Wedding at Fanhams Hall, Ware
On Sunday, we returned once again to a regular venue of ours - Fanhams Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire. This time, the wedding took place indoors (as the weather was changeable and rain seemed to be in the air) but as a string duo it was easy for us to move around to various locations within the [...]
Wedding at Prested Hall, Essex
On Thursday, Adrian and I performed as a string duo for a wedding held at Prested Hall in Essex. This was the first time we’d played at this charming venue and it was a fine, warm day. Although Thursday isn’t the obvious choice of day for a wedding, it worked really well as an intimate gathering [...]
Cost of a String Quartet Playing for One Hour
Like many professional groups who earn their living from playing at weddings and functions, we do have a minimum booking period that we have to charge for, regardless of how long we are required to play - in our case this is two hours, or three hours on peak Saturdays over the summer months. In [...]
Wedding at St Ives in Cambridgeshire
Last week, Martin (viola) and myself (violin) played for a wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. The ceremony took place in the spacious Methodist Chapel at The Waits in the centre of the town and the generous acoustics enabled the guests to enjoy a selection of more modern tunes before the bride [...]
Wedding at Letchworth Hall Hotel, Hertfordshire
Last Sunday, Tony (cellist) and I performed as a string duo for a wedding held at Letchworth Hall Hotel, in Letchworth.
It was a big day as altogether we were required to play for over four hours, spread over almost six hours - so although we had plenty of breaks, it was quite a long working [...]
Corporate Hospitality Event at Highgate House
On Thursday we returned once more as a string duo (violin and cello) to play for a corporate drinks reception at Highgate House in Northamptonshire. This time we were located in the conservatory area and performed for a group of around 30 people who enjoyed music ranging from themes from ‘Swan Lake’ to renditions of [...]
Wedding at Flitwick Manor
Last week, Nancy (viola) and I played for a wedding at Menzies Flitwick Manor in Bedfordshire. As this venue is quite intimate, a string quartet would have taken up too much space in the wedding ceremony room so we recommended a string duo which the couple were delighted with as it also helped them to [...]
Wedding at Dodmoor House
Last Thursday we returned once more to Dodmoor House - a wedding venue in Northamptonshire. We provided music for both the reception drinks and for the wedding breakfast until it was time for the speeches. Once again the couple had offered for a string duo, with the popular combination of violin with viola - these [...]
Cost of a String Quartet - what it costs us
A quick half hour spent on the internet will turn up hundreds of different wedding string quartets, all charging a wide variety of prices - from just a few hundred pounds to over a thousand, superficially it appears for providing the same service. In the same way, calling around wedding venues will also reveal big differences [...]
Booking a string quartet for just the wedding ceremony.
On the whole, quite a large proportion of string quartets have a ‘minimum booking period’ of at least 2 or 3 hours, particularly for peak Saturdays over the summer months. This is simply because in the busiest and best string quartets, all four musicians will not only be in demand for the quartet itself, but [...]
