The cost of weddings can easily get out of control, but we wanted to give you a few tips on how to have the wedding music you’ve dreamed of without spending more money than you need to.
- Book musicians early. The top musicians in Phoenix get booked early, so for best availability, you’ll always want to begin conversations with potential wedding musicians at least 6 months in advance. You may find fine, professional musicians with shorter notice, but without much lead time, rates can be higher than if you plan ahead.
- You may be considering different musicians for your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and reception in order to have a variety of music. But, the fact is, if you hire one ensemble to play several parts of your wedding, you will save considerable amounts of money because most musicians’ fees are reduced after the first hour. Just look for well-trained, experience, versatile musicians who are able to perform a variety of styles, and you should be happy with your entertainment.
- As you plan your wedding, keep in mind that musicians often charge fees for sound equipment, so be sure to ask about these fees before booking. Depending upon the ensemble and the equipment, fees may vary greatly. Also, be aware that some ensembles charge extra fees to move their equipment from say, the wedding ceremony site to the cocktail hour site. This fee will certainly be less than hiring multiple groups, but it is still a fee which should be considered and perhaps avoided with some planning.
- Experienced musicians will have fairly extensive song lists including music that is particularly suited for processionals of the wedding party, the entrance of the bride, the unity ceremony, the recessional, the cocktail hour and the reception. Be sure to discuss the styles and variety of music that you can choose from before booking a musician. In addition to choosing songs of their standard play lists, many musicians offer to arrange songs that you request. Many couples do have songs that are particularly meaningful to them that they would like included in their ceremonies, but just be aware that most musicians charge a fee to arrange the music for their instrumentation and to rehearse the music in order to prepare it to perform for you. If you’re looking to save money on wedding music, we suggest you choose only one or two special songs to be arranged to keep the cost down.
While there are certainly some specific ways of saving money on your wedding music, we would caution you NEVER to hire wedding musicians just based on price alone. Some couples think they can save money by hiring friends or students, but in the end, they often end up disappointed that the quality of the performance is not what they had hoped for on their special day. So, we recommend that you get the very best musicians you can and then use the tips above to save some money where you can.
