26 Mar
2016
26 Mar
'16
7:51 p.m.
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-bounces@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
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net
_______________________________________________
Callers mailing list
Callers@lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:Callers@lists.sharedweight.net>
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net