Quartet Hire Terms & Conditions

  1. Balance payment due date
  2. Postponement or cancellation by the hirer
  3. Wedding ceremonies
  4. Refreshments
  5. Playing space and seating required
  6. Playing outside
  7. ccompanying a singer
  8. Video recording
  9. Extra sheet music
  10. Vehicle breakdown, traffic and illness
  11. Amplification
  12. Total hired time and breaks
  13. Extension or reduction to total hired time
  14. Changes to venue
  15. Change to performance date/postponement
  16. Quartet musicians
  17. Data protection

1. Balance payment due date

Your balance is payable by bank transfer 3 weeks before the performance date. Payments are made to the same account used for the deposit. We do not accept cash, cheques, PayPal or any type of credit card.

2. Postponement or cancellation by the hirer

The deposit paid to secure the date is non-refundable under 12 months before the date. If you cancel your booking for any reason after this, your deposit will not be refunded. If you are cancelling 3 months or fewer prior to the performance date, the balance will be payable and is due within 7 days of the cancellation being made. If your booking is postponed please look at section 15

3. Wedding ceremonies

Generally a one hour booking is sufficient for the wedding ceremony. If you have any worries about everything running on time, please add an extra 30 minutes when you book.

4. Refreshments

Soft or hot drinks are greatly appreciated for all bookings over 1.5 hours. For bookings over 4 hours, sandwiches or something similar are to be provided for the musicians.

5. Playing space and seating required.

We require approximately 3x2m of level ground and 4 armless chairs for our performance. Our instruments require protection from moisture, including but not limited to, champagne spray and bubble blowing. Please see section 6 for outside performance

6. Playing outside

If requested we would be delighted to perform outside. The British weather however presents its own unique set of challenges at all times of the year. Our string instruments have a combined value of over £100,000. Hence the instruments, music, stands and musicians must be protected from UV rays (sun), wind and rain, making outside cover required. Suitable covers include a marquee, awning, large umbrella (s), the inside of a doorway or the shade of a tree or wall. Our optimum performance temperatures are between 16 - 26 degrees. Below 16 degrees, additional heating may be required. The decision whether to perform outside will be made by the musicians at the time of performance and you agree that their decision will be final. Performance may be moved indoors due to weather conditions. We do not supply heating equipment of any kind.

7. Accompanying a singer

If you wish us to accompany a singer or instrumentalist of your choice as part of your wedding, we will be happy to discuss this with you. They will need to fulfil certain criteria to work with us and there may be additional fees chargeable depending on the requirements. Please contact us for further information.

8. Video recording

We understand that you may wish to record a small section of our performance and we are happy to accept if your videographer asks us on the day. Please note that the recording equipment should not be left constantly running as you are booking us to play live music.

9. Extra sheet music

If you would like us to perform any additional pieces of music which we do not have in our current repertoire, an arrangement fee to obtain the sheet music will be chargeable. Please contact us for prices.

10. Vehicle breakdown, traffic and illness

If we have to cancel our performance due to unforeseen circumstances, you will receive a full refund. If one or more musicians are unable to attend due to illness, we will fill in from our pool of outstanding musicians. If it happens on the day and there is no time to find a substitute, we will offer to perform with a reduced ensemble. If you agree to this, you will be recompensed the fee that musician would have had.

11. Amplification

We do not supply any sound amplification equipment. We are acoustic musicians only and cannot give qualified advice on sound amplification equipment.

12. Total hired times and breaks

For all our performances the booking time duration is for the total time hired. This is not the total playing time. We generally take a 10 minute break per hour during a booking of 2 hours or more. We are happy to coordinate our breaks with your schedule for the day, so please let us know for example when group photos or speeches are likely to occur. In a wedding ceremony, musicians will stay in place throughout the ceremony.

13. Extension or reduction to total hired time

A time extension to your original booking means you are increasing the total time hired. You may for example wish to extend our time with you or have extra time for rehearsal with a singer. The extra fees chargeable will follow the price list at the time of booking. Please note that we cannot guarantee our availability for extra time so it is best to arrange this early if possible. We ask to have times finalised at least 3 months in advance. The same applies for time reductions.

14. Changes to venue

There may be extra travel expenses to pay depending on the location. Fees will be quoted on request. If the venue is significantly further to travel, we cannot guarantee our availability and the booking will have to be cancelled.

15. Change to performance date/postponement

Changes to the originally agreed performance date will be looked at upon request. There may be an additional fee payable by the hirer, especially if the new performance date is considerably forward of the original booking. If you do not agree to the new fees or we are not free on your new date then the booking will have to be cancelled. Refunding the deposit will only be possible if the new date is more than 12 months away.

16. Quartet musicians

You agree as the hirer that the musicians performing on the day are directly hired and paid for by you on an individual basis, having come together to perform for your event under the name Sole Bay Strings.

All photographs and videos of our musicians on our website or socials are for example purposes only. The actual musicians who perform at your event may differ from those shown. We cannot take requests for musicians in certain photos or videos to be present for your event. The musicians in our pool of players all perform to a very high standard and their availability changes throughout the year. We cannot discriminate against musicians performing at your event on the basis of sex, age, race or religion.

17. Data protection

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) specify that we must advise you of our policy on any data that we hold relating to you. The data that you have sent us on the booking form will not be shared with any 3rd parties whatsoever. All data supplied by you is kept securely in our email facility and electronically filed as a booking form. Both our email facility and files are password protected as is our computer. Part of the GDPR is your right to view the data an organisation holds in relation to you. Upon your request to view your data, when approved, you will be sent an email with all the data that we hold on you.