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Charge When Not Actually Playing

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Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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  • #151962
    Margot Hayward
    Participant

    Hello all! I have an unusual wedding situation, and I thought I’d post it here for suggestions on how to handle it. I’m going to be performing for a wedding for which the details keep changing, along with the price. The latest version is violin & harp for the ceremony, then both of us drive over to the reception site to play for both the cocktail and the dinner hour. The catch is that the cocktail hour is from 7pm to 8pm, and the dinner hour is from 9pm to 10pm. We will not actually be playing from 8-9, but obviously will need to hang around waiting for this hour. All of this I just found out, and had assumed previously that we would be playing for 2 consecutive hours. The bride has suggested that they could “maybe” provide dinner for us during that down time. This bride has already racked up a comparably large bill, due to using us for both the ceremony and the reception, amplification, extra mileage to drive to the reception, etc. Would it be ungracious of me

    #151963
    brian-noel
    Participant

    You are

    #151964
    brian-noel
    Participant

    Sorry:

    #151965
    Margot Hayward
    Participant

    I do, of course, have a contract that I’ve sent her. It includes an OT rate, of course, BUT I was not aware of the down-time in between and quoted her a price for 2 hours of playing at the reception. She seems to be thinking already that I will not charge her for that time, based on the e-mail I’ve received. The quote I sent her (before I knew of the hour in between) read as such:

    Ceremony: $xxx

    Two Hours of Background Music: $xxx

    Amplification: $xx

    Mileage: $xx

    Total: $xxx

    #151966
    brian-noel
    Participant

    Hi Margot,

    Your contract should include a start time and a stop time (i.e. 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), not just “2 hours of background music”, which allows her to change the time to whatever she wants, leaving you open to possible schedule conflicts.

    #151967
    Margot Hayward
    Participant

    The contract I sent her specifically reads: “Hours of Engagement: Ceremony 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.; Reception 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.” (I bill these as seperate events and do not charge for time in between except for mileage). The e-mail quote was meant to break down individual costs, but it did read “two hours of background music.” Do you think this oversite in the e-mailed breakdown of costs (failing to specify times here as well) requires me to be lenient?My OT in my contract specifically reads: “Overtime Rate: $50 per hour ($100 for a duo). Overtime must be requested in advance and agreed upon by both parties. A standard wedding ceremony includes 30 minutes of set-up time, 30 minutes of prelude music, 30 minutes for the ceremony and another 30 minutes for postlude and equipment removal for a total of two hours on site. Any wedding requiring the Harpist’s presence for longer than two hours will be billed as overtime. Please note that the Harpist cannot guarantee availability to remain on site beyond two hours if additional time is not requested in advance.” Thanks!

    #151968
    brian-noel
    Participant

    Hi again Margot,

    From what I can see, for all intents and purposes, your contract ends at 9 p.m.

    #151969
    Sylvia Clark
    Member

    I’m wondering how you have time to pack, load, get to the reception site, unload, and set up before the reception begins.

    #151970
    unknown-user
    Participant

    Hey Margot,

    This just happened to me back in April.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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