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How do you price a wedding?

Zephrant

Zephrant

Guest
Dec 10, 2013
313
94
Spokane, WA
#1
Working on my web site for the band, and am at the point of putting down info for private events like weddings. Online research says people charge from sub one thousand to over 10k...

Does anyone have an ala-carte setup where the bride can pick from a list to get a price? i.e. three sets, five piece band, full PA with subs, MP3 tracks pre/post = $X...

Add another set for $X. Add fiddle player for another $Y...
 
#5
Regrettably, a-la-carte will probably lose you clients in the long run. In my (limited) experience, folks tend to not care so much about how big a band is (anything greater than a 4-piece is 'big'), they just want to know you can play the entire history of recorded music at the drop of a hat, and not have to think too hard about it. "We'd like jazz for the cocktail hour, an hour of top 40, and then the deep cuts from our favorite Norwegian Speed-Metal-Death-Polka, but toned down for our grandparents...". I'd forgo an a-la-carte menu system in favor of "we can provide a band of X members, plus a smaller combo for a jazz- or classical-themed cocktail hour. Here's a sample setlist <link to 10,000 tunes>, and we welcome a reasonable number of requests!"

MP3s are good to have, but video is *necessary*, even if it's in exclusion of the MP3s. The wedding clients want to SEE as well as HEAR your band before they even ask for a quote; an investment in 3-5 well-produced videos will be paid back in spades.

Ninja-edit:
A good, albeit sneaky, way to get a ballpark of what the low end of your area is, is to post a fake Craigslist ad. "Couple seeking to get married in September, looking for a band to play 4 hours popular music + cocktail hour jazz in <nearby wedding venue>, please send quotes + links to video" will net you a wide variety of replies, AND you get to see who your competition is.
 
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#6
I would say don't make it too complicated as that will likely leave the door open for a lot of headaches. I would also suggest not including mp3s. As the person above suggested, a potential client will want to see the band so you need a video (I would suggest just one video of approximately five minutes in length). Make sure the video is as good as it can be. There are a lot of not very good corporate/wedding band videos out there and part of the reason for that is that a good video costs money. Take a look at what's out there and learn what you can before going ahead with your own.
 
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#8
skwee said:
You need to think about time, preparation, personnel, and logistics.
Click to expand...

+1. You're talking about a pretty full day in most circumstances. The band needs to be set up before all of the guests arrive for the reception which is usually in the afternoon and then you're expected to be playing until the end, then you've got load out. In some cases you need to work around the venue too, as they're setting up their stuff for the night. Some of them have a set time that you need to load in and sound check by then you sit on your hands for 4 hours before you even think about playing.

Of course, this is not in all cases. As always YMMV
 
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#11
Old rule of thumb used to be to double your regular bar/club rate at a minumum and go up from there. Lots of extra time goes into weddings, from setup time hours before the event, learning special songs, MC'Ing the event, DJ'Ing during breaks, etc., and who knows what else. There's also the matter of their budget, what the local market will bear, and the fact that you will be in price competition with DJ's.

I'd do it on a case by case basis and not put hard prices or an alacarte menu on your site.
 
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#13
walterw said:
think of a reasonable fee, then double it.
Click to expand...

Think about how much we get for any gig we have to bring a PA and do a few sets, multiply that by 5. Then think about how little I like playing wedding shows and/or how obnoxious the mother of the bride will be...add an extra thousand dollars.
 
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#15
BurningSkies said:
Think about how much we get for any gig we have to bring a PA and do a few sets, multiply that by 5. Then think about how little I like playing wedding shows and/or how obnoxious the mother of the bride will be...add an extra thousand dollars.
Click to expand...


:D

You do need to add something for dealing with bitches. Weddings are about the bride and her mom and no one else. Always remember that.
 
#17
yeah, don't put your prices on a web site.
Just put what services you offer with your wedding band performance, like full band w/ horns, keys & singers, but also small combo quiet jazz package.
PA Rental available.
DJ & MC services available.
Lighting rental available.

