Premier Disco Scotland

Professional DJ & Entertainment Services across Scotland

You are here: Home / Archives for ceilidh

Wedding DJ at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park — Timea & Gregor

by

This Saturday’s wedding DJ Restoration Yard booking took us to Dalkeith Country Park for a lovely, relaxed wedding reception for Timea and Gregor — a couple who’d travelled from Budapest and Scotland respectively, with guests coming from just as far, including a group who’d flown in all the way from Australia. About 70 guests in total, and a genuinely warm, easygoing crowd from start to finish.

You can find out more about the venue at the Restoration Yard website →

Wedding DJ Restoration Yard: Setting Up

We arrived a couple of hours ahead of the wedding breakfast, so we had plenty of time to get everything set up — full sound system, lighting rig, DJ booth, and microphones ready for the speeches. Because this was a dinner-to-dancing booking, we were there from the wedding breakfast right through to the end of the evening.

DJ setup with blue uplighting at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park

Speeches & the Wedding Breakfast

We provided the microphones for the speeches and handled the announcements to introduce each speaker. After that, we kept things ticking over with background music through dinner, until it was time for the party to properly get going.

Speeches at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park

The First Dance — Beyoncé’s “XO”

Timea and Gregor chose Beyoncé’s “XO” for their first dance — a warm, romantic choice that suited the relaxed feel of the whole day perfectly.

A Hot Day and a Slow Start to the Party

It was a genuinely warm evening, so the party had a busy start before we lost most of the room to the weather outside — very much a Scottish habit. Whenever it’s not cold or raining, everyone heads outdoors to make the most of it, and this was no exception. However, we had no complaints — it’s exactly what a relaxed wedding like this one called for.

Room overview at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park

Ceilidh Dancing — Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant & Virginia Reel

We managed to get everyone back inside for some ceilidh dancing — the Gay Gordons, the Dashing White Sergeant, and the Virginia Reel. Because none of the guests had done a ceilidh before, every dance was taught from scratch. Even so, they picked it up brilliantly and kept great time right through all three — a genuinely lovely thing to watch come together with a crowd that started the night with zero ceilidh experience between them.

Rock Fans on the Dancefloor

After the buffet break, some guests had already called it a night — a long, hot day catching up with them. However, the bride, groom, and a good number of the remaining guests turned out to be serious rock fans, so we kept them going with their kind of music until around 11pm, by which point everyone was well and truly danced out.

Evening party under blue lighting at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park

Winding Down

Around 11pm, we eased into background music, which turned out to be exactly what the bride and groom wanted by that point in the night. In the end, reading the room is most of the job — knowing when a crowd wants to keep going versus when they’d rather wind down gently is a big part of that.

Cake cutting at a Restoration Yard event, Dalkeith Country Park

What We Played — The Setlist

So here’s a breakdown of what got played across the evening — from Beyoncé’s XO to open the first dance, through a wide-ranging disco set covering five decades, the three ceilidh dances, and out via a run of floor-filler classics.

Warm-Up, Speeches & Ceilidh

  • Beyoncé — XO
  • Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris — We Found Love
  • Erasure — A Little Respect
  • Eurythmics — Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
  • ABBA — Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Sgt. Slick’s Melbourne Recut)
  • Paul Simon — You Can Call Me Al
  • George Harrison — Got My Mind Set on You
  • Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky
  • Justin Timberlake — Can’t Stop the Feeling!
  • DNCE — Cake by the Ocean
  • Cyndi Lauper — Girls Just Want to Have Fun
  • Belinda Carlisle — Heaven Is a Place on Earth
  • Robin S — Show Me Love
  • Rosie Gaines — Closer Than Close
  • Mary J. Blige — Family Affair
  • The Notorious B.I.G. — Hypnotize
  • The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Mase & Puff Daddy — Mo Money Mo Problems
  • The Occasionals — Gay Gordons
  • The Occasionals — Dashing White Sergeant
  • The Occasionals — The Virginia Reel

