I'm about to embark on playing my flute at a wedding in a church, hopefully I can have enough courage to play and then to be able play at other weddings too for other people as it seems such a lovely thing to do for people.

Anyhow, can anyone recommend any wedding music books with cd's as backing tracks on?

Im also curious to know what to charge. I was thinking of a price for a whole service and a price for just playing while the register was being signed.

Does anyone who reads the forums have any idea of prices that I could quote to my family member for her wedding?

You would have to be there the whole time even if only playing for the signing of the register so I wouldn't have a difference in price.

Maybe finding out what organists charge in your area for weddings would give you a starting point?

I don't think I'd charge a family member, unless it was a very distant connection, wouldn't you be there anyway as a guest?

Yes I suppose I would have to be there at a wedding regardless of how long it takes, so one price would have to fit all I guess.

I wouldnt charge a family member for doing their wedding as I would technically be a guest too. Thanks

An organist fee would be £60 + any travel costs.

Surely, if you are playing more there is more preparation work involved, so I think an increased charge for the whole thing is justified even if it's not taking more of your time 'on the day'.

On the family member, it depends how close you are, but I don't think you necessarily have to do it for free. If it's a remote cousin, half price might be reasonable, or you could play as all or part of your wedding gift?

It's a tricky one, isn't it, about the family member? If all the other guests see you play and think they can call upon your services as well - for free - hmmmm, enough said! Most people would probably think that you just turn up on the day and pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat - it would not occur to them that you have to practise and spend possibly a significant amount of time on the overall project in advance of the wedding.

I don't think it's relevant that you might also be there as a guest. Guests are precisely that - guests of the hosts, invited for their company, not for what they can contribute.

I think if it were me, and if it was a very close family member or friend, then I would want to play at their wedding and I wouldn't charge. But if they're not all that close, and I didn't feel a particular urge to want to play for them, then I would charge something, but not the commercial rate. But I have no idea how I would broach the matter, I'm afraid!

The organist is doing most of the work, and fees in this area are 75-120 for all that. For a soloist in the signing, I have had sopranos doing items but they were professionals and charging around 75-100. For a flautist at the start of her career who knows: 50 + travel expenses?

Going slightly off at a tangent here but is there a standard rate for Organists fees like there is for Vicars, vergers etc? I thought there was.
I ask only because I get paid nowhere near £50 for a wedding and am curious to know if I am being had!

Have a look at the ISM's survey into organists' fees:

http://www.ism.org/publications/info/02_9.html

Thanks for that - I've saved it. I think I need to have a chat with a few people!
Mel

I think it's nearer to £45 where I live.



I wouldn't think that ths is necessarily the case and it might get you some more paid work.

Professionals who charge under 100£???? The competitive pressure must be very high where you live, since I don't know many professional singers who sing in a wedding service for under 150£ (closer to 200 or even above I'd say).

Or is that a rate for only one song (which I never do since the effort is the same, no matter if you sing once, twice or three times)?

If a singer is performing three pieces, wouldn't the cost be higher than if only one piece was being performed because three times as much time had been spent practising? I wouldn't expect the overall cost to be a multiple of three, but I would expect to pay more than for one piece only. (I ask not as a performer but as someone who might commission a singer to perform at an event.)

I thought that these things were generally charged by the event.
If I play only one hymn at a funeral I get the same as when I play 2 plus voluntaries.

Then there are the West Indian funerals where I've had to play for ages while they file past to view the body....

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I know quite a few people who play wedding gigs... They would definitely say that £60 (even plus expenses!) is simply not enough!

AFAIK, people tend to say £150-200 fixed price... But with an extra charge if it goes after midnight...

The performer charges for the time in the concert (and possibly rehearsal) and not for the number of pieces played. Three times the number of songs does not mean three times the fee - one song you've had to learn for the gig will take a lot more time to prepare than three standards.

And anyway, if it was done on the number of pieces it could also be done on the number of notes, but violinists don't get paid several hundred times what the timpanist gets! (Probably less, since the timpanist will be a section leader and therefore gets more thank rank-and-file players).

I had a problem like this once with an amateur conductor who wanted me to play glockenspiel at a concert. He wanted to pay me less than the going rate because I was only involved in one movement. Me: "Get lost! I have to be there for as much time as anyone else." Him (on the phone several days later, grudgingly): "Yes, you're right."

As it turned out the choir paid me more than the rank-and-file players because as the only percussionist I was automatically section leader

Whatever you decide - just don't undervalue yourself or it'll happen again, and whoever asks you the next time will use this time as a precedent!

When I was younger, I once played eternal flame with a CD backing and it went down well.

I'm often asked play at weddings with my harp, and I charge £80 if the venue is not too far, and around £100 if it's 20 miles or more away.

Wow this really is bringing up a thread from ages ago!!!

All this sounds reasonable, I was also wondering how people generally get to sing at weddings? I have a lot of time this summer, and was looking to get some work singing at weddings. All the stuff I have done in the past, has been on a relatively ad hoc basis. (People have heard me sing and asked me if I am available and we have just sorted out a fee).

Is there anybody that actively searches for work at weddings and if so how do they do it? (Do you approach local churches? wedding dress shops? wedding planners? set up a website? etc).

Thanks

I have a music book at home for flute which is called Wedding Classics or something and has a backing CD. I won't be home for another week, but I'll check out the title for you.

It seems quite good - has piano/orchestral backing Ithink. Quite simple pieces.

You could try contacting the organists of your local churches. I have had a couple of enquiries from singers via our website, and I am happy to keep their names on a list of potential singers to pass on to wedding couples.

My step-son has been asked to play the cello at a wedding this summer and he is charging £75 (he is Grade 8 distinction standard so not quite professional yet). He got this request after playing at a community concert in the local church hall when a member of the audience approached him after the event. I suggested he could make some business cards - perhaps when he has finished uni and his BMus.