Burns Night is always one of the busiest periods of the year for Reel Time Events, and 2016 was no different.  Here is a quick roundup of this year’s events and what we have been doing to help celebrate our great Bard’s birthday

Roddy and the Scraggly Cats had the pleasure of entertaining the Builders Merchants Federation at Dalmahoy Golf and Country Club.  Roddy was on hand to address the haggis and then join the Scraggly Cats for their funky and up beat fusion of ceilidh and pop, giving all of the guests a fantastic party for the evening.

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At Aberdeen’s AECC Roddy and the team were entertaining not one but two Burns Night events.  The first was a Burns supper for a corporate client, who were entertained by Roddy and the Reel Time Band and provided a bangingburnsnight for all the guests.

The second event at the AECC also included Highland Games Activities and a whisky tasting, giving guests a taste of all things Scottish, before being entertained by the Reel Time Band in the evening.

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Back in Edinburgh Roddy was busy at various venues across the city.  Mansfield Traquair’s Burn’s night celebration was an intimate party in a grand venue, with Heritage Portfolio key staff, board of directors and invited guests from their parent company entertained by Roddy and the Scraggly Cats, and treated to one of Roddy’s characterful and animated Haggis Addresses.

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At the EICC the Reel Time Ceilidh Band accompanied by our talented Highland Dancers entertained a group of hosted DMCs, to give them a taste of a Reel Time Burns night celebration and a night to remember.

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Roddy offered up a contemporary performance at the National Museum of Scotland for the Burns Unbound event, playing a contemporary bagpipe set with a dance backing track and accompanied by the fabulous Tartanium dancers.  We were lucky enough to be given a video of the event by one of the guests, Mr K Bryce Morrison, which you can see here

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And just when you though it was a hard life for a piper over Burns season, Roddy’s last job was to jet to Madrid for one final Burns night, playing at the Ambassadors residence for a secret client, where he treated guests to a rousing haggis address, and playing his pipes and encouraging some ceilidh dancing in the warmer climbs of a Madrid evening.

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Travelling from South Africa for their incentive trip Momentum were treated to a truly Scottish experience by Reel Time Events for the Edinburgh part of their journey.  With great collaboration between Reel Time Events and Thundermark in the run-up to the event, guests were treated to the best entertainment possible for their visit to Edinburgh.  To get both groups in the mood for the evenings entertainment they were fitted into kilt outfits for the gentlemen and sashes for the ladies – in all 80 kilt outfits and 70 sashes were successfully fitted across 2 venues over 6 hours, while the Reel Time team also offered some local knowledge and tourist info for how to spend the day, before the evening kicked off in Reel Time Style.

With entertainment at 2 different venues for the 2 groups it was a busy night for the Reel Time Team.  The first groups gala dinner and entertainment was held at the stunning Hopetoun House, where they were greeted by a welcome piper on arrival.  During the drinks reception there was a spectacular surprise Beat the Retreat, to give the guests a real rousing taste of Scotland before sitting down to dinner.  No Scottish gala dinner is really complete without a haggis course and whisky, and this was no exception, with Roddy addressing the haggis for the guests and William Wallace talking to them about the whiskies on offer.  After dinner to really get the pulses racing it was over to the Scraggly Cats, with their rocking ceilidh sound.  Accompanied by highland dancers opening the show with contemporary dance display, guests were treated to a mixture of funky ceilidh and pop from the band, through to conclude the evening on a high.

The second group were treated to their gala dinner and entertainment at the spectacular Ghillie Dhu, where they were treated to a truly exciting evening of entertainment.  With a magician performing street style, close up illusions and slight of hand over the drinks reception, guests were then wowed by Tartaniums high-impact, high-energy performance after dinner.  Blending bagpipes with electric guitar, keys and drums their exciting and innovative take on traditional Scottish ceilidh music created a real excitement with the guests.   Accompanied by their troupe of mini-kilted dancers performing their choreographed contemporary highland dance routine, everyone was treated to an exciting and contemporary twist on  traditional Scottish Ceilidh.

The following day both groups took the opportunity to head south for Scotland vs South Africa in the rugby World Cup, the result going the way of the visitors and adding to their great memories of their trip.

If you would like to discuss your incentive trip to Scotland and see how Reel Time Events can provide an exciting and memorable experience for your staff please contact us.

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Burns night is the annual celebration and commemoration of the life, work and spirit of Scotland’s great poet Robert Burns. From his humble beginnings on the family farm in Ayr, his passion and dynamic, contemporary vision has elevated him into one of Scotlands most loved and celebrated figures.  Every year, around the great Bards birthday on the 25th January, Burns night is celebrated across the globe. Remembering his famous and humorous poetry and songs, often aided with a generous serving of haggis and lashings of whisky – a celebration Burns himself  would have been proud of!  Reel Time had the pleasure and honour to help celebrate this great occasion across Scotland in a number of venues.

