Professional Pipers

[Ancienne Alliance]

What are the normal wages for a professional piper in a wedding ? (besides the quaich ! )

Robert

[rongoms]

totally depends on many factors.
How many tunes, duration....etc etc.

Out the seattle way, it starts at roughly $300 to play the processional. Goes up from there.

Also, it depends on the quality of the piper. ONe of the local golf courses fired their long-standing piper and hired someone for about half the price and got exactly what they paid for.

[highlander_Daz]

from £95.oo up to £200 for 4 hours, some are more expensive, some are cheaper and you will regret it.

[Ancienne Alliance]

Many thanks gentlemen.
I see I'm not that expensive after all.

best,
Robert Amyot

[highlander_Daz]

Robert we should be charging more, I was recently at a wedding and the chocolate fountain cost more than my services.

[James MacMillan]

I am not a piper! But I have had to contract for the services of a few pipers in the past.

Here in Southern California the rates are generally by the hour with it being $150 to $200 per hour plus transportation costs.

I also did a short google and found these sites that should be of interest.

http://www.pipelinebagpipes.com/rentapiper.nxg

http://www.standrewspipebandvt.org/Fees.html

[James MacMillan]

I should also say that a couple times, when it was for a funeral, and the time was set within a few minutes, the fee went down a lot. Once to $50 with no extra cost thrown in and another time the piper came for free, but the family gave him some money anyway.

If we are talking a professional performer for a Burns night, I think fees upwards to $500 could be born with ease, as the cost can be spread around the attendees in the cost of the dinner tickets.

Saying that the piper charges by the hour, and then only has to play for a few minutes skews things a little.

[JerseyLawyer]

That's true (the by the hour thing), but unless you happen to live right around the corner, you still have to get there, and warm up, and tune, and be waiting when the guests/mourners arrive.

So, probably an hour is a minimum rate, in most circumstances.

[James MacMillan]

I guess what I was trying to say, and failed, was the price should be set with the individual piper. He/she will know what he wants to charge, unless it is his first gig.

[highlander_Daz]

you are maying for the pipers "time" a lot of time at weddings you are there for several hours but out of those few hours you might actually be playing for 30 -40 minutes spread over the few hours.

but youve got factors to take into account

cost of fuel
cost of a set of pipes
cost of uniform
preparation
cost of the pipers time
experience

when you book a piper dont go for price, try and get a few referrals, the piper doesnt have to be a gold meddalist, just a solid steady blower, nice tone and a good range of tunes, also a nice person a lot of guests like to "meet and greet" the piper, have photos and stuff
the piper is there to entertain, I have a friend who pipes very well, however he will play his pipes , then drink the bar dry, hit on all the women and invite them to check his "underwear status" monopolise the dance floor and snarl at small kids that get in his way!