Wedding Gigs

p90fool

Yep. We've been told countless times by wedding "planners" (was there ever a more badly named profession?) we have to be there at a given time, only to sit in our cars for hours because the speeches and cake nonsense haven't even started yet. 

Plus you can guarantee that the space where you're supposed to be playing is where the bride and groom's table is, so while you're running around with drums and cabs there's usually two chronically overworked teenage waitresses trying to move half a ton of furniture out of the way. 

So yeah, I might triple the price next year now I think of it!

topdog91

p90fool said:

Yep. We've been told countless times by wedding "planners" (was there ever a more badly named profession?) we have to be there at a given time, only to sit in our cars for hours because the speeches and cake nonsense haven't even started yet. 

Plus you can guarantee that the space where you're supposed to be playing is where the bride and groom's table is, so while you're running around with drums and cabs there's usually two chronically overworked teenage waitresses trying to move half a ton of furniture out of the way. 

So yeah, I might triple the price next year now I think of it!

Don't you get a dressing room or a table in the corner etc? Sitting in the cars seems a bit off...

EricTheWeary

p90fool said:

maltingsaudio said:

Don't get the charge double for a wedding gig,

It's simply because I don't want to do them.

I did a few wedding gigs in our band, hired as the band rather than as a wedding band. Yes they paid double but it's a long day and when I was working 9-5 all week I didn't enjoy becoming the hired help on a Saturday and then playing to an audience that was usually 80% disinterested. If it was to pay the mortgage that's a different thing but as a weekend warrior it wasn't the best. 
I went to a wedding where Mike Sanchez was a guest and he played a short set . I know he's not a household name but decades as a pro musician including work with Jeff Beck and Bill Wyman. But most of the guests looked at him like an alien had just landed. 

topdog91 said:

p90fool said:

Yep. We've been told countless times by wedding "planners" (was there ever a more badly named profession?) we have to be there at a given time, only to sit in our cars for hours because the speeches and cake nonsense haven't even started yet. 

Plus you can guarantee that the space where you're supposed to be playing is where the bride and groom's table is, so while you're running around with drums and cabs there's usually two chronically overworked teenage waitresses trying to move half a ton of furniture out of the way. 

So yeah, I might triple the price next year now I think of it!

Don't you get a dressing room or a table in the corner etc? Sitting in the cars seems a bit off...

At one of these weddings we were given a room to wait in. This doubled as the children's play area so I made Lego pyramids and drew dinosaurs whilst waiting. 

thecolourbox

Blimey, I must be very fortunate as I've done 60+ weddings now and I've not had any of the disorganisation problems it sounds like you guys have suffered - admittedly i'm a day time musician so it might not be as bad as things haven't had time to go wrong, but the staff I've encountered at the places I've played at have all been really good, accommodating, organised and very much stick to schedule more or less.