Ceilidh

I've bEen to a wedding with one! I really enjoyed it!

I am! Ours is costing £580 I think for a four piece band for 3 hours of playing with a 30 min break in the middle. They are http://www.magogs.co.uk/. To be honest I found them through a recommendation so I'm not sure how else I would have gone about finding them - probably just google!

I am trying to convince OH about having one - friends of ours had one and it was great. Got everyone moving.

I had a quick look and the prices of one of our local ones are similar to yours.

We are thinking about it, i got in touch with some that were recommended through our venue, quotes from £350 for a 3 piece to about £550 for i think 5 piece band. Have you tired just googling 'ceilidh' + your local area to get the names of some and fire off some emails?

For those of you that are having a ceilidh - are you having a DJ or anything else as well? or just the ceilidh? OH really wants a typical DJ set, so we're thinking about having both, but i'm a bit stuck on how to work the timings.

I've been to several weddings that had them and they're great. I would do them earlyish in the evening and then have the disco bit later if you're going to have that. And make sure your room is well-ventilated and there's plenty of water to hand!

Shot a wedding with one and it was amazing!!!! Do it if you can afford it x

I was thinking of a DJ afterwards but the band is playing from 8 - 11 and I can't find a DJ that will come and play 11 - 12 ! plus they're really expensive. We are going to play an ipod through the venue's PA system and assume that after 3 hours of ceilidhing everyone is too tired to dance, and happy to sort of wind up the evening with a few drinks and some mellow music playing!

I few ceilidh bands have djs that come with them, try asking when you email them.

Where in the country are you? I could maybe recommend one for you.

Our venue only allows one DJ, so we'd be tied into them. But the bands I have been in touch with said they have done it before, and offered me a slightly reduce rate to do a reduced set (2hrs) followed by DJ....Just need to make a decision now!

Our reception is going to be in Kent..well Chislehurst which is just about in Kent, it;s kinda South East London. I've looked on alivenetwork but they're quoting between £800-1000 for the evening, which I thought was a bit much. I don't live down near our venue so it's difficult for me to go down and look around/see bands etc.

Cant help you at all really but we went to a Ceilidh and it was amazing!!

Such a laugh and so much fun!

We are. We are paying £1200 (discounted!) for 3 hours and they are doing an additional hours iPod disco for £70. We found prices were around £500 but we wanted a more youthful band so paying a bit extra as our band will travel from London.

Is your band Licence To Ceilidh by any chance? I REALLY wanted them but just couldn't afford it!!

Yes! Have you seen them play? We have only seen them on You Tube.. And we can't really afford them either!!

Yes we are having a ceilidh. We went to a wedding where they played last year and had such a brill time, for the first hour. Then it got a bit much as we were cream crackered.

We have hired the above for between 1hr and 1hr and half depending on the mood. This will be approx 8pm til 9-9.30pm. Then we have a normal DJ from 9.30pm til we drop.

We also have a Jazz band for during our welcome drinks and during the meal.

Jazz band is costing £400 for approx 2h.

Ceilidh is £450 for approx 1.5h

DJ is free as he is a family friend and has his own DJ business for weddings and parties.

We had a ceilidh. I think they were about £500 for the evening. We just had a ceilidh as our evening ended at 11pm so we didn't have time to squeeze in a disco too. It went down really well, and in the break from the ceilidhing, while we had supper, they sang live music, which was an unexpected bonus. We just found them through google.

We are. It was £480 for a 3 piece band but we're paying extra (total £600) for a 4 piece to get a drummer as well. I googled a few, then emailed to check they would do the traditional Scottish dances I want, rather than being an English barn dance band (my family is half Scottish). Ours are starting at 8pm and finishing 11pm with a 30min break. We have to stop all music at 11.30pm so either they will run over, or we'll play some music through a laptop to finish the night.

I provided my DJ services in Hanbury Manor (Hertfordshire) last year. The Bride and Groom also hired;

http://www.acallstars.com/

Who did a good job, I also found them easy to work with and would be happy to recommend them for Herts/Cambridgeshire areas.

We did find that guests started to leave straight after the bands set. They finished at 11pm, and handed over to me - I thanked them and started with the rest of the night. The Bride + Friends were dancing to her requests but most of the older guests had left.

Considering most weddings are often a long day, starting the 2nd piece of entertainment at 11pm will always be difficult for most to keep up with. We did manage to keep the Bride and her friends dancing until 1am, but there was only a hard-core few that could last.

But, I love live music of all types, so if you can afford both, 100% go for it!

Alternatively, find a caller... I really don't know if they will have their own backing music, but a single caller will be cheaper than a complete band...