Carberry Tower – Ceilidh Band and DJ | Wedding Review

• Category: Ceilidhs, Music, venues, weddings
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The Jiggers ceilidh band & DJ played a wedding in Carberry Tower, Musselburgh, near Edinburgh in July 2012. The bride’s mother wrote us this kind message afterwards…

Hi there, Jake,

Can you please send our very grateful thanks to Katie, Andrew, Dave and Xander for their tremendous ceilidh music. It was even better than I could ever have hoped for. The combination with the two fiddles was unbeatable. The Burns piece for the first dance could not have been more beautifully presented and my daughter was thrilled. Dave is a brilliant DJ, and, it transpired, being a teacher at Alva Academy, had taught a few of the younger guests which made their night! Congratulations all round! A wonderful day with a fantastic and memorable conclusion!

Very best wishes. Alexis. (Wedding, July 2012, Carberry Tower, Edinburgh)

Wedding Ceilidh at Oran Mor Glasgow | Review from Bride and Groom

• Category: Ceilidhs, disco/DJ, Events, Glasgow, Music, Scotland, venues, weddings
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We love performing at Oran Mor, the venue at the top of Byres Road in the west end of Glasgow. The Jiggers ceilidh band plays at ceilidhs there throughout the year, and Oran Mor recommend us to all their clients. It’s a stylish converted church venue with a painted arched ceiling, so you’re sure to get some great wedding photos there, as well as across the road in the Botanic Gardens.

Here is a message we received from a bride & groom after their wedding in June 2012. They had a lot of guests who were not Scottish, but we have no problem explaining the dances to people of any nationality, and they always seem to have a great time. On occasion, we have worked with translators where the audience was exclusively non-English speaking.

Dear Jake,

We just wanted to say a big thank you to the band who played at our wedding last Saturday. The musicians were just fantastic and the caller was very entertaining. All our Lebanese guests loved the ceilidh and were even swinging each other around and showing off the new moves they’d learned when the DJ was playing later on! We would certainly recommend you to anyone who asks.

Thanks once again,

Paula and Pascal June 2012 Òran Mór

And here is another note we received from a client at the same venue:

Dear Jake, many thanks to you and your band for helping to make our wedding so special. Everyone said how much they enjoyed your music and the banter from the caller! You guys were brilliant and contributed hugely to creating a lovely atmosphere.
Craig & Duo

Oran Mor means “great music”. The Jiggers ceilidh band play there regularly…maybe that’s why!

10 reasons people hire a Ceilidh Band with a DJ

• Category: Ceilidhs, disco/DJ, Events, Music, performing, weddings
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If you are planning a wedding or any other kind of event, this post explains why we think you should hire the Jiggers ceilidh band and DJ together.

1. It caters to your guests’ tastes.
Scottish ceilidh music is very accessible, sets a great tone, and is perfect to dance to. The DJ, on the other hand, has access to a much broader variety of music, and can play songs that people know and love.

2. A live band makes a good impression.
The DJ set is about playing good music, but getting a good live ceilidh band to perform gives people something to look at even if they’re not dancing.

3. Value for money.
if you’re on a budget, The Jiggers is set up so that if you want to have the ceilidh for the first hour or two, then you don’t need to hire the full five-piece band, instead, you can get the 4 (or 3) piece band AND a DJ for a lower overall price.

4. More value for money.
You’d really like a covers band that does a bit of ceilidh? Bear in mind that most good covers bands will charge almost double what The Jiggers charge for a night, and covers bands generally can’t do ceilidh music as well as a proper ceilidh band, because they don’t have the folk instrumentation. If you’re looking for a band that performs a ceilidh set AND a covers set, then we can certainly do that for you (in our 5-piece line-up). We still recommend adding the DJ at the end though, and see the next point for why?

5. People can make requests.
Our DJ has a library of tens of thousands of tracks, and (if the client doesn’t object) will be happy to put on a favourite tune, making the day all the more memorable to your guests. A great covers band will have a repertoire of maybe 100 songs, but they’re always limited by style, instrumentation and repertoire.

6. Simple, high quality PA and lights.
The Jiggers use a good quality, reliable and compact PA system. You don’t have to get two PA systems, one for the band, one for the DJ (that can mean extra set-up time, and is a nightmare if there’s not much stage space). Our approach means that’s not an issue, and changeover is smooth, too, when the band are finished their set. Our DJ uses a decent microphone, too. Seems rather obvious? Maybe not. Remember, our DJs keep the chatter to a minimum, and let the music do the talking, but at least you know that when they do have to make an announcement, it won’t sound like a guy with a balaclava on talking over the PA at Central Station…

7. Reliable, consistent service
Hire an in-house DJ, or another mobile DJ, you can’t guarantee what you’re going to get. Many DJ agencies sub out the DJ work to independent contractors with dodgy PA systems, lights from the 1970s, poor taste in music and a gruff manner. OK, so that’s a worst case scenario, but at least when you get the Jiggers, it will be one of the band members doing the DJing, and the DJ will know the standards we expect. And all our guys are very approachable, too!

