Jeff Below says:
Weddings are a lot of hassle. I find most weddings a joy.
I used to do mobile DJ. Doing that it was easy to see I was primarily part of
the service industry, and often it was just a gig. Since I now do only calling,
and only with live music (even if it’s just me and my fiddle), I find that I
almost always wish I knew the people who are getting married, and often enjoy
the whole wedding. Yes, there are still a few when I feel more connected to the
caterers – the other servers of weddings.
They are a hassle in the way that there are other things you need to check in
about:
Dress
First Dance
Father/Daughter, Son/Mother
Special events
Dollar Dance?
Boguet and/or garter Toss?
Etc.
The caller ends up being more or less the emcee of the evening.
As Jeff points out, if you’re bringing the sound system, you often have to get
there prior to the wedding and stay until the end. Often the sound system gets
used for toasts. A wireless hand-held mic can come in handy!
Money: A musician friend of mine once showed me an article on how music is at
the bottom of the pay list. Thousands on a wedding dress, thousands on
catering, a hundred on music. And, when doing a good job at leading those four
or five dances, you hear back that that is what people remember about that
wedding!
We folk musicians often undercut ourselves. I know I do. I have a hard time
asking for $500 a person, where a swing band might have no problem with that.
I’ve been getting better at it. And, I’ve been getting better—and think it
works better—saying package rates:
$1600 for three of us and a sound system
$1200 for two of us and a sound system
$700 for me and my fiddle
Of course these are the start of negotiations. For repeat groups like schools
and churches that have yearly get togethers I charge what they can afford.
Actually, the same is true for weddings, I do try to ask what they’re budget
is, and often work with it. I still do these kind of gigs for $200 to $300 per
person, and less for friends. But it is more than 3 times a normal dance in our
area (where one might get $75 or $80…)
I did write a book on this subject called Old-Time Dance Calling for Weddings,
Parties, and One-Night Stands. $20 includes postage & handling.
~erik Hoffman
oakland, ca
From: Callers [mailto:callers-boun...@lists.sharedweight.net] On Behalf Of Jeff
Kaufman via Callers
I would ask for about 3x more for a wedding then for an evening of dancing:
* weddings are a lot of hassle
* you're only playing/calling for a short time, but you need to be there very
early and schedules are not reliable at weddings -- this may be worse for bands
than callers
* people spend so much at most weddings these days that they're typically
willing to pay whatever (once I let someone negotiate me down a lot by them
saying they were trying to save money and when I got therei found out that the
food cost more per guest then they were paying each of us)
* I'd charge much less or free for a friend, especially if I would be at their
wedding anyway: it's like a wedding gift
On Mar 26, 2016 2:23 PM, "Michael Fuerst via Callers"
<callers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
Central Illinois where I live? $35-50, although our local callers would
probably do such for free.
NYC? $2000, but $3000 if on a weekend
Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239
5844<tel:217%20239%205844>
On Saturday, March 26, 2016 1:13 PM, Maia McCormick via Callers
<callers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:callers@lists.sharedweight.net>> wrote:
Hey folks,
I've just been asked to call a wedding, and I don't have a good idea for what
the going rate for these things is. What do you all charge for a wedding (say,
30 mins-an hour of dancing)? (And how might you adjust this rate for NYC?)
Thanks,
Maia
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