The Rays

Our set up and sound check time is 45 minutes to an hour to ensure we are fully prepared and happy with our sound before getting started for the evening. 

Our standard performance times are normally 8pm-12am with a short break inbetween. 

Of course. We are aware timings can change or can be different from our standard timings so we are more than flexible to suit yourself and the venue. 

We take a 30 minute break at the time of your evening buffet to allow everyone to refresh, have some good food and get ready to kick start the night again. During this time we can play our own background music or can arrange with yourself a set list of your choice to be played through this time. 

We advise you to check out our set list and choose some of your absolute favourites that you would love to hear on the night and equally do the same with songs you would rather we didn’t play. In terms of the rest of our set we are very good at reading the room and knowing the best songs to keep your dance floor full so please don’t worry about this or put any added pressure on yourselves. 

Absolutely!! Your first dance is really important to both you and us and we will ensure to learn it and perfect it so it goes smoothly. We can also offer a second dance on top of this whether it be for a father and daughter or another dance of your choice. 

Yes, we always openly say that if anyone has any requests we will make sure to try our best to play it, if it’s one we are not as familiar with we may just get the guests to sing it out and keep us right ;) 

1am license is always a bonus to keep the party going longer so we can offer a DJ set playing all your favourite dance floor bangers or an extension to our live set. 

We offer the option to end the night with either a DJ set or an extended live set for an additional fee. We also include a ceilidh set and a fun game of Mr & Mrs at no extra cost! So get your knowledge at the ready and find out who knows who best — the winner even gets a free drink on the band :)

Yes our equipment is included within the quote you are given. 

Our clients always mention how much they love that we are a married couple doing what we enjoy together. We have a natural chemistry that shines through in our performance. We are very professional (any rows are left for the end of the night LOL), they also compliment how different our voices are but how well they blend together. We are not shy of the dance floor so you may see us on there for a sing and dance with the crowd. 

Ohh that’s a tough question as our music taste is so varied but we never get bored of a bit of ABBA, Queen, Shania and Oasis basically anything that has our dance floor filled influences us. 

Definitely! 3 dances normally take around 15-20 minutes, we have custom made tracks that give you the full sound of what your ceilidh needs. We talk you through each dance and when we start we continue to guide you through it until you’ve nailed it! ‘Swing yer partner’ 

Once we have received the booking the first thing we will do is put both the date and venue into our diary. This means there are no mishaps with the booking. We take a bit of the couples contact information and we make a note to get in contact in good time before the wedding.

When we receive our couples details we will reach out to congratulate and thank you for booking with us. We will reassure you that you can get in contact with us at any point if you have any questions at all. We like to get in contact again, a couple of months before the wedding to chat about any first/second dances and other queries regarding our set list. We tend to send our personal contact information at this point to have a call if couples are comfortable with this. It’s good to get a chat and get to know each other, we feel this helps to put the couple at ease. The week of the wedding we will check in again mainly to wish the couple all the best and that we can’t wait to be part of your special day. This will all be sent by both Joanne and Jonny as a married couple everything happens as a pair Lol!

Once we know your chosen first dance if it’s a song we are not familiar with we will make sure to have a good listen to it and rehearse this song (luxury of living together we can practice right away) We do always say if you would rather the original track we are more than happy to have this downloaded ready to play. It’s couples preference whether they want this live or tracked. A great first dance to us is one that suits us vocally and one that really means something to the couple. Trickier first dances can be if you want a merge/cuts of different songs in one, however with enough notice we can always make this happen.

With enough notice we are more than happy to learn a song that we wouldn’t normally do in our set. If we feel it’s a song that we wouldn’t be able to do justice on we will be transparent with this, however we always suggest at this point that we can add it into our music during our break so that you are still getting to hear it.

Something a little bit different that is an option would be having the couple choose a song each that they will send to us in secret from each other before the wedding. Guests will then get involved to cheer the loudest for the song they loved most and one of the couple will be crowned winner of the best song. This is a little bit of friendly competition between the newly weds!

Having played lots of venues we tend to know most of the ins and outs of each venues set up. However if the couple feels there is something the venue has mentioned that we should be made aware of, it would be much appreciated for this information to be passed on.

Our first point of contact with the wedding planner tends to be on our arrival on the day of the wedding. However we have had some instances where a wedding planner would like to reach out to us in advance. If this is the case we would be more than happy for the couple to provide any contact information they have from us.

We will always be dressed smart. Fitting in with guest appearances, smart shirt and waistcoat from Jonny and a nice dress from Joanne.

Yes, we do have a selection of deps for each of us and it will always remains a male and female duo. Even if one of us is unwell, our deps will also vocally sound similar to us so that you are still getting as close to the performers who you booked.

Our final check in with the couple will always be around a week before the wedding day as we know how in the moment a couple is on their day. However we are always available from morning to arrival if the couple feel they need to get in contact about anything. Most wedding entertainment will start around 8pm and a wedding planner would expect entertainment for that night to arrive an hour before. We will always plan to arrive at the venue around 6.30pm, if it was an 8PM start.

