Wedding band hire in Australia: the complete guide

Ask ten couples what their band cost and you'll get ten wildly different numbers, because a wedding band isn't one product. A three-piece playing your reception is a different booking from a nine-piece covering your ceremony, canapes and dance floor. Same category, triple the price.

The figures in this guide come live from the bands listed on this site, so they're what acts are charging now, not folklore from a forum thread. Read what actually moves the price, then enquire with a shortlist. Asking is free and commits you to nothing.

The table below shows the live range city by city. The 'from' figure is usually a small lineup doing the reception only. The typical figure is the market's middle, and it's the more useful number for a full night with a proper dance floor.

Bands price by the head before anything else. Every extra musician is another professional's evening, so the jump from duo to four-piece is real money. But it's also real sound. A four-piece fills a room in a way two people with backing tracks can't, and on a dance floor you hear the difference immediately.

Four things do most of the work: how many musicians, how many hours, where the venue is, and what extras ride along. Ceremony music in a different spot to the reception often means a second sound setup. Winery weddings add travel and long load-ins. December Saturdays cost more than July Tuesdays because everyone wants them.

The quiet cost trap is overtime. Agree the finish time and the overtime rate before the night, because at 10.45pm with a full dance floor you have no bargaining position at all.

A standard night is three 40-minute sets or four 30s, and the gaps matter as much as the sets. Good bands run playlists through their own PA between sets so the room never goes quiet. Ask how breaks are covered; the answer tells you how much they think about the night as a whole.

And give the band your first dance early. If it's not in their repertoire, they'll learn it, but a week's notice for an unusual song is asking for a rough version of something you'll remember forever.

Plenty of bands offer the full-day package: an acoustic member or duo for the ceremony and canapes, then the full lineup at night. One supplier, one contract, continuous music. It's nearly always cheaper than booking those pieces separately, and there's no handover risk in the middle of your day.

If your ceremony is outdoors, ask about battery power. The good operators carry battery PAs for garden ceremonies and it should be in the quote, not a surprise.

Can we see recent live video of this exact lineup? What's included in hours, gear and lighting? How do you cover breaks? What happens if a band member is sick on the day? And is our date held while we decide, or until someone else pays a deposit?

Any established band answers those in one email. Hesitation on the sick-day question is the red flag; professionals have a substitute network and say so plainly.