AIBU to think this "wedding pianist" is unbelievably rude?

[Bamsmam]

We are getting married in April and have found a lovely venue which allows us to source music ourselves. I looked around options locally and they all charge a fortune for 5-6 hour packages which we don't really need - just someone to play a few tunes as guests arrive and during and after the ceremony, nice and quiet, nothing complicated.

A friend told me about a friend of hers who plays for weddings sometimes, not as a full time career because she does other music work too. So I got in touch with her, mentioned my friend's name, said what I wanted and asked for a quote. She came back to me with £220!! For a couple of hours piano playing! Surely this is money for old rope.

I wrote back and said I thought it was a little on the steep side and this is where the rudeness comes in. She actually messaged me back and said I should start taking lessons now myself and in ten years I'll be as good as her and can play for my next wedding! AIBU to think that this is extremely unprofessional and also a very unpleasant way to communicate with prospective customers?

Performing the piano professionally is "Money for old rope"?

How can someone old enough to legally marry be so utterly ignorant?

Embarrassing, OP.

You just called 2 hours of professional calibre piano playing (plus travel, I assume on a weekend) for just £220 “money for old rope”. Could you be more disparaging towards towards musicians? That’s a good price and you should have been grateful she’s so reasonable. Her reply is excellent.

The pianist said what every entrepreneur who provides a service would wish they could tell people haggling with their prices.
You deserve that response i’m afraid, the quote was reasonable.

Reverse.

Money for old rope?!

pray tell, do you play an instrument?!

Must be a reverse. No one can be that bold that they’d actually post a thread about it?!

How much are you paying for the other stuff at your wedding if you think this is expensive?

You're the rude, cheeky fucker who is utterly ignorant of what it takes to be a professional musician and the value of artistic skill.

Her response was pure gold and I salute her.

Nobody becomes an accomplished musician overnight. Would you say the same to other craftsmen/women who have trained for years to reach a high standard? Shame on you OP and great response from the pianist 🤣🤣🤣

Money for old rope?! How rude. I can understand how you may describe basic skills like lawn mowing or ironing as money for old rope as we can all manage those things - although some prefer to pay for professional services. But playing the piano?? Most of us couldn’t manage three blind mice so to describe this woman’s skills as money for old rope is so fucking rude.

£220 sounds cheap as chips! You’ll struggle to get cheaper than that. It’s her weekend.

In all fairness, I think she's being very generous in her estimation of how long it would take you to learn to play the piano to that standard.

I think it would take you more than 10 years, if at all. Maybe don't plan to get married again until about 2045.

I was thinking maybe £100, £150? Mate's rates ;)

It's not like she does this all the time and it's a lot of money for two hours work. More than I pay a plumber LOL, and they cost enough.

I think you are wrong on the cost, I don’t think that is that expensive for a professional musician.

How did you word your message to her? Did you say “thanks for letting me know how much it would cost. That’s a little steep for us so I’m afraid we’ll have to pass”? If so, she was very rude in her reply - surely she is used to being turned down for various reasons, because people might speak to a couple of musicians and decide to go with someone else.
However, if your reply was more “how much?? That’s steep! It’s money for old rope” then she was right in her reply.

Did anyone ask if this was a reverse yet 😂

So you think someone doing a one-off piece of work, including travelling there, dressing, makeup appropriately and doing something skilled should be LESS than £220. I think her reply was completely appropriate. I’m cringing for you and your poor mutual friend

You’re insane if you think £220 is expensive.

the cheek of you to barter with her! You’ve shown your friend up.

But you’re not her mate, you don’t know her.

honestly I’m cringing for you, you were very rude. Good for her for knowing her worth and sticking to her guns. If you can’t afford her/dont think she’s worth it then you don’t book her and put Alexa on instead. Sorted.

I wrote back and said I thought it was a little on the steep side and this is where the rudeness comes in.

You wrote that wrong so I’ll fix it below for you

and this is where the rudeness comes in, I wrote back and said I thought it was a little on the steep side.

If you were not happy with the quote you say “thank you for taking the time to quote, I’ll be in touch if I require your service”. You don’t start telling people you think their service is too expensive! They have spent years learning, practicing and perfecting what they do

It's still work and standard pricing. God I'd be do embarrassed if I was the friend that gave you her number

You're paying for the expertise. You are a total cf on this one.

But she doesn't just turn up and randomly play. She has to practice the songs you want? Plumber's don't practice fixing your boiler before they come and do it?

Every self employed person - plumber, musician, etc has a number of overheads that they have to subtract from their hourly rate. Vehicles, NI, tax, insurance, professional registrations, tools/equipment. The hourly rate isn't just for their time.

But she's not your mate. She's your friends mate. And mates rates are only 10% anyway so it would hardly have made a difference.

Do you mind me asking you how much you think a wedding cake is? And a photographer?

And I’m amazed you can find a plumber that cheap.

I paid an electrician £730 for 3 hours work the other week, only items they needed to provide were about 3m of high voltage cable, two light switches, 2x plug socket and whatever internal cabling was used. The rest was for his time and he lives in my road so there wasn’t even petrol or travel time. He must have charged me £200 an hour.

You sound so ignorant of the skill, concentration and ability it takes to play for two hours. Why would you get mate’s rates ??? She’s not your friend! So cheeky of you and so embarrassing 😳. Maybe you should just do karaoke 🎤

But you’re not her mate.

This is her job, it’s how she earns a living and pays her bills. You do not get to decide what she charges and if you don’t like it go elsewhere where.