Kerry Wedding DJ Paudie Walsh at the stunning Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Ballyseede Castle is a 4-star luxury castle hotel situated close to Tralee, on the famous Ring of Kerry. This venue has to be seen to be believed. I have played countless weddings and have seen it go through so many upgrades. They recently added a new Orangery for drinks receptions and completely renovated parts of the hotel. The coolest thing about the hotel (I think) is the wedding cake and cutting. The castle turret is used for the cake and it is like its own little room. When it is time to cut the cake they bring it out and the wedding couple can cut the cake with a massive 3ft medieval sword. It is so unique and a real photo opportunity. Once the wedding meal is over and the room is turned over for the night it is party time!!
The Setup – Kerry Wedding DJ:
I arrive and setup at the start of the evening once the dinner is over. If there is no band and I am playing the full evening I usually setup where the top table is, just at the foot of the dance floor. If there is a band playing first I will setup alongside them just beside the door to the balcony area. With the equipment setup I have it allows me to adapt to different spaces without losing quality. I provide everything that is needed for the night including all the sound and light equipment. I don’t require anything additional to be provided (only the power from the hotel, of course!). No hidden equipment hire charges or anything like that. Below is an example setup for an after band wedding set in Ballyseede Castle. You can see a nice appealing setup with sound, light and DJ booth all sitting nice beside the balcony door.
The Timeline:
Generally in Ballyseede Castle I aim to arrive at 8.30pm to be ready to set up once the meal is over. After the hotel staff have the space cleared I load in the equipment and setup. With or without a band I am ready to start before the first dance, usually around 9.30pm. My aim is to start a full evening reception around 9.30/9.45pm and with a short break for food and playing right through to 2am. If a band are playing first I would hope to start around midnight and play to 2am without any break in music. As I am setup before the band start there is no down time, no loss in music or atmosphere once the band finish. It is a smooth transition from band to DJ.
Wedding DJ Music:
For this wedding, the majority of the crowd were aged 25-40. The wedding couple had not asked for anything in particular so from watching the guests while the band played and judging what I saw I was able to put a setlist together. The 90’s dance music is a huge floor filler at weddings and it really went down a storm at this one. To balance it and add something different I included a few rock classics towards the end and the guys (groom included) had the ties around their head. Really great photo! I think the end of the night was the highlight and even the bride mentioned it in the testimonial after. The sing song was absolutely epic and it had everyone on the floor. Even the hotel turning on the lights couldn’t stop them. The groom was a big Liverpool fan and had asked for “Never Walk Alone”. I followed it up with one or two more and it had everyone in good spirits for the residence bar.
Here is a little few video clips from the night. It only shows a small portion of the madness!