How much time do you need for set up & sound check?
We don’t hang about so can generally get set up in 45-60 mins depending on the load in.
What are your standard performance times?
8pm till midnight with a 30min break
I'm not sure what my timings are going to be yet, is there any flexibility on the standard timings?
Absolutely! For instance, if you'd prefer a 7-11 performance time, we can provide this for no additional fee. We have optional extras you can book if you need your night extended beyond midnight.
How long do you take for your break? Are you able to play background music during this time?
30 mins. We normally line this up with your evening buffet. We supply music for our break which will be similar to the music we play live. Alternatively, you're welcome to make up your own Spotify playlist and email it to us for us to use during the break.
Can I pick the songs that you'll play on the night?
Technically yes, but one thing we specialise in given our monster repertoire is knowing which songs, in which order, will keep your dancefloor as busy as possible. Every night is different hence we don't use a rigid setlist, but if you were to pick every song on the night (usually up to 50) it gives us far less wiggle room to play songs which we know work to keep the party at fever pitch for as much of the night as possible.
Will you learn our first dance if it's a song that you don't already know?
Yes, plus depending on your choices we can usually learn a father daughter dance as well!
Can you take any requests on the night?
Absolutely, in fact this is one of our favourite parts of the job and gives us a good idea what type of music your guests are into in real time.
My venue has a 1am license, do you offer an extension to keep the night going until then?
Yes, either an extra hour of band play or a disco set option. You can book in any of these as an optional extra when you’re processing your evening entertainment booking.
Do you offer any other add-on options?
Our most popular add-on option to give your whole wedding day a running musical theme is to have Gary perform during your afternoon drinks reception, where he will play a couple of hours of similar (but more chilled) music to what the band plays in the evening.
If you really want to turbo boost the day with live music, you can also book Gary to play at your ceremony. Pick whatever song you'd like to walk down the aisle to and have a bespoke acoustic version played live.
This is also a great idea as Gary will perform background music during the signing of the register, keeping your guests entertained while you "make it official", also keeping the music going when the ceremony is over and your guests are making their way to the area for the drinks reception.
Is all of the equipment (e.g. PA & lighting) included in your quote?
Yes we are entirely self-contained.
What do you think your clients love most about your performances?
Our vast repertoire, our modernised versions of classic songs, our lack of gaps in the set (this is a big plus!).
We frequently use medleys to keep the music going almost constantly for the time we are on stage. The band will go directly from one song to another which is usually in the same key or tempo, meaning sometimes guests don't even notice that they've just danced for 20-30 mins to 8-10 different songs, literally without missing a beat!
An example of this is our famous (and seemingly never ending) medley of Mr Brightside, Hot and Cold, Marry You, All The Small Things, With or Without You, Paradise, Firework, Keep On Moving, Uptown Funk, Get Lucky, You've Got the Love... with literally no stops, gaps, or chances for your guests to sit down.
We're often asked "Can you play a bad song so I can go to the bar?"
Which artists are you most influenced by?
When we're not playing covers we write and record original material with influences such as Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Green Day, Oasis etc, but when it comes to weddings and parties, we're simply influenced by massive singalong hits that keep the dancefloor jumping!
Can you provide a ceilidh set? If so, could you give us more info about this - how long does it last, what instruments do you play, can you call the dances for our guests?
We can provide up to 45 mins of fully dance called ceilidh which is often the most fun part of the night!
We explain the dances and have a laugh with it (especially if there are guests who've clearly never experienced a Scottish ceilidh) all the while playing guitar, bass and drums live with the traditional instruments of fiddle, accordion etc on a track through the speakers.
The result is a live sounding ceilidh set without the stress or cost of hiring additional musicians just for this part of the evening.
Typically the set contains Gay Gordons, Dashing White Sergeant, Canadian Barn Dance, St Bernard's Waltz and Strip the Willow, but we always play it by ear - sometimes 2 songs is plenty, other times we do the full 45 or even split it into two sets throughout the night.
When a couple books you, what's the first thing you do? Walk us through what happens from the moment you're confirmed.
When you book Three Card Trick through Coast, first of all the band and Coast both block the date in our diary so that a double booking is impossible. In 16 years, it's literally never happened, so once you book us through Coast you know your booking is carved in stone. Then we look forward to an email from you regarding specific requests for the night (first dance choice, ceilidh set inclusion etc), which we can usually accommodate up until the day before, unless it includes learning new songs which we require two week's notification. We also offer a plethora of additions to your day including ceremony music, daytime drinks reception entertainment, plus an additional hour of band play or a DJ set. But we understand that booking the band is just a small part of organising your day so once you've sorted the main evening reception set, if you want these extras just let us know anytime after! Either during the point of booking or up to two weeks before the date. We're very malleable with add ons or edits and can usually accommodate them at short notice.
How much contact do you typically have with the couple before the wedding? What does that look like - emails, calls, a planning form? How often, and who in the band handles it?
Lead singer of the band Gary will respond via email within 1-3 days. From which point we can put together a plan of what music styles, vibe and flow you want for your night. After 1500 weddings we can get a good idea of what you're looking for from a few basic queries like first dance choice, ceilidh options and any other special requests you have.
When a couple sends through their first dance choice, what's your process? How do you arrange it, how long does it take, and what makes a great first dance choice vs a tricky one?
