Wedding ceilidh in the Merchant Hall, Edinburgh

Edinburgh wedding ceilidh

Tonight the band was out playing for a wedding in the Merchant Hall in Hanover Street, Edinburgh. It’s a fabulous venue, with a huge domed ceiling in the main function room, some ornate carvings, and plenty of huge portraits around the walls. The room was beautifully presented, with a red and white theme for the tables.

We were on a tight schedule getting the band set up before the dancing began for the night, so didn’t have a lot of time to take in the surroundings until the ceilidh was underway.

Playing for the queen

As we were playing for the first Gay Gordons, I realised as I looked around that we had Princess Anne looking down from the wall on the right, and Prince Phillip watching over the ceilidh from our left hand side. When the band took a break in the middle of the evening, I discovered the Queen looking down from behind us, taking a great interest in the dancing. I can safely say it’s the first time we’ve played in quite such prestigious company!

Wedding ceilidhs in East Lothian

Marquee wedding ceilidh

We’ve had a couple more trips out to East Lothian for a birthday and a wedding ceilidh over the last week. We played for a lovely 21st birthday party in the village hall in Gullane last weekend. Last night we were at a venue we’ve not been to before – Harvest Moon Holidays near Tyninghame. It’s a fairly new venue on a farm, just along the coast from the cabin at Ravensheugh. It certainly makes for an unusual venue for a wedding reception.

The farm has diversified, and put up a number of ‘glamping’ tents in one of the fields near the sea. They’ve also left a few farm artifacts around, including a beautiful old wooden cart.

There was a big marque up for the wedding ceilidh. After what had been a grey and windy day, the sun came out as we were setting up for the night. The couple had also hired a bouncy castle to entertain the kids (or so we thought!).

It turned out they had decided to forgo the usual ‘first dance’ for the night, and went for a ‘first bounce’ instead, followed by a tug of war. It was a fantastic night for us as a band, with an exuberant crowd who were definitely up for a good ceilidh.

Congratulations to Mhairi and Harry – what a lovely way to start your married life together!

More ceilidhs

We’ll be back playing ceilidhs in Edinburgh over the next couple of weekends. We have a public event on Saturday 7th July, In the St Bride’s Centre. These ceilidhs usually sell out, so we’re looking forward to an energetic evening! Tickets are available from the Scots Music Group website

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Wedding ceilidh at Tyninghame log cabin

Wedding ceilidh at Ravensheugh

We were back at Ravensheugh log cabin, playing at another wedding ceilidh this weekend. We were treated to a novel dance display from some of the guests at the start of the reception. It was a great start to the evening.

The log cabin is a popular venue for weddings in East Lothian. Generally, the couple have a marquee on the site for the reception and wedding ceilidh in the evening. There were some wee decorations in this marquee which were particularly effective:

And the beach at Tyninghame was looking stunning again as the sun went down. There’s a beautiful view to the west, overlooking the Bass rock and the coast of Fife.

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Wedding ceilidh at Ravensheugh log cabin

Wedding ceilidh with views over the Forth estuary

That was a cracking gig tonight – we were playing at a wedding ceilidh at Ravensheugh log cabin at Tyninghame.

When we arrived at the venue, we were greeted by the groom. He didn’t explain quite how he had persuaded his new wife to allow him to use her boat as a bar for the evening!

As we started playing, the sun was setting over the Forth. It was beautiful! The views over the Bass rock and the Fife coast make a superb backdrop for a tranquil sunset.

Sticky dance floor

We had a band ‘first’ tonight. In 17 years of playing ceilidhs, we’ve never experienced a newly varnished dance floor before. Unfortunately this one was so newly varnished, we were increasingly aware of that “ssshhhtk sssshhtk ssssshtk” sound as people lifted their feet from its sticky surface. It added an interesting percussive effect to the dances 😉

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Summer wedding ceilidhs

We’ve had a quiet couple of months. Now it’s May (and the sun’s out) it’s the season for summer wedding ceilidhs. We’ve got plenty of ceilidhs booked for the coming months, including several at Tyninghame log cabin near Dunbar, which is always a lovely venue for a celebration or party.

Ravensheugh log cabin is right on the coast at Tyninghame, and overlooks the Bass rock and the coast of Fife. For weddings receptions, the couple often arrange to have a marquee put up beside the log cabin, which makes for a wonderful ceilidh venue. For those who enjoy it, there’s also plenty of room nearby to camp.

Booking Da Hooley ceilidh band

We still have a few dates available over the summer. If you are thinking of booking the band, you can check our availability on our online band calendar. If you want to book Da Hooley for a particular date, please get in touch early, as we have some bookings more than a year in advance.

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Booking a ceilidh band

Booking a ceilidh band for your event

We tend to find that as soon as the New Year celebrations are over, folk are beginning to think about booking a ceilidh band for their parties and celebrations in the coming year. If you’re planning an event, you can check our availability on the Da Hooley ceilidh band gigs page. Please book early if you are planning an event such as a wedding or family celebration that is on a fixed date – we sometimes get booked up over a year in advance.

Booking a ceilidh band - Da Hooley ceilidh band has 2 fiddlers

Two fiddles

Although the band is based in Edinburgh, we’re happy to travel. While most of our gigs are around central Scotland, we’ve previously been as far afield as Hong Kong.

If you’d like to find out more about booking us for your ceilidh, please contact the band. We look forward to hearing from you!

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