Northfield Caledonia

Pipes & Drums

Wedding Pages

Bagpipes can make an excellent addition to your very special day. Pipers have been entertaining at weddings, conferences and parties for centuries. Your guests will be quite surprised when they hear bagpipers marching into the reception hall. Bagpipes are played at all sorts of multi-ethnic weddings to the enjoyment of all, so you don't have to be Scottish to have a piper at your wedding.

The Best Time to Have a Bagpiper Play.

Its really a personal choice, but here are a few suggestions from past performances.

Before the Ceremony

This is usually not an ideal time for the piper to play unless you have something special in mind. If the majority of the guests are arriving at the same time (arriving by coach, bus, etc.) then a piper can be used quite effectively.

Another and more popular suggestion would be to use the sounds of the bagpipes to announce the arrival of the bride and maybe have the piper march down the aisle playing a tune or two.

During the Service

Playing during the ceremony is not really ideal, but this can be effective whilst signing the register, but please check with the Church or venue that they allow the pipes, some churches will not allow the pipes inside at all as they prefer you to have Organ music.

 

After the Service

This is the most popular choice. The bagpiper playing outside the church when the Bride, Groom and guests are exiting. The piper should play for approximately 10-15 minutes whilst waiting for the church to empty. Have the bagpiper stop playing when the photographer is ready to photograph the bridal party with bride and groom. When the photos are completed and confetti thrown, the bagpiper can now begin to play a fast and lively tune while the couple enters the car (Don't forget to have a photograph of the Bride and Groom with the piper or pipers).

 

This is the most popular time for bagpipers to play other then immediately after the wedding ceremony. The best time to have the piper or the band play is sometime after the food has been served, usually 2-3 hours into the reception. Don't be surprised to see your guests clapping and dancing to the pipe music

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Don't forget to make the Newly weds stand up in the centre of the stage so that they can have the first dance.

Music Choices

This is something that you will have to work out with the piper. Usually the Pipers will already have several sets of music that they intend to play but there's no harm in making a request..

 

Fees

Just like the music selection, pipers have different rates. Several factors may influence the fee. Expect to pay an extra fee for pipers that have to travel longer distances to perform at your function. The amount of playing time is another factor, for example when requesting a piper to play at the ceremony and reception, several hours of time may be needed to be set aside to perform at both.

 

Booking

Book your piper well in advance and confirm the booking closer to the wedding date. Believe it or not good pipers are usually fully booked all year round.

(For all our couples featured we wish you the very best)