Probably the most common combinations of musicians that we are hired for are duos and trios, with string quartets being reserved for very large weddings with many people in attendance where three wedding musicians just won’t be enough to be heard.

Clients who have decided to hire two wedding musicians will often consider to get only one even after their decision has been made about hiring a duo.  The obvious question here “ Is one musician better than two?”.  Money wise – yes. It is cheaper since you are paying for only one.  Sound wise – it is up to your taste. However, if anyone has a budget to hire two musicians – we strongly recommend to do so. Imagine a soloist singing with a chorus backing him up throughout a song, verses a soloist singing the same song without “ a back up”.  In this case the soloist can only sing the melody line – not the “decorative”, additional lines which in music terminology are called alto- tenor – bass.  As I mentioned in other posts, many wedding music pieces simply don’t sound right when performed by one musicians.     The “richness” of the sound is not present with just a violin, viola, or a cello.  With an addition of even one instrument – the sound picture changes completely.  That is, our opinion based on many years of experience and playing the same wedding music with different combinations of string instruments.  Another good judgment of that opinion is public.  We are yet to play at an event as a group where people don’t come up to us with some sort of a praise and compliments for performances.  However, there were a couple of weddings where a bride decided to get only one violin and the reaction from her guests was not what we expected – the violinist was barely heard and noticed.  It was one of our musicians with over thirty years of performing throughout the country, and even he didn’t like the set up.  It was even harder due to the music selections that the bride asked for her wedding.  The famous Canon in D simply does not work with one instrument! All of the above are the reasons why we try to promote at the minimum two musicians so that your event, especially a wedding has a comfortable and a pleasant music setting which leaves both, our client and his/her guests with good memories after hearing our performance.      

This might seem as a very small issue, but to us it is somewhat important – where should the musicians be positioned for certain events? 

In my opinion – it depends on the event. If the musicians serve as a background effect for a cocktail hour, dinner reception, or any other private gathering, then they should not be placed in the middle of the room, or any place where people will bump into them, or where musicians will be too loud.  Also, placing them near the bar  where the drinks are served is also not a good idea.   For such events it is usually not a big issue. Wedding ceremonies, however, present a more important issue of visibility. At least one of the musicians has to be positioned in such a way so he/she may see the bridal party and the bride walking down to the site of the ceremony. That is how musicians know when to stop or fade a piece of music currently being played.   Many times our musicians were placed next to the ceremony spot  in such a way that after the bridal party walked down, they blocked our view of the bride and it was hard to see her coming down. The solution? Either the musicians should be placed where the bridal party and the bride are visible to them, or someone else (wedding coordinator or ceremony administrator) should give musicians a cue to when to stop playing.

Another issue, mostly visual. Especially for weddings, our  musicians know that wedding photographers will be taking photos of them for the bride and the groom, and having our cases, purses and bags laying around us is not a good visual on a photograph. Many times it is unavoidable due to the lack of space. Our most recent job at Robert Morris University presented just that. It was a beautiful chapel with incredible acoustics, but limited space. So, musicians ( violinist and a cellist) had to have their cases right next to them due to the lack of space. Sometimes, we ask if there is a room near by so we can leave our cases there. In this chapel there were none. Again, it is not a major issue in the big picture of wedding preparation, but it does make a photo more attractive without the clutter of our equipment!

This is a topic that  comes up very often for our wedding musicians.  Many times a bride will book our trio or a quartet to play not only for the wedding ceremony but also during a cocktail hour or a wedding dinner.  

As an example, here is an actual job that our string quartet did last summer in Pittsburgh area.  The musicians played for the wedding ceremony from 3pm-4pm, then drove about fifteen miles south of Pittsburgh to a different location, to play for a two-hour dinner reception which started at 5:30 in the evening. In brief, 3pm-4pm – wedding ceremony, 5:30pm-7:30pm – dinner reception at a different location.  

The bride who booked our string quartet for that day was surprised at first that she had to pay us not for three hours of playing time, but for 4.5 hours, which include playing AND traveling time, so-called “in-between” time.  After my fairly reasonable explanation, she did pay us for 4.5 hours and it turned out to be a great job for us – people were very friendly and attentive to our music, we played some songs on requests, and even got fed by the caterers!

The explanation is the following: even though musicians are not playing during the time that they travel between the ceremony and dinner reception sites, they are still on the job, committed to that period of time (in this case from 3pm until 7:30pm), without the ability to go home or anywhere else.  That traveling time becomes part of our job, and part of the fees that musicians will charge, since their time, gas money, wear and tear on the car IS devoted to that job.  

Another short example similar to the above happened when a bride asked us to have a string quartet play for one hour on the boat during her wedding.  However, we were going to be on that boat for six hours total and she refused to pay us for six hours. I suggested that we can also play for dinner on the boat, but she refused the offer.

