What’s the best length of time for a Ceilidh?
Generally, between 1 and about 3 hours of this style of dancing is usually
just right. When deciding the start time for a wedding Ceilidh, please
bear in mind that you need to allow much more time than you might expect
for everything else happening during the day. A rough guide is 5 and a
half to 6 hours from the ceremony time to the evening party getting started,
which surprises some people. The photos, greetings and drinks, the meal
- and especially the speeches - take up the time! Unless you take this
into account, the Ceilidh will start later than you’ve planned, and
the band will be sitting around for ages waiting to set up. And you will
not get your money’s worth!
Bands like to set up immediately prior to the agreed start time and should
be able to set up quickly and discreetly in about 30-60 minutes maximum.
For a wedding, this coincides naturally with the “turnaround” of
the room or marquee in many cases. For a wedding ceilidh, avoid booking any
band which says it needs more than an hour to set up – it will create
a massive gap in between your afternoon and evening celebrations. This would
not be a problem for a non-wedding occasions though.
Ceilidh and Barn Dance Bands do not set up earlier in the day, unless it
is reflected in the fee – since it means adding several hours of commitment
to the 8-10 hours already committed for the evening! (From getting the car
packed, traveling to the venue, unpacking, setting up, playing, packing up,
traveling home and unpacking the car – it soon adds up - and many people
overlook this . . . !)
If the evening is to be shared with a Disco, the band would play for less
time and then the break would happen naturally between the Band finishing
and the Disco taking over.
We tend to advise against requesting a midnight finishing time. We’ve
found that at weddings and other parties, people often start gently drifting
away around 11.00pm / 11.30pm-ish. Any Band always prefers to round off “on
a high” at an earlier time, rather than going on for the sake of it
with fewer people and diminished energy and enthusiasm.
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