The Main Party Set

  • Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk
  • Paolo Nutini — Pencil Full of Lead
  • Christina Aguilera — Ain’t No Other Man
  • Rihanna — Don’t Stop the Music
  • Ike & Tina Turner — Proud Mary
  • Bryan Adams — Summer of ’69
  • The Killers — Mr. Brightside
  • O-Zone — Dragostea Din Tei
  • Vengaboys — We Like to Party
  • Backstreet Boys — Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
  • Five — Everybody (Get Up)
  • Spice Girls — Wannabe
  • Linkin Park — Numb
  • Limp Bizkit — Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle)
  • Shakira feat. Freshlyground — Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
  • Pitbull feat. John Ryan — Fireball
  • Don Omar — Danza Kuduro
  • Whitney Houston — I Wanna Dance with Somebody
  • George Michael — Faith
  • Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis — Just Dance
  • System of a Down — Chop Suey
  • Third Eye Blind — Semi-Charmed Life
  • David Guetta & Bebe Rexha — I’m Good (Blue)
  • Majestic x Boney M. — Rasputin
  • Earth, Wind & Fire — September ’99 (Phats & Small Remix)
  • Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay — 212
  • Toploader — Dancing in the Moonlight
  • Kings of Leon — Sex on Fire
  • My Chemical Romance — Welcome to the Black Parade
  • Fall Out Boy — Dance, Dance
  • Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit
  • Panic! At the Disco — I Write Sins Not Tragedies
  • Foo Fighters — The Pretender
  • Paramore — Misery Business
  • Papa Roach — Last Resort
  • Black Eyed Peas — Let’s Get It Started
  • House of Pain — Jump Around
  • Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton — Can’t Hold Us
  • RAYE — Where Is My Husband!
  • Olivia Dean — Man I Need
  • Taylor Swift — The Fate of Ophelia
  • Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean — Hips Don’t Lie
  • Pitbull feat. Ke$ha — Timber
  • The Killers — Human
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder on the Dancefloor
  • Fleetwood Mac — Don’t Stop
  • Fleetwood Mac — Dreams

A proper spread across the night — disco, pop, rock, ceilidh, and floor-fillers from the 70s right through to this year. Reading the room to know when to shift between them is most of the job.

Restoration Yard as a Venue

For wedding DJ Restoration Yard bookings, this venue is a genuine standout. It sits within Dalkeith Country Park’s 1,000 acres, around 20 minutes from Edinburgh — a beautifully reimagined 18th-century stables and courtyard. The reception room, known as The Kitchen, pairs exposed original stonework with floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening onto the park, and seats up to around 90 for a formal dinner before clearing easily into a proper dancefloor. Because it’s such an easy venue for guests travelling from further afield too, it certainly suited this particular crowd.

Dining room set up at Restoration Yard, Dalkeith Country Park

A Truly International Crowd

One of the nicest parts of the day was just how far people had travelled to be there — Hungary, Scotland, and a group of university friends who’d flown over from Australia. There was no pressure and no fuss, just great people from all over enjoying a relaxed, sunny day together — exactly the kind of wedding that’s a pleasure to be part of.

Thinking About Your Own Event DJ?

If you’re planning a wedding or event anywhere in Scotland and looking for a wedding DJ Restoration Yard style booking — someone who’ll read your crowd, call a great ceilidh, and keep the dancefloor going all night — we’d love to hear from you. Take a look at the wedding DJ page for more on what we offer, or get in touch to check availability for your date.

Congratulations again to Timea and Gregor — a lovely day all round.

Wedding DJ at Meldrum House, Oldmeldrum — Katie & Ryan

by

Friday 3rd July’s wedding DJ Meldrum House booking took us north to Oldmeldrum, just outside Aberdeen — a 153-mile drive from home and one of the longer trips we make. This 13th-century baronial mansion, set on 240 acres of parkland with a ballroom built for celebrations, makes it easy to see why it’s such a popular choice for couples in the North East.

You can find out more about the venue at the Meldrum House website →

Wedding DJ Meldrum House: Setting Up

We left home at 2pm and arrived on site at 5:30pm, giving ourselves plenty of time to get set up before the evening got underway. Because the wedding breakfast was running a little behind schedule, we had a short wait before we could get into the ballroom — not unusual on a wedding day, and nothing to worry about. Timings shift for all sorts of reasons, so a good wedding DJ builds in the flexibility to roll with it.

DJ booth set up from behind at Meldrum House Hotel wedding near Oldmeldrum

The First Dance — Skerryvore’s “Take My Hand”

Katie and Ryan chose Take My Hand by Skerryvore for their first dance — a brilliant, invigorating choice that had every guest up and watching. In fact, it’s exactly the kind of big, warm Scottish folk-rock that lands perfectly as a first dance, and it set the tone for the whole night.

Bride and groom Katie and Ryan sharing their first dance at Meldrum House Hotel

Ceilidh Dancing — The Gay Gordons and the Virginia Reel

We had two ceilidh dances on the night — the Gay Gordons and the Virginia Reel. Because Katie and Ryan’s guests mainly already knew both, life was easier as a caller: instructions landed quicker, the floor got moving faster, and there was more time for the fun part rather than the explaining part.