It’s completely normal to feel unsure if you haven’t booked a live band before but we are there to help guide you through the process of planning music around your night. We are an experienced wedding duo and have performed at many weddings. Knowing how to read the room, manage timings and keep guests entertained! We create a fun and memorable atmosphere allowing you to enjoy your special night. So please don’t stress we’ve got your back!

When we arrive at the venue we make first contact with the wedding planner this is to see how the wedding is running. Some venues don’t allow performers to set up until the room is being turned over. After the initial first contact, we then make contact with the couple if they are free to have a quick chat just to let them know we’ve arrived and check in on their day. Once we are all good to get into the room we load in our equipment and begin the process of our set up and soundcheck.

We will arrive at a venue around 6:30pm this gives us plenty of time to set up for an 8pm start. No matter the complexity of the venue, access or distance.

Depending on the venue or couples choice the cake cutting may have been done during the day or they will do it before the first dance. If this is the case we announce the bride and groom into the room for the cake cutting ( we will play a song that they’ve either asked for or an upbeat song of our choice to add atmosphere) we will then go straight into the first dance. When the bridal party/guests join the couple on the dance floor is normally a preference, this is discussed with us prior to the wedding. Please don’t worry if you really don’t like slow dancing it’s absolutely fine to announce your guests on the floor whenever you wish for them and even more fine if you want that moment just for you and your partner.

Your guests will normally always be round the floor during your first dance so to make sure we keep them there we will always start with a popular upbeat number to get those feet stamping and hands clapping.

We like to keep the energy high throughout the whole night from start to finish. We however think there is a good opportunity for a slow dance which is normally played as the buffet is coming out. We find this is a good transition from high energy to a wee breather before you tuck into your food. This is where we would then go on to take our break. Although, this doesn’t mean the music stops as soon as we go on our break we will play background music for your guests to enjoy.

We try our best to play any live requests which we get on the night. This tends to be from guests as any requests from the couple we most likely will already have pre arranged. If there is a request which we can’t unfortunately perform live on the night we will always look at adding this in to our music playlist for the break. In terms of anyone looking to come up on to the performance area this is something we welcome as long as the couple is happy with the guest doing so. We do absolutely love when one of the newlyweds like to join in with us for a song this always goes down a treat!

We like to be very engaging with the guests during the ceilidh set. This involves both of us being interactive on the dance floor and talking you through the steps of the dance. Next step once the dance has been taught and you all feel confident in the moves we will try it along with our custom made ceilidh tracks. There is never any pressure on your guests to join in however we always advise the more the merrier and it doesn’t matter how good a mover you are the more chaotic the better!

We love to interactive with the crowd we feel it plays a massive part in the performance. The more we get involved with the crowd, they get involved with us. We have lots of opportunities through certain songs where we can get the crowd interacting. P.S, you can’t beat a conga line!

This is a seamless transition and doesn’t take long at all. We have varied sets pre made depending on the couple preference. We can go from dance floor filler classics to GBX and everything in between.

The most common issue that you would run into would be a late running meal which then leads to a later band set up time. We have found this can happen quite often and would advise to the couple it’s nothing to worry about. (It even happened at our own wedding). We have rarely run into technical issues however at one performance Joanne’s mic cut out and we transitioned stage positions for Joanne to keep performing through the other live mic. This gave Jonny a chance to switch leads without the song being interrupted.

When it comes to venues with noise limiters or sound restrictions we are very rarely outwith our limits. As a duo our setup gives us complete control over our overall sound levels, and if needed, we can make quick adjustments to comfortably meet a venue’s requirements without anyone noticing a difference or disturbance.

Our main goal is to keep the dance floor active at all times. At 8:30pm we would call this the warm up section, you would tend to find confident guests often being bridesmaids, close friends and family of the couple. Guests can be still enjoying the music from their table, finishing drinks or taking photos. Around 10pm is when we would be back from our break. This would be just after the buffet had settled. This is peak time for guests to make their way to the floor. Having already warmed up to the band. Come 11:30pm we are going into the final section of your night, where every song is an absolute sing along and all guests are there to enjoy the last of the celebrations.

We always check in with the couple to confirm whether they would like the famous ‘Loch Lomond’ ending to the wedding (this tends to be the case) however, some couples prefer a different approach. We like to lead up to the finale with song choices which everyone would know, having a crowd buying into every song really builds up the atmosphere for that final song choice whatever it may be. We would always recommend ‘Loch Lomond’ as we feel this is a perfect ending and a memorable way to send guests home.

We know it’s been a good night going off of a few factors. Our main goal is to make sure the couple enjoyed the music provided. Also, crowd involvement plays a big part. We get a feeling on stage towards the end of the gig also that lets us know we have had a great time performing and the couple and guests have also enjoyed our performance throughout the night.

We hear often how much the couples loved the live vocal performance and interaction between ourselves on stage. We always look like we are having a ball, and that is because we are. We absolutely love performing and we aren’t afraid to show it. Couples love the real, raw energy that we provide together as a married couple.

We have many great memories and moments from weddings which we have played at. Something that stands out for us was a wedding which was our first back as covid restrictions were being eased. We saw guests spread out at separate chairs and tables, however on top of said chairs and tables dancing. It was a great moment for us as we felt slowly but surely we are getting back to doing the thing we love most, which is performing. We also performed at our own wedding, this will always mean a lot to us!