Arrival and the meal
Background music from the door, at a level people can talk over, and quiet on cue for the Selkirk Grace. We are set up and sound-checked before your first guest arrives.
Burns Night
Burns Supper ceilidh
for the half after the haggis.
The formal part of a Burns Supper runs itself — the Grace, the Address, the Immortal Memory, the toasts. What decides whether people stay is what happens once the tables are cleared. We do that half: a called ceilidh nobody needs to have practised for, a DJ after it on the same kit, and microphones for everyone who has to stand up before then.
How the evening usually runs
The haggis and the speeches
A microphone for the top table is included, and a roving mic can be added if the Address, the Toast to the Lassies and the Reply are coming from different corners of the room.
The ceilidh
Live, and called from the stage — every dance walked through before the music starts. Usually from around half nine, once the tables are back and the coffee has been round.
The DJ, after
The disco runs on the same PA, so there is no changeover and no flat twenty minutes while a second act loads in. Requests welcome.
That is the common shape, not a fixed one. Send us your running order and we will work to it.
Packages
Solo Ceilidh
£650
standard evening
- One musician + professional caller
- Professional dance caller
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Setup, pack-down & speeches mic
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Solo Ceilidh + DJ
£750
standard evening
- Live ceilidh + DJ, one seamless night
- Professional dance caller
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Setup, pack-down & speeches mic
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Duo Ceilidh
£850
standard evening
- Two musicians + professional caller
- Live ceilidh, no DJ set
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Setup, pack-down & speeches mic
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Duo Ceilidh + DJ
£950
standard evening
- Two musicians + a caller
- Live ceilidh + DJ all night
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Setup, pack-down & speeches mic
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Full Ceilidh Band + DJ
£1,200
standard evening
- Three musicians + a caller
- Live ceilidh + DJ all night
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Best for larger rooms & premium events
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Ultimate Live Package
£1,500
standard evening
- Live ceilidh + professional caller
- Live covers set of floor-fillers
- Full DJ set to close
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Setup, pack-down & speeches mic
Ceilidh, DJ & Video
£1,800
standard evening
- Three musicians + a caller
- Live ceilidh + DJ all night
- Your evening filmed, footage handed over unedited
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Up to 4 hours of performance
Ceilidh, DJ & Edited Video
£2,100
standard evening
- Three musicians + a caller
- Live ceilidh + DJ all night
- 4 hours of edited video of your night
- Full PA & atmospheric lighting
- Up to 4 hours of performance
A Burns Supper is a standard evening like any other — there is no separate January price list. Full package detail and the optional extras are on the packages page.
Dances that suit a Burns Supper
The Gay Gordons
The traditional opener. Couples, four steps forward, four back — it gets the whole room on the floor in one go without anyone having to remember anything.
How it goes →The Dashing White Sergeant
Threes, so the table that came as five and the table that came as seven both work. It mixes the room up as it goes, which is the point at a supper.
How it goes →Strip the Willow
The one everybody has heard of and the one they will talk about. Best kept until the meal has settled — it is the most energetic thing in the set.
How it goes →The Canadian Barn Dance
Gentle, progressive and forgiving. A good landing point late on, or a good first dance for a room that is nervous about the whole idea.
How it goes →The set is built around your room on the night. All the dances we call.
Book the January dates early
Burns Night is the one weeknight in the year that behaves like a Saturday. The 25th itself goes regardless of which day it falls on, and the Saturday nearest it is the single most requested date in our calendar — in Ayrshire, where Burns was born, suppers fill the whole back half of the month and that Saturday goes a year out. If you are reading this in the autumn, you are in good time. If you are reading it in December, check the date now rather than in the new year.
Rooms and floors
The one thing worth checking before you book anything is whether the tables move. A ceilidh needs a clear run down the middle of the room more than it needs a big stage, and a hall laid out for a hundred diners is not laid out for a Strip the Willow. Most hotels and clubs turn the room around over coffee without being asked. If yours cannot, tell us and we will call dances that work on the floor you have — that is a different set, chosen in advance, not something to discover at half nine.
What is included as standard
- Full PA and atmospheric lighting, setup and pack-down
- A professional caller — every dance walked through first
- A microphone for the speeches and the Address
- Background music through the meal on the same system
- Up to four hours of performance
Extras that come up most often for suppers are a roving microphone, an early setup where the room is needed for a rehearsal, and extra performance time when the speeches have run long. They are on the booking form.
Burns Supper questions
When should we book a Burns Supper?
Earlier than most things. The Saturday nearest the 25th of January is the most requested date in our year, and in Ayrshire — Burns country — it goes first of all. A year ahead is not over-cautious. Weeknights in the back half of January are easier, but the good ones still go by the autumn.
Do you provide a piper or someone to address the haggis?
No — we are the ceilidh band and DJ. The piping, the Address, the Immortal Memory and the toasts are yours to arrange, and most clubs, hotels and companies already have their own people for them. What we do provide is the sound they all need: a microphone for the top table comes as standard, and a roving mic can be added if speakers are getting up from around the room.
Can you play while people are eating?
Yes. Background music through the meal is normally handled on the DJ side of the kit, at a level you can talk over, and then the ceilidh starts once the tables are cleared and the speeches are done. It is the same PA either way, so there is no gap while anything is set up.
How does the timing work around the formal part?
Tell us the running order and we will work to it. A common shape is background music from arrival, everything quiet for the Selkirk Grace, the haggis and the speeches, then the ceilidh from about half past nine with a DJ set after it. If the speeches overrun — and they do — we would rather stretch the DJ than cut the dancing short, but that is your call on the night.
Our guests have never done a ceilidh. Is that a problem?
It is the normal case, and the format is built for it. Every dance is called and walked through from the stage before the music starts, so nobody needs to have done it before or to have practised. Beginners are the default, not the exception.
What size of room and floor do you need?
A ceilidh needs floor space more than it needs stage space — a Strip the Willow wants a clear run down the middle of the room. If the tables cannot be moved or pushed back after the meal, say so early and we will suggest dances that suit a smaller floor rather than turning up and finding out.
Do you travel for Burns Suppers?
We are based in Perth and cover Scotland. Travel within 100 miles of Perth is included in the package price; beyond that there is a contribution towards travel, and occasionally an overnight for the far north and west. The booking form gives you an indicative figure and Garry confirms the real one.
Anything else, ask Garry — or see the general FAQ.
Where we cover
Home base. The rehearsal room, the kit store and the shortest load-in we do.
Free travel within 100 miles of Perth · further afield, always clearly quoted up front
January books early