Low Cost String Quartet for Shorter Bookings…

Low Cost String Quartet for Shorter Bookings – Like many groups, the Manor House String Quartet rarely take on bookings of less than two hours. This is because the vast majority of wedding ceremonies and receptions take place in the early afternoon and therefore taking on a short booking will exclude longer ones; after all, wedding groups have their ‘peak season’, generally being booked on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between April and October, so have to be careful to take on viable bookings in order to make a living. It’s also worth bearing in mind that longer distances preclude shorter bookings as it may not be worth travelling for three hours and arriving half an hour early in order to play for just an hour.

However, there are a couple of circumstances where we make an exception to this rule – one would be if the booking is extremely local to us, being a string quartet based in the border of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. The other would be if it was of a very last minute nature: if musicians aren’t already committed to other work, then we can sometimes take on these shorter bookings. Another instance in which a string quartet or string duo can be booked for just one hour is when we already have another booking confirmed in our diary for later on in the day (perhaps providing music for an evening function) and the two engagements are relatively close in distance.

Of course, there are weddings where music is literally only required for the arrival of the guests, the ceremony itself, exit of the couple and the photographs – so only an hour or an hour and a half is really needed. If the wedding is late morning (or lunchtime) and we are already booked to play for a wedding reception from mid afternoon onwards, then this can work out well and be a relatively inexpensive way to hire a string quartet for a wedding ceremony!