Are you serious? I didn’t think a band would cost that much!
I often come across questions like this on international wedding forums. After reading replies that included offers along the lines of “we can come for €1,500, here are the links to our videos”, I decided to answer the couple who had opened the thread with the title: “Is €1800 for a Wedding Band in Italy too much??”
Hi! I’m getting married in Rome, and we have been quoted €1800 for a wedding band to do a 2.5 hour set after dinner.
Another quote came in at €3500!
Is this crazy money or just standard for Italian wedding bands?? It’s been so hard finding anyone and now I’ve received these quotes, I think we might consider flying someone out!
Thanks in advance for any advice/recommendations
My answer
Dear C.,
I hope everything went well at your wedding and that the band turned out to be not expensive, but great!
I’m writing this for all the future couples planning to get married in Italy.
Let’s say you hire a 5-piece band from the UK for €1,000 to play at your wedding.
- Add 5 plane tickets, plus the cost of shipping instruments or extra baggage. Let’s keep it low and say €1,000 (€200 each, return, for 5 people).
- Add the cost of the sound system: the band won’t travel with a full drum kit, speakers, stage monitors and so on, so all of that has to be hired locally. Let’s say €1,500.
That makes €3,500.
Then add lights. Then add accommodation for 5 people.
And notice that I haven’t even mentioned whether the musicians are professionals, or the quality of the music.
Playing a two-hour gig at a music venue is very different from playing at a wedding. At a venue, the band arrives two hours before the show, does a soundcheck, has dinner and so on.
At a wedding, everything must be set up and tested before the event starts, say at 4:30 pm. That means arriving at 1:30 pm and then waiting until 10 or 11 pm to play until 1 am. (Couples don’t love seeing people setting up the stage and doing a soundcheck during the reception… and I understand them!)
I hope my answer helps clarify things for you and for future couples.
Someone once said: “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!” I would add… not always, but sometimes.
Cheers,
Giulio
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