Sing For Wedding - How Much $?

Subject: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Alice
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:25 PM

I'm hoping those of you who regularly are hired to sing at wedding ceremonies (or funerals) can help me. I've been in touch with people who professionally plan weddings. I have also been asked by a local piper if I would sing at weddings or funerals. I have no idea what people are generally paid to do this. For the wedding, it requires the time to be there for rehearsals, etc. as well as the ceremony. I'm not talking about performing at the reception, just being part of the ceremony itself. This is not doing it as a favor for friends or relatives, but to be hired for the service. Thanks for any feedback you can give me.

Alice

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:39 PM

Minimum $75.00 I have only done "friend" stuff, but even then, they always "tip" $50. For a stranger, I might even ask $100.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:51 PM

Oh whoa there...depends on where you live. Here in Kentucky it's not that expensive yet. Then again, prices can change just going 50 miles. Alice, just call folks in your area that deal with this. Like prices for babysitters, those that use the service seem to know the going rate.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 09:57 PM

I'm in rural Wyoming, and that is the Going Rate for "Stranger Perfomances". 28 years ago I paid a Stranger Soloist $100 for one song at my wedding.....in Kansas, and that was the Rate then. She was late, and I still had to pay that.

My time is worth their time.....and I do a LOT of freebies as it is.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: alison
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 10:09 PM

I usually do a combination..... part service part reception.... and get usually $150 - $250 (Aus).....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Deckman
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 10:35 PM

I don't know if this helps, but it might be entertaining. I'm often asked to sing at weddings and funerals. My success rate for weddings is pretty poor ... this is, most of those marriages have NOT lasted long. My success for funerals is 100 per cent. CHEERS, Bob Nelson

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Sorcha
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 10:43 PM

Bob/Deckman, just how do you know that? ALL your "funeral" folks have gone to Heaven? (small giggle, sorry, just struck me funny!) Seriously, tho, funerals do seem to "come through" with the money better than weddings. Insurance, you know. Who has insurance for a Wedding?

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Lyrical Lady
Date: 13 Feb 01 - 11:07 PM

I never charge for singing at weddings and funerals and have always been rewarded with "gifts" that mean so much more to me than money. Perhaps that's because I live in such a small place ... I do undertand that some circumstances require a fee to be charged. I think I would charge $50.00 (Can.) (which is worth a lot more in American $$!). Lyrical Lady

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 01:01 AM

The times I've done it... $150 Canadian for the weddings... that's a song or 2... And funerals... well, I've only ever played the wakes, not the buriels... the wake earned me 250, but it was a 4 hour show...

;-)

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: sophocleese
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 07:37 AM

My husband charges $100 for piping at an occasion, wedding, awards ceremony etc.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Jon W.
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 12:23 PM

I've got seven daughters, how can I get some of that wedding insurance?

My wife has sung a lots of funerals, but I don't remember her ever doing a wedding. She has never been paid for a funeral - but then again our whole church is done on a volunteer "lay clergy" basis anyway. I think she could get payed if she would do it at funeral parlors rather than church.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Kim C
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 12:38 PM

We're playing a wedding reception out of town in May and are asking $200 plus a hotel room. This is a few hours travel and probably about three hours or so of playing.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Mooh
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 01:06 PM

As it happens, I played a funeral this morning, and I've no idea if someone will drop me some cash later, and I don't really care. I did it for a friend and I've asked for nothing so I expect nothing. My experience though is that most often people will say thank you with money. Sometimes I accept in with grace, and sometimes I will donate it back to a cause. Rich people and strangers are given a price up front which varies according to my preparation work and inconvenience. No lower than $50 Cdn. and generally much more. I'm sometimes uncomfortable accepting money from friends even though it makes them feel better to pay, but their feelings are more important than my own in this regard.

I'm aware of many musicians who insist on the payment up front because they've been stiffed or shorted for church ceremonies in the past. A regrettable situation when honesty should abound.

As I've got older I've also turned down such gigs which I'm sure would only piss me off, but I've only my conscience to deal with for that.

The short answer is to find what the market will bear and charge accordingly. Professional performance deserves professional payment.

