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Wow. Are there any colleges or high schools with really good orchestras in the area? Most students are willing to work much cheaper. My orch teacher in high school actually set up a program for the best four or five students in the high school to play at weddings, and I can't remember the exact price, but it was a lot cheaper than that!
Make sure you ask to hear them play first, though!
Definitely get students you will pay alot cheaper and they'll be happy too because they need the money.! Goodluck!
Thanks for the tips. But about how much would the students charge? I was thinking, if they ask for $300-$400, I might just pay a bit more, just a bit, for a professional quartet. But I think $500 is my max :(
Ours was $350 for local symphony players on their 'off' time.
We paid $1500 on Mackinac Island, MI for a professional string trio for the ceremony and cocktail hour. They were nice, but I feel like the price was indicative of the area. If we hadn't been constrained to area musicians for an island wedding, we could have definitely gotten away with something a lot cheaper.
Keep in mind that you're paying for the musicians' time (both at your wedding and practice time to learn the music) as well as their music. For students, you should be fine with ~$100/player.
@bRooklynRocks: If you look at your local high schools or even a nearby college you can usually get them so much cheaper. My little sister goes to a highschool with an amazing orchestra (the school is known for their music department) and I am hiring 4 of the seniors to play at our wedding for $50 apiece. I will have to find the music for them rather than expecting them to already have/know it but we aren't doing any of the traditional wedding songs anyway (like I found a quartet arrangement for our song Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol and they are playing that). N0body said you had to use a professional. Sometimes people need the experience to put it on their resume and will do it equally as wonderful and for a fraction of the price!
@kfricke89: Oh snap, I wish I was getting married in Dalls. Alas, it's in Houston so I am constrained there. I think I should ask my brother who is a senior in High School about stuff like this. I'm just a bit nervous though. I know it's good to save about $50 a piece so that comes to $400. We'll see. Thanks.
It is really expensive to hire a string quartet - the prices are the same (about $1,000 for 2 hours). One tip someone gave me (that I have not acted on) is hiring members of the youth symphony to play. They are younger, talented, and may not charge as much. It definitely is a spurge, and I've only ever attended one wedding (out of 7 this past year) that had one.
I used to work in a high school so I'm gong to try to find students who wouldn't mind doing me a favor. I'm looking forward to the audition process next year. I might do it up Idol syle just less mean.
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I am leaning towards having one for the ceremony and cocktail hour. So approximately 1.5 hours of playing (ceremony should last maybe 20mins tops!) Anyhow, I contacted some and they quoted me about $900 for the first hour. The cheapest I found was about $800 for the hour and a half. This is a splurge so I can't justify spending that much HOWEVER, I would like to know how much any other person spent. I know it's regional etc, but I'd like to know. Thanks bees.