DJ set up viewed from the dancefloor under purple lighting at Meldrum House Hotel

A Generous Dancefloor

It was a good night with a genuinely generous amount of dancers throughout. There could always have been a few more up — there are always some guests at any wedding who just aren’t dancers, and that’s perfectly fine — however, the floor stayed busy from the ceilidh right through the evening disco.

The dancefloor lit up in yellow during the evening party
Yellow and blue gobo lighting sweeping across the dancefloor

What We Played — The Setlist

So here’s a breakdown of what got played across the evening — from Enya to open the room and Skerryvore’s first dance, through the ceilidh, into a wide-ranging disco set, and out via Runrig’s Loch Lomond and a run of last-song classics.

First Dance to Ceilidh

  • Enya — Braveheart
  • Skerryvore — Take My Hand
  • ABBA — Dancing Queen (DJ Re-Grid)
  • ABBA — Mamma Mia (DJ Re-Grid)
  • Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars — Uptown Funk
  • Paolo Nutini — Pencil Full of Lead
  • Erasure — A Little Respect
  • The Communards feat. Sarah Jane Morris — Don’t Leave Me This Way
  • Paul Simon — You Can Call Me Al
  • Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor
  • Candi Staton — Young Hearts Run Free (DJ Re-Grid)
  • Donna Summer — Hot Stuff (DJ Re-Grid)
  • Pretenders — Brass In Pocket
  • Brooks & Dunn — Boot Scootin’ Boogie
  • Shaboozey — A Bar Song (Tipsy)
  • Beyoncé — Texas Hold ‘Em
  • Estelle — American Boy
  • Rihanna — Don’t Stop The Music
  • Ella Langley — Choosin’ Texas
  • Ike & Tina Turner — Proud Mary
  • Bryan Adams — Summer Of ’69 (DJ Re-Grid)
  • The Killers — Mr. Brightside (DJ Re-Grid)
  • The Occasionals — Gay Gordons
  • The Occasionals — The Virginia Reel

The Main Party Set

  • Matoma & Astrid S — Running Out
  • Lilly Wood & The Prick and Robin Schulz — Prayer In C
  • Robin Schulz feat. Francesco Yates — Sugar
  • a-ha — Take On Me (Kygo Remix)
  • Lost Frequencies feat. Calum Scott — Where Are You Now
  • OMI — Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)
  • Sigala & Ella Eyre — Came Here For Love
  • Sigala feat. Bryn Christopher — Sweet Lovin’
  • Kygo & Whitney Houston — Higher Love
  • Sgt Slick — Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (Melbourne Recut)
  • Shakira feat. Freshlyground — Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
  • Pitbull feat. Ke$ha — Timber
  • Pitbull — Hotel Room Service
  • James — Sit Down
  • Primal Scream — Country Girl
  • Belinda Carlisle — Heaven Is A Place On Earth
  • Laura Branigan — Gloria
  • Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton — Can’t Hold Us
  • Runrig — Loch Lomond
  • The Corrs — Breathless
  • Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes — (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life

That’s a proper spread of ground covered in one night — Scottish folk-rock, disco, country, ceilidh, and floor-fillers spanning five decades. It’s rarely one genre all night at a good wedding, and reading the room to know when to shift is most of the job.

Wedding DJ Meldrum House: The Venue

Meldrum House sits further north than most of the venues we cover, so it’s a proper drive from our base — but the venue makes it worthwhile every time. Because the ballroom handles a full-scale wedding comfortably, with plenty of room for a proper crowd on the dancefloor, we’d happily recommend it to any couple planning a wedding in Aberdeenshire.

Bride, groom and guests dancing together at Meldrum House Hotel wedding

The Long Way Home

Everything was wrapped up by midnight, and after packing down we were away by 1am. Because of numerous detours from roadworks, it was a long drive home — the scenic way through a fair few B-roads and small villages meant we didn’t make it back until 4am. So it was a long day all round, but a well-earned sleep came before moving straight on to Saturday’s wedding.

A packed dancefloor during the first dance

Thinking About Your Own Wedding DJ?

If you’re planning a wedding anywhere in Scotland — from Aberdeenshire to the Central Belt — and looking for a wedding DJ Meldrum House style booking — someone who’ll read your crowd, call a great ceilidh, and keep the dancefloor going all night — we’d love to hear from you. Take a look at the wedding DJ page for more on what we offer, or get in touch to check availability for your date.