Mooh.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Pinetop Slim
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 03:35 PM

My suggestion would be to let intuition guide your pricing.
That's based on feedback from musicians in the Massachusetts-Rhode Island area who are happy to play at a friend's ceremony for free (or $25 or $50), but quote a price of $2,000 for their band to play at a wedding where they don't really want to be.
An alternative might be to check with a union musician to find out what the prevailing wage is in your area and use that as a benchmark.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: RichM
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 03:42 PM

Following up logically, how much should one charge to play at a divorce party?

;) Rich

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 04:00 PM

I am often offered money not to sing at weddings and funerals.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 05:35 PM

We are playing our first wedding on 1st April (yeah, I know) and are charging $150.00. Ceremony only, not reception. I feel that is a fair price for a duo for an hour's work and no significant travelling. Playing the reception would be a whole different ballgame.

Murray

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: ddw
Date: 14 Feb 01 - 11:05 PM

Alice,

Seems to me you could sort this out for yourself by figuring it strictly on the time involved. They say it takes 10 hours of practice for one hour on stage. Say the gig calls for three songs — total of 10 minutes. If you spent a hour and 40 minutes in preparation, you've got almost two hours invested in the whole thing, plus driving time, setup, etc.

Now decide how much your "labor" is worth — and don't short yourself just because you enjoy performing — and charge that as an hourly rate.

I figure skilled labor where I live makes $25 to $30 an hour, so I should be worth that too.

I know it sounds mechanistic, but I think it works out to a pretty fair price.

cheers,

david

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Feb 01 - 12:12 PM

That might make an interesting thread ... What to sing at a Divorce party? Oh well, just a thought. By the way, I HAVE sung at two divorce parties

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Feb 01 - 12:16 PM

That might make an interesting thread ... What to sing at a Divorce party? Oh well, just a thought. By the way, I HAVE sung at two divorce parties

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: GUEST,Woodland
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 11:16 AM

Alice, its important to also remember that during the course of an entire wedding, a couple hundred dollars for a musician is just a drop in the bucket. Always take into account as well if you have to learn something specific for the occasion.

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 11:41 AM

This is an interesting thread for me. I have sung at two military retirement ceremonies (Leave Her, Johnny). These two were for friends but my friends seem to think I may be invited to sing for strangers. How much to charge for one song?

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Willie-O
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 11:43 AM

$50 Cdn is a tip, not a fee. I would ask $100, generally, if it was local, for a wedding or funeral, and be prepared to go a little lower if they're nice enough people and are going on a shoestring. Generally, weddings are one of those situations where a premium price is charged by lots of services, largely because they can get it, because the organizer is not trying to make a profit--it's all loss.

Deckman, singing at your OWN divorce party doesn't count.

Willie-O

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: misfit
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 12:31 PM

Deckman, What to sing at a divorce party? That's easy. The Beatles "Yesterday".

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Alice
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 01:51 PM

I checked with a union friend, and she said the local office told her people in the union are charging $200 for singing for the ceremony. I had thought it was closer to $100, so that surprised me.

Alice

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Lyrical Lady
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 01:57 PM

How about "Memory" or the "The Way we Were"...two songs that work well with my current situation. Sadly, I know them both. I could throw my own party and entertain myself! LL

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 06:12 PM

Mechanics and skilled folks making $25-30 an hour? I have a Master's Degree and make $21.09 an hour. Guess I need to move!! I wouldn't do it for under $150.00 American. Friends are always free!

Subject: RE: Sing For Wedding - How Much $?
From: Mooh
Date: 16 Feb 01 - 10:32 PM

The price issue is interesting. My perspective is that in the big city (say maybe Toronto, or even somewhere like Kitchener/Waterloo Canada) the going price for performance during weddings and such can be generally much higher, or at least the disparity between low and high much greater than in rural Ontario. There's some seasonal adjustment too. Is this the case elsewhere?

I've been impressed with the prices people command in the city, but not impressed with the overhead travel/parking/rental/etc costs, so maybe it's a trade off situation. Part of the cost of living in the boonies is a lower accepted rate of pay for the arts.

IMHO. Mooh.