Wedding DJ at Stewart Brewing, Loanhead — Kallen & Michael
Stewart Brewing is not your typical wedding venue — and that’s precisely what makes it work. Tucked away on an industrial estate in Loanhead, just south of Edinburgh, it’s got a raw, industrial charm that the right couple absolutely loves. Exposed steelwork overhead, hanging greenery, an outdoor courtyard with a fire pit, and a real sense of character that no purpose-built function suite can replicate. Kallen and Michael knew exactly what they were doing when they chose it.
You can find out more about the space at the Stewart Brewing website →
Setting Up at Stewart Brewing
I arrived at 2pm, giving myself plenty of time to get properly set up before guests came in at 4. Load-in at Stewart Brewing is straightforward — the team there are easy to work with and the space is well laid out. I set up in the main indoor area, which doubles as bar, dining space, and dancefloor depending on what part of the evening you’re in. It’s a compact-but-workable footprint and the acoustics are surprisingly decent for an industrial space.
The outdoor courtyard — complete with a covered gazebo seating area, fire pit bowl, and Stewart Brewing branding — is a lovely feature for an evening like this. Guests could drift in and out between drinks outside and music inside, which gave the whole thing a relaxed, festival-style feel.
How the Evening Ran
Kallen and Michael arrived at 5pm to a full room of guests already settled in and relaxed. The format was informal throughout — buffet-style food ran right up until around 9pm, which meant the transition into dancing was natural rather than forced. There was no hard line between “dinner” and “party”; it just evolved, which suits the venue perfectly and tends to produce exactly the kind of atmosphere couples hope for.
When I started the dancefloor set at 9pm, it filled within minutes and stayed that way for the rest of the night. That doesn’t always happen — sometimes it takes a few songs to build momentum, occasionally a bit of coaxing — but this crowd needed none of it. Kallen and Michael had clearly invited people who were ready to dance, and the energy in the room was exceptional all evening.
The Crowd — and Why It Matters
I say this a lot, but the crowd really does make or break a wedding dancefloor. The music is only half of it. What Kallen and Michael had was a room of people who were genuinely up for it — mixed ages, mixed musical tastes, but all pulling in the same direction. The couple themselves were front and centre pretty much all night, arms in the air, completely uninhibited, which always gives the rest of the room permission to do the same.
The setlist moved through a lot of ground over the course of the evening — classic disco, Britpop, 2000s anthems, pop punk, current chart hits, and a few crowd-pleasers that always land regardless of age or era. The room responded to all of it. That’s an unusual thing and it was a genuine pleasure to be part of.
What I Played — The Setlist
Here’s a breakdown of what got played across the evening. It’s a wide-ranging set that reflects how the night moved — starting warm and accessible, building through pop and alternative, and landing on the floor-fillers that closed things out.
- ABBA — Dancing Queen
- ABBA — Mamma Mia
- Billy Ocean — Red Light Spells Danger
- Kenny Loggins — Footloose
- The Black Eyed Peas — I Gotta Feeling
- Rihanna — Only Girl In The World
- Walk The Moon — Shut Up And Dance
- Taylor Swift — Shake It Off
- Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX — I Love It
- Silversun Pickups — Lazy Eye
- Wheatus — Teenage Dirtbag
- Blink-182 — All The Small Things
- Green Day — American Idiot
- Los Del Rio — Macarena
- Whigfield — Saturday Night
- Toploader — Dancing In The Moonlight
- Vance Joy — Riptide
- Blur — Song 2
- Pulp — Disco 2000
- David Bowie — Golden Years
- Chappell Roan — Pink Pony Club
- Chic — Le Freak
- Earth, Wind & Fire — September
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor — Murder On The Dancefloor
- DJ Casper — Cha Cha Slide
- S Club 7 — Reach
- Ween — Ocean Man
- Nothing But Thieves — Amsterdam
- Foo Fighters — Everlong
- House Of Pain — Jump Around
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton — Can’t Hold Us
- Shakira feat. Freshlyground — Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
- Pitbull feat. John Ryan — Fireball
- Pitbull — Hotel Room Service
- Michael Jackson — Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
- Desireless — Voyage Voyage
- The Proclaimers — I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
- Queen — Breakthru
- Paramore — The Only Exception
- Jimmy Eat World — The Middle
That spread of genres — from Chic to Foo Fighters, ABBA to Chappell Roan — is a good illustration of how a wedding dancefloor actually works when the crowd is with you. It’s rarely one genre all night. The skill is reading the room and knowing when to shift.
Stewart Brewing as a Wedding Venue
If you’re considering Stewart Brewing for your wedding and wondering whether it works as a music venue — it really does. The space has more acoustic character than a blank-canvas room, which takes a little knowing, but it rewards the effort. The industrial ceiling height gives the light tubes room to breathe. The bar is well-positioned. And the outdoor space provides a natural pressure valve for guests who want some fresh air without drifting away from the party.
It’s a venue that suits couples who want something with personality — not a conventional ballroom, not a hotel function suite, but somewhere that feels like them. Kallen and Michael’s wedding was a perfect fit for it.
Thinking About Your Own Wedding DJ?
If you’re planning a wedding in Edinburgh, the Lothians, or anywhere across Scotland and want a DJ who’ll read your crowd, play the right music at the right moment, 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 Kallen and Michael — it was a brilliant night.
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