Congratulations again to Katie and Ryan — it was a brilliant night.

Hogmanay DJ Scotland — Making New Year’s Eve Unforgettable

by

A great Hogmanay DJ Scotland event is unlike any other night of the year. It carries a cultural weight that goes far beyond a standard party — the transition from one year to the next is something people feel genuinely, and the right DJ can make that moment something guests are still talking about in March. Get it wrong, and no amount of champagne makes up for a flat countdown and a DJ who plays Auld Lang Syne at the wrong time.

Premier Disco has been playing Hogmanay events for over 40 years. Here’s what makes a great New Year’s Eve set — and what to think about when booking.

What Makes a Hogmanay DJ Scotland Event Different

Hogmanay DJ Scotland — confetti and party lights at midnight

A Christmas party requires a DJ who can read the room and keep people dancing. Hogmanay requires all of that plus something extra: the ability to manage a narrative arc across an entire evening that builds to a specific, emotionally charged moment at midnight.

The set has to do several things simultaneously. Through the earlier part of the evening it creates atmosphere and keeps energy building without peaking too soon. In the hour before midnight it lifts the energy deliberately — guests start to feel the approach of the new year. The ten-minute countdown to midnight is its own carefully managed sequence. Then there’s the midnight moment itself: the countdown, Auld Lang Syne, the cheer, and then — crucially — what comes immediately afterwards, when the room is at peak emotion and the DJ needs to channel it into celebration rather than just noise.

An experienced Hogmanay DJ plans all of this in advance rather than improvising on the night.

Auld Lang Syne — Getting It Right

This sounds obvious, but it matters more than almost any other single moment at a Hogmanay event. The version you use, when it starts, how it’s introduced, whether guests link arms — all of it shapes whether the midnight moment lands or falls flat. We use a version that works for the specific room and crowd every time. After 40 years of Scottish New Year’s Eves, we know exactly what works.

The Music Through the Evening

A good Hogmanay set is a journey. The music at 8pm is different from the music at 10pm, which is different from the music at 11:30pm, which is different from the music at 12:05am. Broadly:

  • Early evening (8–9:30pm): Social and welcoming — music that suits conversation and arrival, building gently
  • Mid-evening (9:30–11pm): The main party portion — floor-fillers tailored to the crowd, building energy steadily
  • Pre-midnight (11–11:50pm): Deliberate energy build — the crowd should feel the new year approaching
  • Countdown and midnight: The managed transition — countdown, Auld Lang Syne, celebration
  • After midnight: Peak celebration energy that gradually settles into the late-night portion of the evening

The specific music depends entirely on your crowd. We discuss this before the event and use the online music planning portal so you can pre-select tracks and flag preferences.

Booking a Hogmanay DJ Scotland Event — What You Need to Know

  • Book by August. Hogmanay availability at Premier Disco is extremely limited. We take very few bookings for 31st December and they almost always fill in summer. If you’re considering a Hogmanay booking, don’t leave it until autumn.
  • Typical running time: 8pm to 1am or 2am, depending on your licence and venue.
  • Venue coordination: We liaise directly with your venue or events team on timings, the countdown PA setup, and any specific requirements for the midnight moment.
  • Hotels and venues: If you run a hotel or events venue looking for Hogmanay entertainment as part of a broader festive season arrangement, a block booking across December and Hogmanay may be the right approach. It’s best to discuss these arrangements from July onwards.

Hogmanay Coverage Across Scotland

Premier Disco is based in Edinburgh and covers Hogmanay events across Edinburgh and the Lothians, Glasgow and the Central Belt, Fife, Perth and Perthshire, Stirling and the wider Scotland area. We travel further for Hogmanay than for standard bookings — always worth asking if you’re outside our usual range.

For context on Scotland’s Hogmanay tradition, Scotland.org covers the history and customs behind the celebration. For Edinburgh’s famous street celebrations and events calendar, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay is the official source.

Ready to book a Hogmanay DJ Scotland event? See our Christmas and Hogmanay page for full details, or contact us directly with your date and venue. Also worth reading: how to book a Christmas party DJ in Scotland — including why the festive season requires earlier planning than most people expect.

Ceilidh vs Silent Disco vs Traditional DJ — Which is Right for Your Scottish Wedding?

by

Ceilidh vs silent disco vs traditional DJ is one of the most common questions we get from Scottish couples. Should we do a ceilidh, a silent disco, a traditional DJ — or some combination of all three? All are brilliant in the right context, but they suit different couples, venues and vibes. Here’s an honest comparison to help you decide, written by a team that provides all three.

