How Much Should I Pay Pianist

Ask your friend what she normally charges to play for a wedding, if she is a professional musician she will not be offended. If she will not name an amount, give her $25.-$50. ,depending on whether there is a rehearsal and ceremony and more if she rehearses with the singers/other musicians.

Since she is a good friend you should ask her what she charges, and if she won`t tell you, insist that she not bring a gift to the wedding, and that would be gift enough, that seems fair to me. That is what i`m going to do with my organist who is a college friend.

The fee should be no less than a $100.00. Most people are not aware how important music is to a wedding. It also takes up a whole week-end....Anything less would be an insult!

I would ask her first and give her what she asks for. Unless of course she asks for something less than $100. In that case I would definitely give her a check for $100. Anything less than that would be taking advantage.

I`m sure how close you and your pianist are but some people who are close to you would feel offended if you gave them money.
If you do think she may feel offended, you could give her a gift certificate to her favorite eatery or store.
If you don`t think she would be offended or if you think she would be offended if you didn`t cough up the dough, I would say $75-$100 is the going rate.

As I said previously, i knew my friend would have been insulted if I had continued to ask what we should pay her. So I told her not to give us a gift as her being our organist was as special a gift as we could get....she gave us a gift anyway. We did present her with a gift at our rehersal dinner as we did our attendants. I think for you to make this decision you need to take into consideration how close you two are, and know exactly how she will react. I know that I would have affended my friend if I would have handed her a $100.00 bill.