most functions, we also get fed and watered and sometimes get our own area to eat and get changed in.

    As to photographers, like the band/entertainment, you only get one chance. At our wedding, our photographer and his assistant enjoyed the free bar too much and it reflected in their work. We didn't order a single pic but kept the proofs and relied on better photos from family and friends- wankers!
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  • RavenousRavenous Frets: 1484
    Danny1969 said:
    I've done weddings where they have paid for £5K firework displays which no one watched cos they wouldn't leave the bar. I've seen cakes cost nigh on a grand and all kinds of crazy puppet shows, chocolate fountains and fortune telling 

    I think these days the couples with money feel a bit of pressure to put on a good show.  That's why so many pro musicians.

    (Personally in the run down are I came from, I'd only seen DJs hired for the night. Live bands would is a bit extravagant I think.)

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  • KebabkidKebabkid Frets: 3301
    Some of the function band work I did was on the Greek wedding scene and here, they do things differently.
     You agree a price with the client and on the day, you have a platter/tray/box on stage at the front and if someone requests a song or someone significant in the family dances, including when the couple do their first dance, the band are tipped.

    At the end of the evening, we go off with the Best Man or Father of the Bride and count the money collected. If it's short on our quote, they top up the balance. If it's over, we keep it.

    It's a strange one as your audience i.e. their guests, are paying for the band but a lot of the money comes from the couple's parents. I guess meeting your price, or surpassing it, means you've done a good job.
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  • FiftyshadesofjayFiftyshadesofjay Frets: 1427
    edited July 2017
    Par for the course for a pro wedding band I'm afraid. I do this for a living myself and £1200 is our very lowest rate for a four piece. That's a standard 2 x 60 minute set, 6pm to midnight with DJ service, local area.

    Price goes up depending on the distance, it's also extra for early start / late finish and extra for specific requests we have to learn. We also have an acoustic option for the daytime. 

    Obviously if it's a five piece the price will go up considerably as well.

    As has been said already you're paying for a pro band who won't mess up on the night who has a set that will work. There's pro equipment and of course even with a 6pm start it'll often end up being a 14 hour day for each band member if you factor in travelling. Not to mention gear insurance, PLI, PAT testing, van/gear maintenence, agent fees etc.


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  • funkyfrazfunkyfraz Frets: 93
    At the end of the day, music is a skilled profession.    Also, weddings are generally a loooong day. So 1500 cabbage (which is average here) minus expenses (travel/breakables) , and any agent fees.... That money gets divied down pretty quickly. 

    I'm doing a dep tomorrow night £180 quid. Will leave the house 4pm and will be home 2am. Not including the time I've spent learning the songs that is £18 an hour. Include practice time your talking probably less that £10 an hour.  A guy cutting your grass will charge about the same.
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  • RocknRollDaveRocknRollDave Frets: 6431
    What @funkyfraz said.
    dep gig last night in Totnes, Devon, travelling from Birmingham. Left work at 1pm, home at 4:19am. Day and a half holiday from day job used up, fortunately no major outgoings as I wasn't driving (on this occasion). £200. 
    I still find it amazing I get paid so much to play guitar and sing a bit, but in terms of the hours/ inconvenience/ being away from home/ lack of sleep I definitely earn it.

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  • GrunfeldGrunfeld Frets: 4027
    Rocker said:
    What planet do these people live on?
    Do the maths.
    1500 income
    [for us, playing a wedding could be £ equal to 300 euro of expenses (hotel bills and diesel)
    so 1200 net,  / 5 = 240 each.
    10 hours work.
    24 an hour.
    In GBP that's £21.40 an hour.
    Make sense now?
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
    Of course, if 2000 is too much they could always find a band that'll do it for less...


    ... wonder how good they'll be?
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  • LegionreturnsLegionreturns Frets: 7965
    My rates for outdoor instruction are probably not a great comparison, especially as I don't set them most of the time. The client (more often than not an outdoor ed company or center) posts the staff they want, and the rate. 

    Depending on what it is, how far away it is and the required qualification to run the activity, rates can vary from £90 / day up to about £250 / day but you have to factor in travel time and cost. 

    I'm not sure how useful that is, bearing in mind most of the stuff I do you have to have a specific qualification for (I hold about 11 different ones that have to be renewed at my expense periodically) but a good band is more than one person to pay and transport. 

    My Trading Feedback    |    You Bring The Band

    Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you
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  • HoofHoof Frets: 491
    It's a skilled and specialised trade. Think how much you would pay for a job that would take 5 electricians 12 hours to do. Now think what you'd think of a group of electricians who would do it for 20% of that price and consider if you would you trust the 20%ers on a job that that extremely important and it was utterly essential that they didn't fuck it up.


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