Weddings

For weddings it's important that the families and friends get a chance to mingle and chat. Meeting people that haven't been seen for ages, is part of the excitement and fun of the reception. So we are aware that the ceilidh has to cater for this, the age range and that some may never have been to such a dance before.

Dances are pitched at the right level so everyone has the chance to get up. Traditional social dances like The Canadian Barn dance and The Gay Gordans are included. We will introduce the dancers to moves like the Strip the Willow.

We have played in hotels, marquees in fields and back gardens, village halls and on a boat. Each venue has its own acoustics and ambiance, so we have powerful enough amplification for most medium to large rooms.

Hotels

Hotels are an excellent venue for wedding receptions as they have the bars, catering and overnight accommodation facilities. Also they tend to have good access for the band with facilities for powering the PA, amplifiers and lights. Some of them also have rooms for us to get changed into our stage clothes.

Please ask the owners/management not to put down a disco type portable dance floor. These tend to have bevelled edges, which are useful for dances where there is no lateral movement. But when you have galloping, swinging and other side to side movements, the edges can be dangerous. Fixed wooden floors are the best but dancing on carpet is OK.

Marquees

The outside feel you get dancing under canvas is brilliant. For the band's purposes, we would need at least 3 clean power sockets. If these are connected to a nearby mains, please plug them into 3 separate sockets. Diesel generators are not normally a problem as we carry LCDs for our protection.

Also could we ask that you think about access for us. Our equipment is mostly electrical and very heavy. If there is a distance between the car park and the marquee, especially if it is over stones or grass, we will need additional time to set up. Would there be somewhere nearby for us to get changed after we have set up.

Village Halls etc.

Village halls, social clubs and community centres are excellent venues as they have bars, kitchens for food preparation, car parks etc. Also they tend to have good access for the band with facilities for powering the PA, amplifiers and lights. Some of them also have rooms for us to get changed into our stage clothes.

Setting up

We usually allow an hour to set up from arrival to get the equipment from cars to stage area, plug everything in, check the sound levels for the instruments and the balance and get ourselves dressed and prepared. Your event manager, if you are having the reception at a hotel or other managed venue, will be able to give you approximate times for all the things that happen at weddings. If you are having the reception in the same room as the wedding meal, please allow time for the staff to move and reset tables and for us to manoeuver our equipment into place. A quick word of warming, for those that stay in the room, the sound balancing is done to a very high volume. After the balance has been completed, the levels will come down to normal.

We do have a spare microphone available for anyone who wants to sing, play or make a speech.

Send mail to collin@cuckoos-nest-home.co.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 20-01-06