A live ceilidh/party music mix for a big London wedding.
Autumn saw Pastiche Band play a live ceilidh/party music mix at the very fine Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, London SW1 – just around the corner from Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament. The band had played there not too long ago for a New Years Eve party.
This time Pastiche had been hired for the ceilidh/party mix that is proving popular, particulaly for weddings. Ceilidh is a great way to start off the wedding dancing, break the ice, and quickly get people whirling around the dance floor and having fun.
But sometimes the client may not want ceilidh music all night long. Pastiche Band specialise in mixing up styles – one or two ceilidh dances are interspersed with sets of regular party music. Pastiche Band like to play a diverse range of well known party songs from the ‘50s up to today.
At tonight’s wedding the couple chose to alternate ceilidh and party sets – an arrangement that we find works very well.
The band arrived early in the day for the set up. The staff at the Corinthia had made the ballroom look spectacular. The couple were very happy.
They had chosen to have a big band for the evening. Pastiche are usually a five-piece band comprising female vocals, guitar/vocals, keyboards, bass and drums. Tonight we’d added a second female vocalist and a fiddle (of course) for the ceilidh. But the couple had also chosen a three piece horn section for a touch of added class.
We had trombone, saxophone and trumpet. The horn section included Raul D’Oliviera, trumpet, (Elton John, Mica Paris) and Neil Sidwell, trombone. (The Who, Kate Bush, Tom Jones, Robbie Williams, Joe Cocker).
Pastiche Band singer Danica Chapman is also the caller for the ceilidh – expertly leading the guests through the dance steps. The band start off slow and gradually up the tempo as the dancers get into their stride. Often at a wedding a few people know the ceilidh steps, but many don’t and a relaxed slow tutorial gets them up to speed. The ceilidh dances that the couple chose included Circassian Circle, Dashing White Sergeant, Gay Gordons and Strip the Willow.
The party carried on until 01:00am – band and guests all having a great time. Afterwards the couple said “We wanted to thank you for such a stunning performance at our wedding at the Corinthia Hotel. Your energy, skill and enthusiasm was absolutely perfect and really got the party going straight from the off. It was great to have the combination of ceilidh and covers and we had so many compliments from our guests.
Everyone could tell that you were all really enjoying it and that just seemed to transfer to all of our guests. Thank you again.”
Apr 12, 2015