Mechanical bull for weddings

The moment the wedding changes gear

Every wedding has a stretch that sags. It is usually after the meal: the speeches are over, people have got up from the tables, and there is a gap of an hour or so before the dance floor fills. Guests drift out to smoke, the older relatives start saying goodbye and the party loses the energy it had.

That is exactly the gap a mechanical bull fills. It is not a show that people watch sitting down and it is not a game with rules to explain. Somebody gets on, everyone else forms a ring around them without realising, and two minutes later there is a queue. It works the same with sixty guests as with two hundred, and nobody is left out: whoever does not want to ride watches and films, which is half the fun.

When to put it in the running order

The slot that works best is between the meal and the dancing. It is precisely the moment when the rhythm drops, and two hours of bull lift the whole party back up. Guests come back inside warmed up and the dance floor fills straight away.

The second best option is during the cocktail hour, especially at weddings with a long aperitif in a garden. It gives arriving guests something to do, it breaks the ice between people who do not know each other, and there is still daylight, which matters more than it seems.

What we do not recommend is leaving it until the end of the night. It works — it always works — but the late-hours surcharge makes it more expensive and by then half of your guests are in no state to get on. It costs more and fewer people enjoy it.

One thing about the light: at seven in the evening in June there is daylight; at eleven at night there is a light bulb. We do not bring lighting of our own, so if the video matters to you, an earlier slot produces incomparably better material.

What you get for 350 €

The price is the same whether there are sixty of you or two hundred. We do not charge per rider.

• Two hours of serviceCounted from the moment people start riding, not from when we arrive. Setting up is separate.
• One of our staff throughoutWorking the control desk the whole time: adjusting the speed for each rider and stopping if needed.
• Setting up and taking downBetween 30 and 60 minutes each, depending on how easy the access is. We arrive with time to spare.
• The mattress you chooseThe bullring one, with a leather-and-sand look, or the American one with the flag. No extra cost.
• Public liability insuranceIf the venue asks for the certificate before authorising the set-up, we send it over.
• Extra hour at 100 €If it is going well and you want to extend, we can if we have no booking straight after.

Where it can be set up, and where it cannot

Most of the weddings we do are at country houses and estates around Barcelona, the Penedès, the Maresme and the Empordà, and at hotels with grounds. What we need is straightforward, but it is not negotiable.

A clear space of five metres in diameter, on flat, firm ground: grass, compacted earth, paving, concrete or decking all work. And clear above as well — no low branches, no marquee guy ropes and no cables crossing overhead, because the bull needs headroom to move.

The bull and the wedding video

There is something couples discover afterwards and that is worth saying beforehand: the bull is almost always the liveliest sequence in the wedding film. Between the meal and the dancing there is a stretch videographers struggle to fill, because it is shots of people talking and little else. The bull gives them action, faces straining, falls and, above all, the reaction of the crowd.

If you have a photographer or videographer booked, tell them there will be a bull and at what time. Knowing in advance, they position themselves properly and use the light. The difference between a sequence shot from the front in late-afternoon light and one shot backlit at night is enormous, and it comes down to somebody having said so.

That is why we keep insisting on the timing: with daylight the material is incomparably better, and we do not bring lighting rigs. If it is dark, the light is whatever the venue provides.

And one wardrobe detail everyone appreciates: if the bride wants to ride — and she usually does — have the change of shoes ready. The dress is no obstacle; the heels are.

Technical details for your venue

The figures the estate or hotel will ask you for.

• Space needed500 cm clear diameter, with nothing overhead either.
• AccessVan up to the set-up point, no steps and no gap narrower than 150 cm.
• Power3,000 W at 220 V, with two ordinary sockets nearby.
• Set-up time30 to 60 minutes, and the same again to take it down. It does not eat into your two hours.
• RidersFrom 6 years old and up to 100 kg per person.
• LocationIndoors or outdoors, on flat, firm ground.

Safety, and who says no

At a wedding there is drink, there are heels and there are guests who will get on to prove a point. Knowing how that is handled is what lets you stop worrying about it.

The bull sits on an inflatable mattress that surrounds the whole machine, so every fall lands on a soft surface. That is what turns the fall into the fun part rather than a problem.

The speed and the movement are controlled by one of our staff from the control desk, for the whole time you have booked. They are not someone who switches the machine on and walks away: they choose the programme for each rider. Children get a slow, smooth setting; a group of confident twenty-somethings gets more; and anyone who is not in a fit state is not allowed on.

That decision is ours, not yours. At a wedding this matters: nobody in the family has to play the bad guy with an uncle who has had one too many. Our operator says no and that is the end of it.

The limits are 6 years old and 100 kg per rider, with no exceptions. We also have public liability insurance and send the certificate the same day it is asked for.

What to ask the venue before you book

Almost every problem with a mechanical bull at a wedding is solved by three questions put to the venue in good time. If you still have a site visit pending, take them written down.

First: where does a van come in, and how far can it get? Parking is not enough; we have to unload at the set-up point itself, with no steps and no gap narrower than 150 centimetres. Many beautiful estates have the ceremony area behind a narrow arch or at the end of a stone staircase, and that rules the set-up out even when there is space to spare.

Second: where is there a flat area five metres across with nothing above it? Grass works, compacted earth works, fine gravel works. What does not work is a slope, a corner with an olive tree in it, or a low pergola. It is also worth making sure it is not the same spot as the dance floor, because the bull is taken down before the party ends.

Third: are there two ordinary 220 V sockets nearby? 3,000 W is plenty, but if the point is forty metres from the board we need to know so we bring enough cable.

With those three answers the booking can be closed without surprises. And if you would rather not act as go-between, give us the venue manager’s contact and we will talk to them directly: it is a ten-minute call and it takes one more thing off your plate on a day that is already full.