It's unfortunate that you couldn't take the call.
I personally love being able to be the hero in a circumstance like that, and did so in December 09 with 3 days notice. it sounds like you would have been doing this with less than 24 hours notice.
What I would do if available:
Contact the client, arrange to meet immediately, explain your pricing, agree on it, and indicate that a contract and full payment are needed when you meet. Cash check or credit card, like anyone else.
Head over to their place and plan it out straightaway.
Sign that contract and get paid. Then, Plan it, and of course, only your list of music or anything they have that you don't will get played.
And show up to play and make it look like you planned it for 6 months.
I would take a check with a signed contract, only if they agreed to meet up at their location (so that you can actually see where they live
)
Been lucky these 15 yrs, I've only ever had one check bounce, and they paid it up the following day in a cashiers check.
Without knowing more about the nature of the call(Last minute proposal, or DJ backed out), I couldn't add anything else.
I apparently had that call last Friday.... I had lost my cell phone for almost a week, and just found it today. Battery was dead so I couldn't call it.
Anyway, he called last Friday wanting to know wedding prices for Saturday afternoon.
I'm not so much asking about how much you might charge, but how you would make sure you got paid. Would you want cash ASAP, cash at the reception? Would you take a check?