Wedding Music Band Cost - Buyer Experiences and Price Information

We found a great band for our July wedding 2010, Club 37, and at a reasonable price out of the Chicago area. I was suprised at how easy to book them it was. Outstanding group of musicians and the leader John took care of the bridal party and other announcements. Found them on gigmasters.com

I have found pricing for an exceptional band to be between $10,000 up to $16.000 plus. I did find bands anywhere from $3,500 - $7,500 but they were horrible. I spent $12,000 for a great ten-piece band, and it was money well spent!

We recently married in June and the band we hired was amazing. They were a fresh twist to the typical cover band and DJ. They know a very wide range of music and even learned a few tunes we requested! Their cost is $1000/hour and I felt like it was a great deal for what we got and all our guests loved them. Very professional band with excellent management that helped fulfill our needs. I highly recommend them! Oakhurst is based in Denver but play all over the state and travel the country from time to time. They also told us they played with Zac Brown Band before!

The wedding vendors who tell you that they can get a big band for an inexpensive rate for so many people in the band, are the ones who take advantage of a band that plays for a living and knows they need the income and will force them to drop their rates significantly. By doing this, they damage every musicians ability to make a living. For a 4 piece band, for 4 hours, that supplies the sound system, lighting, Emcee capability, DJ between breaks, do charge a fair rate of $ 3,500.00 for that 4 hour gig. There can be a compensation of 15 minutes or so, as gratis; but when you hit the 1/2 mark, it is time to go into OVERTIME...CHARGING $ 400.00 - $ 600.00 per 1/2 hour. IT IS OVERTIME. I understand this...and if attitude of the band is going to be better for the Bride & Groom, I certainly want that for MY wedding experience. If Brides knew this up front, it would make a difference. The Band is essential. Why are the Wedding Vendors trying so hard to cut their rate down. Wedding Vendors are not doing their brides the best by getting bands that play for drastically reduced fees. Brides don't find these things out until much later, when they realize they have been 'manipulated' into going with what the vendor is suggesting; instead of having the better quality choice. All Wedding Vendors need to be more attentive to the quality they provide instead of the cheap deal. It affects memories forever.

The price above is not realistic in New Jersey & New York. In those areas you would pay between 5and 15K for 8 pcs.

The amount quoted at the top of this article is way off for the Chicago area. Music is pricey but makes the reception much cooler than any DJ could ever do.
Our band cost about $7000. We had a pianist for the ceremony, music played by the band's sound engineer for cocktails and the pianist again for dinner time. Our band was 8 pieces (3 singers and a sax, keyboard, bass, guitar and drummer) and rocked the party! We also gave a meal to the pianist, band leader and sound engineer since they were there for many hours. All of them had drinks at the bar, but we asked them to be discreet and not drink more than 2 per guy. It was worth it! Our party was a blast!

I don't know who wrote this article originally, or what makes them an "expert" to be quoted on price. Our band, The Great Imponderables, was awarde the 2008 "Best of the Best" Wedding Band by the Wedding Merchants Business Academy. Our typical cost for 4 members for 4 hours is $3,200. Then, if there's extensive travel or lodging needs, these are added. The venues that we play for weddings do have other bands. Most all of these bands have a very similar rate as to ours. Now, there is the saying, "you get what you pay for", and this goes for bands as well. First of all, are they professionals? What makes them a professional? Well, do they do this for a living or are they a nice group of people with some talent that is trying to make some money on the side doing weddings, your wedding. Another band mentioned an easy 10 hours for a 4 hour performance. That is a very reasonable estimate. A good sound system that they should be providing will cost them into the thousands. If they have to hire sound, it will usually cost them at least $500 for a professional sound company, and that's a bargain. So let's do the math here: This site says $1,150 for 4 prfromers. Subtract the cost of $500 for a professional sound system (even the band needs to calculate this cost if they provide the sound themselves. the equipment is expensive). This brings the cost to $650. Four men at 10 hours equals 40 hours. This brings the total to $16.25 per hour per band member. Now, the band also has instruments that they have paid for, cost of strings, drum heads, etc. Does this sound like a professional that gets $16.25/hour then has other expensed to take out of that? Bands at that rate do not last but just a couple of years. Chances are, if you hire them in advance, they may not be around to play at your wedding. If you'll visit our official web site (just search the bands name), you will find more information on band pricing. Be reasonable. You get what you pay for.

BAND DEMOS: Demo CDs and DVDs of bands can often be deceiving. Was the demo recorded live or in a studio? Are the people on the demo or DVD actually in the band? The best way for a client to know what a band is like is to go and hear them live. I would encourage wedding clients to go and see the band they are interested in hiring and actually introduce themselves to the band members to get to know the band before signing a contract. Most pro bands will have a schedule of where they are playing and make arrangements to have clients come and hear them at a live venue

BAND MEALS: It has been my experience that the band is almost always fed meals at wedding receptions. The reason for this is as follows. When you add up loading equipment, driving time, set-up and sound check, playing a 4 to 5 hour reception, break down and load out, band members are sometimes looking at a 10 hour or more work day. In addition, when feeding the band members, they should be fed their meals as soon as the head table/bridal party is served. It is typical that a band will take a break when the hot meal or main course is served. When the guests start their main course they want to be able to talk and the background music should be as quiet as possible. Sometimes a caterer will wait until all 200 or so guests are served and then feed the band members last. This creates a situation where the band, having already taken a break at the start of the main course serving, has to extend their break to eat their meal. The wedding party and some guests will have already completed their meal by this time wondering where the band went and why everyone isn't dancing. Believe me, the band wants to be ready to play when the bridal party is ready for them so to avoid this situation, it is recommended that band members be served meals earlier rather than later. Most seasoned caterers will already know this but these arrangements should be made beforehand between the wedding clients and caterer.

PRICING: Most of the professional wedding/party bands charge $400-$700 per musician for a 4-hour wedding reception. You can expect the lower range on a Sunday wedding and the higher on Saturday weddings.
MUSIC: Most pro bands will tweek their song selection to suit the tastes of the wedding couple and their guests. The professional band will also usually learn the special dances (first dance, parent dances) for the event if requested to do so by the client.
BAND BREAKS: The current trend in the metro area is to hire bands for "continuous music" events with no band breaks. NY area music agencies have added this feature as a way of competing with DJs and Karaoke performers who typically don't take breaks. This means that at least one or more band members is on stage at all times providing live music. There is sometimes an extra charge for continuous music. In practice there is no real advantage to hire bands for "continuous music" since most bands will have a CD player or iPod they will happily hook into the sound system to play music on their breaks. There are times when during the reception when the guests will welcome a break from live music as well. The AFM (Musician's Union) guidelines state that for every hour, a musician is to play 40 minutes with a 20 minute break. The actual play/break times are usually decided at the time of the contract

We recently just booked a band for our July 2009 wedding. I just wanted to inform everyone that $2200 is well below the average for a 6-10 piece band. I would say the average wedding band charges approximately $800 per player on a Sat. night and that's average. We lucked out and got a great deal from Dynasty Entertainment. Obviously I haven't had the wedding yet, but I expect it to be great. Good luck!