Wedding DJ at Meldrum House, Oldmeldrum — Katie & Ryan

Friday 3rd July took me north to Meldrum House Country Hotel & Golf Course near Oldmeldrum, just outside Aberdeen — a 153-mile drive from home and one of the longer trips I make. A 13th-century baronial mansion set on 240 acres of parkland, with a ballroom built for celebrations, it’s 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 →

Setting Up at Meldrum House

I left home at 2pm and arrived on site at 5:30pm, giving myself time to get set up before the evening got underway. The wedding breakfast was running a little behind schedule, so I had a short wait before I could get into the ballroom — not unusual on a wedding day, and nothing to worry about. Timings shift for all sorts of reasons, and 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. 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. Katie and Ryan’s guests mainly already knew both, which always makes life easier as a caller: instructions land quicker, the floor gets moving faster, and there’s 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 — but the floor stayed busy from the ceilidh right through the evening disco.

Dancefloor and DJ booth lit in yellow at Meldrum House Hotel wedding

Yellow and blue gobo lighting across the dancefloor at Meldrum House Hotel wedding

What I Played — The Setlist

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.

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
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.

Meldrum House as a Wedding Venue

Meldrum House sits further north than most of the venues I cover, and it’s a proper drive from my base — but the venue makes it worthwhile every time. The ballroom handles a full-scale wedding comfortably, with plenty of room for a proper crowd on the dancefloor, and I’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 I was away by 1am. It was a long drive home with numerous detours thanks to roadworks, which took me the scenic way through a fair few B-roads and small villages — I made it back at 4am. A long day all round, but a well-earned sleep before moving straight on to Saturday’s wedding.

Full dancefloor during the first dance at Meldrum House Hotel wedding

Thinking About Your Own Wedding DJ?

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

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

James Veal

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