We always knew we wanted a ceili at our wedding and Ceilidh Tree didn't disappoint! All of our guests had so much fun and it was such an ice breaker, before the disco also manned by Ceilidh Tree. The only slight hiccup was that we had requested an Irish ceili - my partner and his family being from Limerick - but I found out later from my new Irish family that most of the dances had been Scottish! However I didn't notice at the time, and everyone was having such a laugh it really didn't matter. If you are considering having a ceilidh/ceili for your wedding then definitely do it!

We booked the ceilidh tree for our wedding on 01/09/23 and they were fantastic! They were so friendly and communicative throughout planning and on the day. They made the dancing accessible and fun for all and the guests kept commenting on how much they loved it!

The team at Ceilidh Tree were excellent. They performed at our wedding and got everyone involved. We are so pleased to have chosen ceilidh dancing for our evening celebration, as it was a great way to get everyone of our friends and family involved. Every single one of our guests, majority who had never ceilidh-ed before, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Our guests all thought it was a great way to get everyone involved from all ages and abilities. We can’t thank Aidan & the Ceilidh Tree Band enough and very highly recommend to anyone asking!
Charlotte & Luke – April 2023
(Photo by David @marriedtomycamera)

From start to finish Ceilidh Tree were brilliant to work with. Really responsive and helpful and the band themselves sound fantastic and the caller did a brilliant job getting our guests involved. I Would definitely recommend Ceilidh Tree.

As my husband is half Scottish, we decided that we wanted to have a Ceilidh, to add some Scottish tradition to our English wedding. The Ceilidh Tree were the perfect addition to our day, the caller ensured that everyone knew the steps, and the easy to follow routines got everyone up and dancing, and helped to break the ice between our daytime and evening guests.

Our guests commented how good the Ceilidh Tree were and how much they enjoyed having something a bit different to the conventional wedding entertainment!

Communication with the band manager was fantastic throughout, and the Ceilidh Tree arrived in plenty of time to set up and rehearse for a seamless transition straight into the evening reception!

I can highly recommend the Ceilidh Tree if you are looking for something a little bit different for your big day.

We booked The Ceilidh Tree for our village fete themed wedding. Everyone said how much they enjoyed the dancing, and the music was great. We had 3 musicians and a caller, who did two sets, and then a dj set afterwards. A brilliant addition to any wedding day!

We hired The Ceilidh Tree for our Wedding Celebration. We booked the band about 15 months in advance, and I spoke with Will who was amazing. He communicated with our venue and talked everything through with me on the phone which I was so grateful for. After the call I was confident it would go well. The band had over 300 5* google reviews which was one of the reasons why we booked them.

However, as our day approached, we began to feel less confident.

When we signed the contract for the band, it stated that we needed to pay the final balance 4 weeks before the wedding. As the wedding approached, we received an email saying that the final balance 'generally' was paid 6 weeks before to new bank details. I tried to call to clarify this, but I couldn't get through. I messaged on WhatsApp but no one got back to me. After a few days, I emailed and I was told I should call. I explained I had attempted to do so, and then, someone did get back to us.

When I booked with Will, I explained that the only concern I had (at the time) was that our Wedding had a formal dress code, and Ceilidhs were not traditionally formal, so I wanted to double check that the band would be happy to dress smart before I booked in, as we wanted to make sure they were comfortable with our dress code - Suits, dresses, or trouser suits with no trainers. Will assured me this would be no problem.

On the lead up to the Wedding, I also re-confirmed this information twice.

On the day, the band (with the exception of the caller) did not dress smartly, and one member, Sam, even had shoes on with a white sole that looked like trainers.

We were asked to provide food and SOFT drinks for the band. My Dad set up a tab for the band behind the bar. Before the Ceilidh set had even begun, one of the band members, Sam, ordered a Peroni. I do not know if this was non-alcoholic or alcoholic, I also do not know if this was charged to my Dad's tab, but either way a Peroni is not a soft drink.

The band arrived on time and began setting up during the Wedding Breakfast. Inevitably, as with all Weddings, our speeches overran, so the band weren't able to begin on time. Jason, the caller, cited that they needed to finish setting up. This was not a problem if this was a genuine reason as to why they couldn't begin on time, after all, it was us that had overran. However, straight after Jason told us this, I saw Sam ordering the Peroni at the bar.

Not being able to begin on time due to needing to finish your set up is completely acceptable, not being able to begin on time because you were ordering a peroni at the bar, isn't.

