I'll be interested to see how this goes. It's nice to see a ceilidh club which IS a ceilidh club. A ceilidh used to be a dance with entertainment spots, but in recent years it has come to be just a dance - and English Ceilidh at that. The only other example of this type of club I know of was one we ran in Liverpool in the '70s. We had two resident bands, playing on alternate weeks (actually, it ran fortnightly), an MC and a resident caller. Tom Brown and I (The Wakes) were with one band, and also used to do song spots, and we had floor singers and the occasional 'floor caller'. The intention had been to book guests, which might be a guest band, guest singer/dance team or guest caller. It ran for a few months, but although it was ticking over, we never got enough money coming in to be able to book guests. Personally, I always thought it was a mistake to do it in Liverpool, but I wasn't actually running it. A lot can depend on where you are.
As regards the running order, I think I'd be inclined to do three or four dances and then some entertainment, rather than alternate as you are planning, but maybe this is something that will sort itself out with experimentation and feedback from Mr and Mrs Punter. I'd also avoid having English Ceilidh every week. Some people prefer the more traditional type of band and dances. You might also have the occasional 'special' - Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Breton, Cajun, Quebecois, Balkan etc.
Good luck. I'd like to see this type of club catching on.
John Kelly.