Starting in the granite city, in Aberdeen’s AECC, Roddy was piping and stabbing haggis for their clients evening.  The Scraggly Cats band wowed the crowd at an oil and gas industy Burns night with their blend of rocking ceilidh, rock, pop and soul music.  Keeping everyone on their feet with their dynamic and energetic performance, everyone danced and drank and thoroughly enjoyed their evening.

Tartanium also made their way north, to Ardoe House, creating a stir with their high octane performance.  Supported by the Tartanium dancers, it was a spectacular performance of music and dance that injected a new dimension into the Scottish celebrations.

Moving south to the heart of the country, working with Historic Scotland in Stirling Castle, Reel Time provided an evenings entertainment, with comedy from Fred MacAuley, Sandy Strang, and Jane McCarry, and music from Barluath – a new and exciting band from Glasgow who embrace the traditional and contemporary music of Scotland, and feature Ainsley V Hamill, finalist from Scottish Young Traditional Musician of the year.

In our beautiful capital, in the spectacular surroundings of The Hub, the Reel Time Band played their lively and energetic ceilidh music, keeping the Federation of Master Builders entertained for the evening, while Roddy was the evening’s compere, addressing the haggis, keeping proceedings on track and introducing “a toast to the lasses” “reply from the lasses” and “the Immortal Memory”.  The Full Burns night entertainment package! 

The Reel Time Band also played at the beautiful venue of Norton House Hotel, helping the Heineken crowd enjoy their celebrations and keep the them rocking into the early hours.

Burns Night is such a special and exciting evening, and it was truly a pleasure to help all of our guests enjoy and celebrate the life and poetry of our great Bard.  If you would like to book your event for 2016 and celebrate Burns night in style please contact us

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Wedding Evening Entertainment Explained. With so many wedding couples looking to book their perfect wedding, we thought it was time for a blog post to give them some advice on what they can hope for:

For most wedding couples, the choice comes down to whether you want a band or a DJ.  This is a personal preference, depending what sort of music you and your guests will enjoy, and the atmosphere you want to create on your special day.

Wedding DJ’s:  DJ’s can play anything.  If the music has been recorded, then they can play it at your wedding.  Experienced Wedding DJ’s know what sort of music works for different groups of people, to give a variety of music to suit all the ages.  We would suggest that you let the DJ know as much as possible about your guests, any ‘Big’ tunes you want played, First dance (my advice:  pick a first dance 1 month minimum before your big day, then you can practise what you are going to do.  This helps with your confidence once you have 200 eyes on you!).

If you have a large contingent of foreign guests, then let the DJ know.  They can have on hand a few of the top hits from their country to make them feel at home.

Make sure that the DJ and sound system are suited for your wedding venue and number of guests.  As a rough guide 1000W sound system will be great for 100-150 guests.  Also make sure that the DJ provides disco lighting effects.

For more info, please check our Wedding DJ page.

IPOD discos: IPOD discos allow couples to bring along their own IPOD (or laptop etc) and play the tunes that they want to hear during their disco segment.  This allows music  fans to have complete control over the music.  Usually run by bands, to compliment their music but sometimes as standalone systems.  It also saves some budget as a DJ is not required. Our IPOD discos come with disco lighting effects to transform your venue.

Do remember to make up a playlist for the timings that it will run on the night.  This is important to think of the flow of the evening.  First dance, What are your last 5 tracks of the night?  What will you play during the buffet?  Remember that these tunes are to appeal to everyone, so maybe YOUR top 30 tunes may not be the best 30 tunes for your wedding day!  (maybe 25 of them are!!)  why not test drive the playlist at a hen party?

Wedding Bands: There are so many wedding bands to choose from.  One word of advice, do your research, listen on line, once you hear a band that you both like then book them.  Good bands get booked early.  Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest days of the week for wedding bands!  (if you have a midweek wedding then you may be able to negotiate a bit of a discount.!)

Time wise, bands generally play 8-12 with breaks.  This is a big part, time wise, of your overall wedding experience, so bear this in mind.  You want to entertain your guests and give them a lasting memory of the fun they had at your wedding.  Don’t scrimp your budget on entertainment if you are having lavish flower displays and beautiful cuisine!

Do remember to offer the band some food, a bacon sandwich from the buffet, or a meal if they have been in early to set up or playing early in the day.  This is not required, but is a nice gesture, and generally means you get 120% from the band members.  Most bands are on site for 6 hours(4 hours playtimes and 2 hours set up/derig), which along with some travel time is pretty much a working day!

In Scotland, many weddings like to enjoy some ceilidh dancing as their evening entertainment. The ceilidh music generally acts as a great social lubricant, and will get your guests partying with each other.

