How much do wedding bands cost?

As with many things, 'How much does a good wedding band cost?' is a 'How long is a piece of string?' question.

Of the 50+ bands listed on our site the average fee is around £1000 but depending on the date, you can pay as little of £500 for a really good wedding band if it's not peak season.

When booking a band, it may at first seem quite expensive but when you break it down. You're hiring typically four or five people who will leave their house at 5.30pm, get back in at 2am on a Friday or Saturday night when most people are letting their hair down. Add to that the thousands of pounds worth of equipment that each band carries, the cost of transport and hiring a van, years or rehearsals and lessons, marketing costs, accountant fees....the list goes on. All of a sudden at £1000, a good wedding band doesn't seem bad value.

There are a few key factors that will affect your price:

• How many are in the band?
• Is there a sound engineer as well?
• Are you booking through an agent? (They typically add 20% to the cost)
• Are the band VAT registered?
• What are the travel expenses?

Also, it's a simple case of 'Supply and demand'. The best bands can charge more because they're in higher demand.

At the time of writing, 'The West Coast Heroes' receive on average 10 enquiries a week for Fridays and Saturdays so they can be selective and keep their fee at £1499 plus travel as they know they can command that fee because their reputation and quality is so good.

Some people often think that it'll be cheaper to book a local band rather than one of the higher profile bands like Phil Rostance & The Marshall Band, The Pinch or Hula Groove but that isn't always the case. Each of those bands, and many others travel the length and width of the country every weekend for gigs and many will have a fixed UK price so it always pays to try them and see if they fall within your budget rather than just plumping for a local band because you suspect they'll be cheaper.

So to summarise, for a quality 4/5-piece band on a Saturday night between April and September, the fee is likely to be in the region of £1200-1500 all inclusive of VAT and travel. Demand is always less on a Friday and Sunday night so don't be afraid to haggle and see if the band will do you a deal. It's always worth a try!!