Additional Explanation of Harpist Fees

I usually suggest to all of my clients that they talk with more than one musician so they have several to consider and get general idea of what everyone is charging. Certainly you want to feel that the amount you are paying for a harpist is fair. You also want to make sure that whoever you end up hiring to perform is qualified and you want to feel comfortable working with them. Sometimes I am asked to explain my fee based upon the length of an event. Personally, over the years I’ve found it challenging to charge by the minute or try to "nickel and dime" the fee for any performance that I give. That is the reason that I have decided to charge a base fee - regardless of how long or short an event is. Because there is a significant of time involved to get ready for a live performance, my fee does not correlate directly to the length of the performance. The base fee covers all phone consultations, preparing the contract, pulling your music from my filing cabinet, other preparation, the time to load and unload the harp, tuning, consulting with the site coordinator, the performance itself, and tear down. For weddings I perform a 20-30 minute prelude of music prior to the ceremony, the ceremony itself, and a 5-10 minute postlude. If you would like for me to stay for the cocktail hour that is an extra charge, but your DJ might be able to cover that. For special events such as an funeral, open house or dinner, my base fee is for the first hour, and then there is a sliding scale for each additional hour. Sometimes people are surprised that playing harp for an event can actually take up most of my day when all of the details are taken into account so there are more hours involved than the actual length of the performance. Other expenses I constantly have to manage are gasoline, advertising, insurance, harp maintenance, equipment, and dry cleaning. I have a small mileage charge for each event I play for, unless it is less than 10 miles from my home in Hollywood. I graduated with my doctoral degree in music, have been playing professionally for 15 years now, and last year played for 96 events in Los Angeles County. When you hire a musician, you are hiring a service (as opposed to buying a product from a store) which is also the case for a florist, photographer, officiant, etc. All of these people have a special and unique skill. I think you will find that all musicians are going to be in the $200-$300 range for a wedding ceremony, and I am happy to consider price matching if you provide me a copy with the competing quote.