A big question that needs to be answered when you are hiring a saxophonist for your wedding day is how much does a saxophone player cost?
Like most of the services and suppliers that you will be looking at, it is a ‘how long is a piece of string?’ question - the length of performance, distance they have to travel, setup times and even specific requests might affect how much they charge, not to mention their experience and relative success.
For 2 x 45 minute saxophone and DJ sets you’ll be paying between £300 and £500 for the saxophonist alone, your DJ will need to be booked separately or talk to your desired saxophonist as to whether or not they have a preferred DJ they like to play with.
Booking through bigger companies and agencies will drive the overall price up but, regardless of what you’re after, there will be some sort of player to fit your budget. You may even be able to haggle with the player themselves to come to an arrangement if your event is on a less busy date or is a particularly convenient gig for them (don’t rely on this though as it can sour relations pretty early on!).
Expect to have to cover some sort of travel or per diems if they’re coming a long way or if the day is particularly long. Sometimes, even just a token gesture of a little food or £20 of petrol money (depending on distance) can make all the difference between a surly musician coming to complete their contract and a saxophonist who feels valued and does their utmost best to be the best show you’ve ever seen!
If the set is particularly complicated or requires a huge amount of learning then expect to pay a bit more. Most sax players rely heavily on improvising around the tracks that they are playing with, as well as knowing the tunes so they will often have a fairly established set that they know will work well on the dance floor or at the reception and they’ll pepper that with your requests where it makes sense to put them.
Trust your sax player to make the best musical decisions for both their performance and reputation, as well as for your guests and dance floor. If you give a sax player a specific 2 hours of unsuitable music to learn a few days before the event that they know will clear the dance floor (this is not unheard of) then you might end up getting charged slightly more (or be told no).
A decent piece of advice is to contact your desired saxophonist about price, they have standard prices for all the various components that make up a wedding but they might end up doing a package deals if they’re going to be doing loads of work
Nick Pike Saxophone
A talented and versatile saxophonist, Nick plays iconic pop, funk and soul songs reworked with his unique touch. Nick Pike Saxophone is available throughout London, Essex, Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent and Berkshire. Book now >
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