8. You can tailor the music.
Don’t want any Robbie Williams? Want lots of Robbie Williams? No requests to be taken from your cousin who loves death metal dubsteb? Did I mention how The Jiggers are all very approachable? It’s no problem…We can do things exactly how you want them done, no fuss. Warn us, though, if you want lots of Robbie Williams. That kind of thing needs a bit of mental preparation.

9. Ceilidh to start, disco to finish works.
People are more likely to dance ceilidh at the start of the night, and will be ready for the disco in the second part of the evening reception. We think this is to do with the fact that the caller really helps people to relax and give the ceilidh dancing a go, and then they’re ready to freestyle it later on. It just works.

10. We can be flexible about the changeover.
If you really want to have four straight hours of disco, or of ceilidh, then of course with a little creative thinking we can usually make that work. We want to do things the way you want them…However… one last thing in defense of this method?
The ceilidh/DJ format works really well, because if you’ve got a break in the middle, you can take stock and decide whether to move on to the next section. People usually decide either to stop the ceilidh at the break, or have a little more ceilidh after the break, and moving into disco for the last hour or two. The change in the music means the entertainment stays fresh. There’s a natural flow to these things, and we’re experienced at getting it just right. At the changeover time, some guests might want to get home for bedtime, or for babysitters, and breaking up the entertainment in this simple way gives them a chance to say their farewells.

If you’d like to talk to us some more about it, give Jake a call and he’ll be happy to chat.

Wedding At House For An Art Lover – Ceilidh Band Review

• Category: Ceilidhs, customer comments, Events, Glasgow, more happy customers, reviews, Scotland, venues, weddings
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The Jiggers ceilidh band provided their popular 3-piece ceilidh and DJ entertainment package at one of our favourite wedding venues, Glasgow’s House For An Art Lover in Bellahouston park.

The venue is in a beautiful location, very central for taxis/transport links, but with plenty of parking. The cafe downstairs is a great location for an intimate ceilidh for smaller weddings, and can actually cope with larger parties quite well too. I’d estimate that you can get about 120 in there reasonably comfortably for an evening reception.

Here’s an email we received from the groom after the event.

Kind regards

Mark

Wedding, House For An Art Lover, November 2012

More Wedding Comments about The Jiggers Ceilidh Band

• Category: Ceilidhs, customer comments, Events, Food and Drink, Glasgow, more happy customers, Music, performing, Scotland, venues, weddings
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This was a customer comment from a wedding at House For An Art Lover, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. It’s a popular wedding venue in really pretty surroundings. The Jiggers ceilidh band are based literally round the corner from this venue, so we play wedding ceilidhs at House for an Art Lover regularly.

We recommend the 3 piece ceilidh band line up, with the DJ to finish. Our standard PA and lighting rig works really well in the downstairs cafe area, where the wedding evening entertainment usually takes place. It’s an intimate environment, and creates a really good vibe for a wedding party, and you have the lovely walled garden next to the venue (to say nothing of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs!), so you’re bound to get some great photos there, regardless of the weather.
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“I just wanted to say a big thank you to the Jiggers for the fantastic evening we all had last Friday. The quality of both the music and the calling were superb, and everybody joined in and had a great time. The sound was just right for the space.

I’m sorry for the late start - our photographer was determined that we should catch the last of the evening light before coming downstairs, and coinciding with the arrival of the evening guests this held us up a bit! I hope you all managed to get enough food, I did ask for a separate tray for the band, I hope it materialised.

Once again, thanks so so much – we would definitely recommend you!

Best wishes,
Ruth and David ” April 2012

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Of course, we do love it when wedding clients are thoughtful enough to remember the band when the buffet time arrives, but we don’t like to bother you with a rock-star “rider” or anything. Venues are usually very helpful in this regard, and House for an Art Lover is no exception (thanks guys!)

Also, we often get very nice brides and grooms apologising to us when things are running late for the scheduled start time. If you’re concerned about this…don’t be. Things often don’t run to schedule, and we’re always very flexible in that regard. We don’t mind in the slightest, and we’ll do our best to bring things back on schedule. We know what photographers can be like…and best man’s speeches…Just relax, take off your watch, and we’ll do our best to help you enjoy the day.

Also, did you know we can provide you with a discount if you want to book a background pianist for your meal, a string quartet or a piper to welcome guests? Call us on 0141 419 9558 to discuss these options, provided through our live wedding music agency www.bigdaymusic.net