As a different example: our trio played at a wedding ceremony (also in Pittsburgh) where the wedding dinner took place the following day – the family had unusual circumstances that had to be accommodated. Obviously, in this case we charged for one hour of wedding ceremony music and for three hours of requested dinner music the following evening. We treated that as two different jobs even though it was for the same family, and we charged for the total of four hours of playing – nothing for “in between” time.  

A tip for saving money if your wish to hire musicians for ceremony and dinner is this: hire a string quartet to play for the wedding ceremony, and hire a trio for the reception or dinner.  You will have one less musician for the dinner music without losing the quality of the group, but it will save you a good amount of money.

One question that I get a lot from my clients is “..for how long should I hire the musicians… an hour, two..” Obviously, the price will change with the duration of playing. Here is a little lesson from one of the jobs our string trio did this summer. You read it and decide for yourself.

One of our string trios(violin, viola and a cello) was hired to play at the wedding in Pittsburgh for an hour and a half, from 2-3:30. Beforehand, bride was not sure if she should hire us for one hour, or for 1.5 hours: her ceremony was very short, with guests going to a different location for the dinner. Finally, she was set on 1.5 hours, and stated so in the contract. Our string trio started playing at 2:00, fully expecting to start the music for the ceremony at 2:30, after 30 minutes of prelude music. As it turned out – we didn’t start the ceremony music until 3:05, 35 minutes later than was scheduled: bride’s father fell ill right before, and had to be attended to. The lesson? If she booked us only for one hour, from 2-3, we would have had two choices: either walk out without playing for the wedding ceremony at all, or stay and charge the family overtime (which is more than a regular fee)… Again, I am not attempting to scare clients  and force them to book us for longer than needed. However, unexpected circumstance do happen, and it might be prudent to keep them in mind, especially for such events as weddings, where you have so many people involved that you don’t know much about. During another wedding, we had a minister coming 45 minutes late, almost giving a bride a nervous breakdown. Again, this bride did book our quartet for two hours, leaving enough time for the unexpected…

There is a difference between hiring musicians for a wedding and for an event other than a wedding. Mostly it has to do with repertoire:  a lot of wedding music should be played by at least three musicians to make it sound decent. I have played at weddings with a duo, usually violin and viola, but personally – it is something I would have never done at my own wedding.  Imagine playing a piece such as the famous Pachelbel Canon with only two musicians! It sounds “empty” and unfinished. However, if you have a small business gathering and looking for a light background music without any flare – two musicians would be just fine. 

Prior to having my own business, I have played with some musicians whose competency on their instrument has a lot of room for improvement, to say the least. Make sure you know what you are hiring: professional, or someone who “does weddings on the side” as a hobby,or a college musician.  I can only speak from a personal experience. Several years ago, I was asked to play with a string quartet for a wedding just outside of Pittsburgh, in Latrobe.  The cellist and the second violinist were still college students at the time, whereas myself and a first violin player have been playing for a lot longer. The cellist and the second violinist were half an hour late for the wedding ceremony, both had their own cars, and both had pretty unsatisfying excuses.  Thanks to them – I started my own business, vowing that I would hire only the most professional, reliable musicians in Pittsburgh, musicians that I have known and played with for a long time and trust to do the job right. All of our players are usually at the site of the wedding/event at least half an hour before hand, just to set up and be ready… The Latrobe story is by no means a reflection on all college musicians, but it IS an example where experience and maturity play a role. Since then I was involved in a couple of more jobs with the same people and the same thing happen. I am proud to say – it is never the case with our musicians. Bottom line -never be afraid to do a thorough check on musicians that you hire for your needs, especially if it is a wedding. 

Here is another concern that surfaces sometimes, especially from brides: “how do I know if musicians that I hire for my wedding will play well if  I’ve never heard them before?”. 

I’ll be honest here: you don’t know that. In the case with myself and our musicians – you have 100% guarantee of our skill level and the quality of our performance, which is why I do my best with informing people about who we are. Our professional biographies are on the web site, so is the demo CD. We all have been playing our respective instruments since ages five and six, engaging in professional performances in our teens.  I also started taking photos of people’s “thank you” cards and testimonials, putting them up on the site – that way it is clear how someone felt about our musicians, especially brides.  It is scary to get a group for a one time event and not know how it will turn out. I guess the same can be said about the wedding cake – you won’t know how it tastes until you bite into it! 

That seems to be the first question that my clients ask me. First of all, consider your budget, which is why we ask that you call us to give you an exact price for your event. It will vary greatly depending on the distance the musicians have to travel, how long you would want them to play, and other factors. Second, how many guests will be attending your event? Usually, the more people are at your gathering – the more musicians should be there, so they can be heard. Also, the location:small banquet rooms, hotels, churches, auditoriums. Acoustics play a big roll in how a string quartet, trio or a duo will sound. Another factor – your music selections for the group.