On the lead up to the wedding, we also received an email requesting a huge amount of information from us (some of which we had already confirmed, so it was clear the band did not have a good method of storing booking information.) The email was incredibly long, and it took us several hours to fill it out. I have no issue with filling out a large amount of information, if, it is then actually put to use on the day.

On this occasion, it was not.

The email requested information such as the bride and groom's names, along with names of people in the bridal party, which made us think that the band would be incorporating this on the day.

The band did not mention anyone by name once on the day. They did not even mention the bride and groom by name. They mentioned nothing about the fact that they were celebrating a Wedding, they literally could have been anywhere.

Filling in the information was a complete waste of our time.

At every other Wedding I have been to, the band or the DJ has, at least once, said 'We're here to celebrate the Wedding of 'Bride' and 'Groom.'

Before the Ceilidh, we had our first dance. We had booked the lighting rig as part of the package, but it wasn't switched on, and before we started I had to ask for it to be put on. The spacing of the guests was not good in the first dance and they were all bunched up down one side.

Our first dance was also choreographed and being filmed, and the band were in shot. One of the band members, Sam, was on his phone during our first dance, which means in the background of the first dance video, there is a band member scrolling on their phone.

Our guests did enjoy the Ceilidh, but the caller could have been clearer, and some of the instructions were not easy to understand such as 'the spokes move around anti-clockwise'.

At one point, Jason, the caller, was actually physically manoeuvring my Mum to try to explain his instructions.

Whilst I am not an experienced Ceilidh goer by any means, I have been to a few and I have never seen a caller actually physically handle someone. If you need to physically handle someone, then more attention should be put into making the instructions clearer.

After the Ceilidh, we had a 'DJ Set'. But a DJ Set implies that there would actually be some interaction with the guests. We could have achieved the same level of atmosphere with a Spotify Playlist. There were no shoutouts, no interaction, no indication that you could make a request. The DJ Set wasn't even announced, and when we got back to the dance floor after taking photos, it was initially empty - I didn't even know that the DJ Set had started.

As part of the form we filled in, we had to specify a playlist for the Band to play. We also had to specify a 'pretend last song' and then an 'actual last song.'

You can imagine then, why we were confused when our 'actual last song' started playing at least an hour before the evening finished.

But it turned out, that the 'DJ' just hadn't read our form, and he played our song too early.

At the end of the night, the 'pretend last song' wasn't announced either, so guests didn't know the evening was coming to an end. Then, after this had played, the 'DJ' then played our 'actual last song' AGAIN, which prompted guests to come up to me and say 'Haven't we already had this?'

The only way I knew the disco had ended was because 'the last song' played, and I had written it on the form. Once it finished, Jason said nothing, he just gave me a thumbs up. The music then stopped completely, and all guests were on the dance floor looking at me, so I (the bride), after it became clear Jason wasn't going to say anything, had to step forward and announce the end of the disco.

On the lead up to the Wedding, I also could not find any of the band's google reviews online, it was like they had disappeared.

In conclusion, the correspondence needs to be improved and the quality of the service also needs to be better. The band actually needs to read the form the bride and groom send, adhere to their dress code, and actually say they are at a Wedding.

Most reviews of The Ceilidh Tree are great, so I do not write this review lightly.

To put this review into context, we gave 5* reviews to all of our other suppliers.

The band were also the only supplier that did not follow up with us after the Wedding to get feedback.

Ceilidh Tree did a great job with a 2 hour Scottish ceilidh followed by a DJ to take us to midnight. The band were excellent and made for a thoroughly enjoyable ceilidh! Louise was absolutely fantastic as our caller and instantly got the vibe of us and our guests. The DJ afterwards was okay but the ceilidh was definitely the highlight of the evening!

We had a Nigerian-British wedding, with both a Nigerian DJ and Ceilidh Tree hired to provide evening entertainment.
Ceilidh Tree handled the sometimes short notice chopping and changing with absolute grace, and made things so much easier for us.
The ceilidh itself was incredibly amounts of fun and the direction was spot on. Thoroughly recommend them to anyone considering a ceilidh!

Ceilidh tree were amazing and very patient with a room full of people who has no idea what they were doing! Everyone had a fantastic time whether they were participating or spectating. Would always recommend a Ceilidh at a wedding and if you do please book Ceilidh tree, there pictures speak for themselves !!

They also had a fab DJ who read the room perfectly!

For a big Irish wedding in Wimbledon we had a good time with Céilidh Tree who did two sets with a great mix of dances to cater for old and young.
Email communication at times was a little bit patchy and led to a bit of miscommunication about our requirements.
Do note that the band will require food and soft drinks, so factor that into your planning.
However, good value for a really skilled band and caller and use of the PA system for our own playlist.