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

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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7953
    edited October 2017
    Trotter said:
    @guitarfishbay a lot of people out there with a lot of money to throw about.  

    True.

    @rocker

    500 Euros is not a livable rate for a band doing weddings professionally. Professional prices should pay a livable wage. A wedding band typically can only do a few nights a week tops and the demand can be seasonal. They need to practice, buy and maintain equipment, travel, not to mention eat food and have somewhere to live. At 500 Euros that puts it into hobby secondary income territory, it’s just not livable when split multiple ways and sporadic.

    By all means don’t pay for something you don’t think is worth it but by the same token 2k is not a shameful price to request at all in the context of the wedding industry.
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10356
    I did a corporate gig with Jimmy Carr once, some posh estate agent awards in London. My band got £1600 for 2 sets, he got 44K for announcing the nominees  \  winners and told a few blow job jokes. He was on over a thousand pounds a minute by my reckoning !
    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    Rocker said:
    Maynehead said:
    We paid over a grand for our photographer and another £800 for videographer, and thought we got a good deal.

    Sounds like perfectly normal prices to me.

    As for the band... we just did someone's wedding for free the other week. Otherwise we would have charged about 500 quid max. 2 grand sounds a bit ridiculous to me...

    A wedding is not a corporate event so prices charged should reflect that.

    Travel of 50Km+ changes the dynamic, the charge ought to reflect this. In our area there are several decent bands all within 15Km yet they charge as if they have to drive down from Belfast. They have their own PA - looks like an attempt to make a lot of money for a half days playing. As @Maynehead said, €500 is decent payment for what is two one hour slots.

    But the band costs pale into insignificance in comparison to photography charges. A friend of mine  is heavily into photography and is a member of the local photography club. He asked a friend and fellow member of that club to take the photographs at his daughters wedding. He was charged full professional rates for the day. Friendship over or as good as. What is wrong with helping out a friend on the day, knowing the favour will be returned sometime in the future? By all means pay something for travel, camera batteries, SD cards etc. But.....

    Such ridiculous charges were normal in boom time Ireland. The practice became known as ' rip off Ireland'. Saddens me to think this happens all over the place.
    Saddens you that musicians getting a reasonable days pay!

    €500 for a typical 5 piece band (not an unrealistic assumption) is €50 / per hour each for 2 x 1 hours assuming you only count the time that you are playing as part of the job. 

    Unfortunately it isn't.

    I've played loads of wedding, and they can be a long day. 

    You will almost always need to provide a PA (how much would that cost to hire?), set it up, sound check (this will often need to be done well in advance of playing as you don't want some one sound checking the drums during the speeches.

    After the gig you will have to break the gear down, load out etc.

    Typically you will be looking at a minimum of 5-6 hours out of your day, so this now becomes around €10 / hour.

    That's taking into account counting expenses: travel, PLI, equipment maintenance, strings, rehearsals (you do want a professional performance don't you?) etc

    I can assure you that most "wedding" bands are not having it away.


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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601



    Rocker said:
    Maynehead said:
    We paid over a grand for our photographer and another £800 for videographer, and thought we got a good deal.

    Sounds like perfectly normal prices to me.

    As for the band... we just did someone's wedding for free the other week. Otherwise we would have charged about 500 quid max. 2 grand sounds a bit ridiculous to me...

    A wedding is not a corporate event so prices charged should reflect that.

    What? I disagree.

    Wedding's are far more pressure for a band than a corporate bash - it's a special day for the bride and groom as well as their friends and family. A wedding band will generally have good gear, including a high-quality PA system, musical instruments and lighting. They need public liability insurance (a requirement of all UK wedding venues), equipment maintenance and Portable Appliance Testing of equipment. They will no doubt practice before the event and have to turn up early to setup, so its a long day.

    Funny how the bride might spend £1 to £2K on a dress but think a band only costs £500.


    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • FreebirdFreebird Frets: 5821
    I think they've booked Elton John by mistake.
    If we are not ashamed to think it, we should not be ashamed to say it.
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  • jpfampsjpfamps Frets: 2723
    Fretwired said:



    .

    Funny how the bride might spend £1 to £2K on a dress but think a band only costs £500.

    Or a cake........
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  • hasslehamhassleham Frets: 598
    Fretwired said:
    I've just hired a band for a corporate event next year .. they'll play for 1.5 hours after the meal so people can dance. The cost is £3.5K - there are five people in the band. They are very professional and excellent musicians.

    And a friend of mine is a top wedding photographer - he charges from £3.5K to £6k depending on what people want and has charged £10K.
    Let me know if they back out and my band will come to the rescue ;)
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