Ceilidh bands: 

Traditional ceilidh bands;  exactly what it says on the tin.  Imagine Jimmy Shand and his band,  Great traditional Scottish music.  Usually ceilidh band instruments can include accordions, fiddle, keys and drums (snare high hat).  Make sure the band that you get has a dance caller to explain the steps of the dances.

We work with  a selection of traditional bands, young and old who can give guests a great night of ceilidh dance.

Funky ceilidh bands:  this is Scottish music to ceilidh dance to, with a modern funky twist.  If you want to dance, but you think the traditional music may turn some guests off, then check out this option.

I would say that the Reel Time Ceilidh band is the best funky ceilidh band around at the moment (ill hold my hands up, I may be a bit biased, as I also play with them!…. decide for yourself, check their video here) Bands have fiddlers, electric guitar, keys, bagpipes and a full kit of drums.

Have a listen to Funky Scottish Music or Contemporary Ceilidh Music.

Popular music: If you don’t want to ceilidh dance, but want Popular music for the evening entertainment of your wedding, then a function band is what you are looking for.  Ask to see their sample set list so you can get an idea of their style.

Make sure that the band has a good singer and are good all round musicians.  This is crucial when booking a band, also make sure that there are not several different bands under the same name.  The band you hear or see on the demo, should be who is at your wedding. please note that some function bands also play ceilidh music.

The band you book should be able to read the crowd and play music suitable for the age range and give a party atmosphere. By booking a professional band you will get exactly what you require for your perfect wedding.

Ceilidh and function bands: If you want a mixture of both styles of music for your evening entertainment, then this can work well.

Make sure you ask your band what they can do.  What kind of songs they can perform (Is it pop, or Scottish songs!)

Generally there are two ways to do this: either a function band who can also play ceilidh music or a ceilidh band that can also play popular music

Which way to go?  Depends what you want more of… Ceilidh or pop? Ceilidh band with a singer can do a great 70% ceilidh 30% pop split, a function band would do a great 30% ceilidh 70% pop split.

At Reel Time Events, we offer four great bands for evening wedding entertainment in Scotland.

Traditional Ceilidh Band

The Reel Time Ceilidh Band:  Funky ceilidh band, established 5 years playing 200 events a year

The Scraggly Cats:  Funky Ceilidh band with pop singer  

The One Night Wonders:  Edinburgh’s finest function band (we heard the rest and booked the best)

We hope this article has been helpful, for more info check our wedding day time events.

Send us your wedding date and what you are looking for, and we will send you a tailored quote for your wedding entertainment.   No obligation of course!

We look forward to helping you plan your special wedding evening entertainment. 

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Tartanium before they go on stage at Hampden Stadium.

Hampden Stadium was rocking this weekend to the sound of Tartanium, Scotland’s up and coming bag-rock band. Performing at Scotland’s National Stadium, Tartanium played for 15 minutes of traditional Scottish music in a modern rock style. The band was followed by The Scraggly Cats performing both ceilidh music and modern covers for the international delegates at the conference.

Alongside Tartanium there were two pipers and three traditional highland dancers to complete the stadium performance taking place as part of the Scottish Power Renewables Conference. Delegates were entertained by the bag-rock show which helped create a lively atmosphere by providing a driving drum-beat and modern pop tunes as well as the sounds of Scotland. After this exciting performance The Scraggly Cats entertained the audience playing pop and classic rock tunes.

Playing at the heart of Scottish football in our nation’s stadium Tartanium and the Scraggly Cats felt proud to be displaying the best of Scottish culture at this conference.

Reel-Time would like to say thank you to the delegates as well as the staff at Hampden Stadium for their enthusiasm, great hospitality and support helping us provide great entertainment for this large-scale conference.

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With all the exciting events coming to Scotland in 2014, there is a real push to market Scotland to international buyers; with the Ryder Cup, commonwealth games and a year of Homecoming

The event was hosted at Wembley Stadium and was Visit Britains biggest annual event for business to business buyers.

Reel Time Events conducted the whisky tasting overlooking the famous Wembley pitch.  Guests enjoyed a selection of fine malt Whisky, hosted by Ambassador John McCheyne.

Roddythepiper stepped in with compare duties for the evening and piped the guests down to their dinner.

During dinner, the Reel Time Scraggly Cats were joined on stage by 8 Scottish dancers.  Putting on a Scottish show that showcased the best of traditional and contemporary culture.  With ballads from Robert burns, through to mini kilts dancer routines.

The band came back later in the evening to put the guests through their paces with their rocking brand of ceilidh music. Guests danced along with our 8 dancers and much fun was had!!.

To finish off the evening, the band played through a selection of Brit pop from the last 4 decades, keeping a thoroughly British feel to the event.

We look forward to helping our partner organisations in the lead up to a year of fantastic high profile Scottish Events in 2014.

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