FAQ

Established groups with formally trained musicians like ours, charge more than start-up groups — our prices in San Diego range from $600 up to around $800 per hour. For the first hour (or ceremony) we charge $800 for the traditional string quartet or $700 for the trio. Additional time will be half-rate and can be booked in 30-minute increments. We can also provide a duet or solo musician upon request.

Thanks to our experience, we have a broad repertoire to choose from, but if there’s something you want that we don’t have we can purchase it or make an arrangement of it. The additional fee for this service is $50, and we require at least 30 days’ notice. To support our troops, we offer a $50 discount per booking to active military personnel.

Yes. We have a PayPal account, or you can use the Venmo app.

Our quartet has more music selections and a richer/fuller sound. Our pop music repertoire is almost entirely for the quartet. The trio is limited to mostly classical selections.

You can contact Priscilla, and she will send you a contract. You can also call Priscilla to arrange to meet somewhere or have her send you a contract. The booking is made by choosing the date and sending a 50% deposit. The balance is due a week before the event.

Because Vintage Strings doesn’t double-book, we recommend booking the group as soon as you decide on the date. Some clients are booking with us a year in advance while most book six months in advance. Of course, if we have the date available and you contact us, you can book us a week in advance by paying the entire fee with the booking.

We require a straight-backed armless chair for each musician and an area of at least 8 feet x 5 feet. We also require shade while performing. Some of our instruments are hundreds of years old and the sun is very damaging to them. Shade can be provided by a large umbrella or two or simply by finding a shady spot at the venue. We will not perform in direct sun or the rain.

With our years of experience, we don’t need to attend the rehearsal. This is for you and your bridal party to learn what is expected on the day of the event.

No. String instruments project sound naturally.

We charge for our time starting with the first song through to the last song. If there is travel time in the middle, then that is time we can’t book with other clients, so it is chargeable. If you have a delay of more than two hours between performances, it makes more sense to treat the second performance as a separate event (1st-hour pricing again). If your event is on a boat, we charge for time from the first song played until we get back to the dock.

Typically, we play for 1 to 3 hours. Most bookings are for ceremony and cocktail hour, which is a 2-hour event. If you want us to also play for the reception, we typically play through dinner and often leave once the dancing starts. We have played for as long as 5 hours, but that is unusual. All that we ask is time for a short break about once an hour.

We will play the music of your choice, or we will choose pieces of whatever type you wish. Our quartet has the broadest selection from classical clear up through current pop tunes. As stated in our pricing information, we can even arrange pieces that we don’t have yet. Some clients make all of the individual selections while many simply tell us what they like and let us choose what to play. You can be as involved or not involved with this as you like.