Often times I will work with the bride's budget.
If they ask for a quote and don't quite know what they want/require, then I ask them what is their budget for entertainment, and go from there.

Often times if they have a small budget but seem like nice people, I will tell them to contact a local rental company through their wedding planner for backline, lighting, staging, etc., and then me & my boys show up in suits 1 hr prior to performance time. If they bring poo-poo gear, they get poo-poo sound.
99% of the time, it works out well, because the wedding planners know what's up.

And 50% of fee due at time of booking, 50% due 2 weeks prior to date.
 
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#18
Slough Feg Bass said:
yeah, don't put your prices on a web site.
Just put what services you offer with your wedding band performance, like full band w/ horns, keys & singers, but also small combo quiet jazz package.
PA Rental available.
DJ & MC services available.
Lighting rental available.

Often times I will work with the bride's budget.
If they ask for a quote and don't quite know what they want/require, then I ask them what is their budget for entertainment, and go from there.

Often times if they have a small budget but seem like nice people, I will tell them to contact a local rental company through their wedding planner for backline, lighting, staging, etc., and then me & my boys show up in suits 1 hr prior to performance time. If they bring poo-poo gear, they get poo-poo sound.
99% of the time, it works out well, because the wedding planners know what's up.

And 50% of fee due at time of booking, 50% due 2 weeks prior to date.
Click to expand...


Interesting take on the pay. Done plenty of 1/2 up front non-refundable (in case one of them gets cold feet. Also to hold the calendar date.), and 1/2 upon completion, but never asked for it all up front. You get pushback, lose gigs, or is this common among wedding planners?
 
#19
will33 said:
:D

You do need to add something for dealing with bitches. Weddings are about the bride and her mom and no one else. Always remember that.
Click to expand...

To me weddings were soul-sucking experiences. We did them if the cash made it worth it, but I can say I hated nearly every single one. Not only that, but we let people know up front that we're not a request band, a pop-cover band or a traditional wedding band. We don't take requests, etc. If you want to hire us for what we do, then hire us, but we're not playing "Celebrate" or any such stuff.
 
#20
What I tell clients is that it all comes down to time and materials. The more material that we need to bring (musicians, sound, lighting) and the more time we need to spend (including coming in early for set up time) the higher the cost. The benefit of focusing on time and material is that you can negotiate the cost up or down without having to compromise too much. I've avoided very early set up times, hauling in tons of PA, etc. by having the client delete those requests to save money. But if those things can't be avoided, then at least we get compensated for it. It also lets the customer see what really goes into a gig, and they have a better appreciation for what they are paying for if they see the actual effort and cost that goes into it.

Here's my simple metric for pricing a 4 hour reception, showing up 2 hours prior to the gig.
Going rate for a good musician multiplied by the number of musicians
+ Band leader cut
+ Cost for sound and lighting if it needs to be contracted out.
+ Travel expenses

We will charge extra for cocktail hour and the ceremony using a similar equation as above, but less since the amount of time and number of musicians are usually less.

We will charge extra if we have to show up earlier than 2 hours before the show to set up.
We have an overtime rate in our contract if the client wants us to perform past the agreed upon time.
We may charge more if customer requests result in additional costs for us, such as when a client asked for the band to wear bow-ties.
A contract and a deposit is required for us to hold a date and to perform.

Sort of related to the topic of compensation, make sure to clarify any band perks like food, drink, dressing room, etc. beforehand. I never factor that into the cost, meaning I will charge the same whether you get the whole band full and drunk or make us watch everyone eat while we starve. Here's a tip: For the food, talk to the caterer, if you can. You may need to talk to them anyway to coordinate set up. You may get a better meal out of it, and the client won't worry about additional cost. Referrals are king of the wedding business, and a caterer may hook you up if you can get them referrals.
 
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