Wedding Charges?

[Jack Denniston]

We (our tuba quartet and brass quintets) have been using $100 per player as a starting point, but that's starting to feel a bit low. We do ask for extra $ if it's a long drive, or if we need to have someone at the reheasal, or if we have to purchase/arrange special music, or if they want us to stay and play at the reception.

[tofu]

[tubatooter1940]

We traded out a wedding for a c.d. release party.
Panni Pete was a friend who provided food, wine, beer and access to Fairhope's beautiful French Quarter for our most recent c.d. release party for "Magic Chair", John Reno and the Creekers latest effort.
We set up the big P.A. system with the six EONs and could be heard all over town. The French Quarter packed out. The food was great. We sold a mess of c.d.s, made many new friends and added many to our e-mail list.

Pete didn't want money for helping us. He just wanted some music for a wedding. One of his servers was to marry a cook at "Panni Pete's".
No problem. The wedding was a cold day in late December on the beach.
The bride requested, "All You Need is Love" with a trumpet going yat ta da da da, "Across the Universe" (two part vocals), and "Uncle John's Band"with tuba,guitar and vocal.
Pete catered the wedding so the food was great.
John borrowed my big loud guitar and we played accoustically. We wore heavy coats and I kept my mouthpieces in my pocket 'til the last second.
The bride and maids wore strapless gowns and it was goosebump city.
The pretty bride never stopped smiling. I looked at that galumph she married. I just don't see it. I never do.

[J.c. Sherman]

Our tuba quartet, NEOTUBA, doesn't really get out of bed for less the $125 per man ($500 total). But we heavily prepare each concert.

J.c.S.

[MartyNeilan]

When I lived in NJ, I played a number of weddings in a brass quintet. We would play the usual traditional stuff during the service, but we would also play fun things for the 20-30 minutes prior, including "Get Me to the Church On Time."
BUT,
I have never heard about a tuba quartet playing weddings! I would love to find out more about this!

[bill]

I actually played a nudist wedding for friends on tuba - only one tuba (me) and all alone. It was rather successful and they thought the fee I charged ($250) was quite reasonable. The only trouble I had was with the photographer who insisted I should be off in the woods because I was in her wedding shots. The Bride told the photographer to take pictures and leave the tuba player alone.

[chipster55]

I actually played a nudist wedding for friends on tuba -

I know I'm not the only one wondering, but the only one smart-*** enough to say it----did ya play the tuba nekkid?

[bill]

No, that is very uncomfortable. btw, Nude is different from nekkid. Nude means you are wearing no clothes. Nekkid means you are wearing no clothes and you are up to somethin'.

[Steve Marcus]

A high school orchestra teacher who had published some tuba/euph quartets (aha! there's the rub) hired my tuba-euph quartet to play for his wedding ceremony. His arrangements were quite good. In addition to our own selections that he and his bride auditioned and approved before the ceremony, we also played some of his specific requests, such as Sarastro's aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute. He had heard Gene P. and the 'bones from CSO play this arrangement. I was playing Tuba 2 on my CC horn, so I enjoyed playing melody for that arrangement.

Our performance went well enough that a high school band director who was a guest at that wedding asked us to play at his son's wedding a few months later.

But the point is well taken: ya gotta wonder how frequently non-musicians would request a tuba-euph quartet for a wedding...

[Carroll]

Ooh...ooh... I can respond to both branches of this thread.

My graduate tuba teacher said his first money gig (in the 70's) was an art gallery opening. The gallery was a long hallway with elevators at both ends. He and four other sousaphone players rode the elevator up, marched across the gallery playing, and rode the other elevator back down. Nude.

My tuba quartet has played three weddings, and none of them for tuba players! We just played the ceremonies and made $100 per man. These were former students or friends of such.