What is a Ceilidh?

Ceilidh vs silent disco vs traditional DJ — guests ceilidh dancing at a Premier Disco event

A ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) is a traditional Scottish social event with live musicians playing reels and jigs, guided by a caller who walks guests through the dances. It’s loud, energetic, inclusive, and unmistakably Scottish. You don’t need to know how to dance. Instead, the caller teaches you as you go, which makes it one of the most effective ways to get reluctant dancers on their feet. James provides ceilidh calling and can arrange a full ceilidh band for your wedding across Scotland.

Best for: Couples who want a Scottish feel, mixed age groups, guests who wouldn’t normally dance, and venues with plenty of floor space.

What is a Silent Disco?

A silent disco uses wireless headsets instead of speakers. Guests listen to music directly through the headsets and can switch between up to three simultaneous DJ channels at any time. From the outside, a room full of people dancing in near-silence looks surreal and brilliant. From the inside, it’s one of the most fun formats you can experience at an event.

Best for: Venues with strict noise curfews or sound limiters, late-night extensions past the venue’s amplified music cut-off, couples who want something genuinely different, and events where different music tastes in the group need catering for simultaneously.

What Does a Traditional Wedding DJ Offer?

A professional wedding DJ provides a tailored music experience built around you: your first dance, your must-play list, and your do-not-play list. On top of that, they deliver a crowd-read performance that responds to who’s in the room. A good wedding DJ manages the whole arc of the evening: warm-up, building energy, peak dancefloor, winding down. It’s the backbone of most Scottish wedding receptions and for good reason — it works.

Best for: Any couple who wants a great dancefloor, complete control over music choices, and a professional managing the energy of the evening.

Ceilidh vs Silent Disco — Why Not Both, Plus a DJ?

Many of our couples don’t actually settle the ceilidh vs silent disco question at all — they choose a combination instead. The most popular format is ceilidh for the first hour to get everyone up and laughing together, then traditional DJ for the main evening. Because so many Scottish venues have sound curfews, silent disco often comes in as a late-night extension once the amplified music has to stop.

Why This Combination Works So Well

It gives guests a complete evening with variety, and it solves the noise restriction problem that affects so many Scottish venues elegantly.

Other popular combinations include DJ all evening with a karaoke segment in the middle, or ceilidh followed by silent disco if the venue has very strict amplified music rules. If you can’t choose between ceilidh and karaoke at all, our Ceilidhoke format alternates between the two all evening rather than splitting the night into blocks. Because every venue is different, we can structure the evening however works best for your specific venue and guest list. Get in touch and we’ll talk through the options honestly.

For more background on Scottish wedding entertainment traditions, VisitScotland’s wedding entertainment guide is a useful resource. And if you’re still deciding, our wedding consultation service is the ideal way to talk through the options with someone who knows what works.

Talk Through Your Options

Ceilidh vs Silent Disco vs DJ — FAQs

Can you have a ceilidh and a DJ at the same wedding?

Yes — this is one of the most popular formats for Scottish weddings. A typical structure is a ceilidh set for the first hour to get guests warmed up and laughing together, followed by a full DJ set for the rest of the evening. We provide both and manage the transition seamlessly.

Is a silent disco suitable as the main entertainment at a Scottish wedding?

Yes — though it works best when positioned correctly. As the sole evening entertainment it’s very effective, particularly at venues with strict noise restrictions. As a late-night extension after a traditional DJ set it’s almost universally loved. We run up to three simultaneous channels so guests always have music they enjoy.

Do guests need to know how to ceilidh dance?

Not at all — that’s the whole point of the caller. The caller guides everyone through each dance step by step before the music starts. It’s designed to be inclusive and works for guests of all ages and backgrounds, including international guests who have never encountered Scottish dancing before.

Which option is best for venues with a sound limiter?

Silent disco is the perfect solution for venues with strict sound limiters or noise curfews — the music stays in the headsets and doesn’t trigger any limiter. A ceilidh with a live band may actually produce more overall room noise than a carefully managed DJ set, so silent disco is often the best choice for very noise-restricted venues.

How much does it cost to have all three at a Scottish wedding?

Pricing depends on the duration of each element, guest numbers for the silent disco headset count, and your venue location. Get in touch with your event details and we’ll put together a combined quote. Many couples find the combined package better value than booking separate suppliers for each element.

Contact Premier Disco

Premier Disco
Musselburgh, East Lothian & Scotland-wide

📞 07548 281 129
✉ [email protected]