We're renowned for learning songs really fast (sometimes on the spot!) but for your first dance it's best to give us 2 week's notice so we have time to rehearse it. Aside from your vows we consider your first dance to be the most important part of your day, so we always make sure it sounds as amazing as possible to create a unique moment for you.
If a couple requests a song that's not in your repertoire, how do you handle that? Where's the line between "we'll learn that" and "that one won't work for us"?
We're happy to learn almost any song. We're a 3 piece so it's easy to learn most songs but when something with a big orchestral arrangement comes up that we don't think we could do justice to, we'll give you options. Playing the original track or performing an acoustic version are usually the options in this case, but these are few and far between. We like a challenge.
Beyond the first dance, what other moments in the evening can couples personalise? How far can they go with making the night their own?
We love customisation, you know you and your guests better than we do and we like every wedding to be different! But we do know what works when it comes to filling a dancefloor all night, so we prefer if you give us ideas as to what you want rather than choosing the exact 40-song setlist.
What information do you need about the venue beforehand? Are there common venue issues couples should flag early - noise limiters, access restrictions, small stages, power supply?
Three Card Trick consistently produce amazing nights under the strictest sound limiters in the country. As a 3 piece we can create a big performance with a small space. We just need two safe power outlets to provide our show. Everything else including sound and lighting is provided by the band.
As far as sound/volume limiters, in short, we've never met one we couldn't work with. They are a pain in the *neck* for fully live bands like us but we always find a way to work around them. However if you're booking Three Card Trick for the authentic rock festival atmosphere we'd advise against venues with noise limiters lower than 86db (db = decibels - the measure of loudness). 90db is pretty standard for any live band in our ballpark.
99% of the time you and your guests wouldn't notice but we have had a couple of occasions where people have booked us for our heavy rock sets and asked why we were playing so quiet on the night, at which point we had to explain that we were bound by the venue's volume limiter.
In summary, unless you're planning on creating a mosh pit on the dancefloor, a volume limiter shouldn't be an issue, but it's something you should definitely make a point of asking your venue about.
How do you coordinate with the venue staff or wedding planner? Is there direct contact between you and them, or does that go through Coast?
Our relationship with Coast Entertainments is tighter than with any other band, and we probably know your venue staff aswell. If we don't already, we'll contact each other. Once you've booked, you won't have to worry about anything regarding the entertainment. We'll do it all in the background, so you can enjoy the rest of the planning stress free!
What do you wear on stage? How do you think about your look and presentation for a wedding?
Our standard wedding attire is what you'll see in our videos. Smart with an element of smart-casual if we feel the mood is right, given the advance song choices.
What happens if a band member is ill on the day? What's your contingency - do you have dep musicians, and how does that work in practice?
In 16 years, frontman Gary has NEVER missed a wedding. Even if that were to happen, even just as a band we personally have enough musical pals we could call on to fill in at the last minute. But with Coast you have Scotland's encyclopedia of amazing musicians who can be ready at a moment's notice.
On the day itself, before you arrive - is there any final contact with the couple, venue coordinator, or planner to confirm details and timings?
Yes, every element of on the day planning is done in the background between the band, Coast and the venue/co-ordinator. You don't need to worry about anything aside from having an amazing day. Trust us, we'll be there!
For couples who've never booked a live band before and are nervous about what to expect - what would you say to reassure them?
We understand that booking a band for the first time can be stressful. Three Card Trick have performed at over 1500 weddings with a mountain of genuine 5 star reviews and testimonials which you can see on our website. We always have a good laugh on stage with the audience but we take the business side very seriously. Singer Gary is glad to answer any pre-booking queries you might have.
What happens when you arrive at the venue? Walk us through the logistics - load-in, setup, soundcheck. What does that process actually look like, and what would the couple or venue notice?
If yours is a venue we're familiar with, (which in our case is highly likely) we pull up to the loading area. If not, we pull up to reception and ask where the evening reception room is, who the co-ordinator is and where is best to park in order to make the load in (bringing our equipment from van to stage) as fast and inconspicuous as possible in order to not disrupt your dinner/speeches. Either way, the first point of contact will be band leader Gary approaching your co-ordinator to ask if the room is ready for us to load into. Some weddings run late due to speeches etc so this is an important fact to check. Once our stage area is ready we load in and setup while the venue staff turn your room around, which means converting it from the dinner to evening reception. Once we're set up there are no lengthy or loud soundchecks, we just check everything is working. Ideally you and your guests would be in a different room at this time but if that's not possible eg in a marquee style venue, you'll still barely notice we're there until we actually start playing your first dance.
If you're due to start at 8pm, what time would you normally arrive? What factors change that - venue access, distance, complexity of setup?
We arrive around an hour before start time so typically 7pm. If we know the venue has a difficult load in we may arrive earlier than this in order to guarantee we start at 8.
How do you approach the start of the evening? Do you call the bride and groom onto the floor? How much of the first dance do you give them before inviting others in, and how do you read when to make that call?
At the start of the evening around 8pm, the co-ordinator will usually take you off to the side or behind the entrance to the room and will give us an indication that you're ready to make your entrance for the evening reception. Gary will introduce you in a way the co-ordinator advises. Usually as Mr and Mrs, but it's up to you how you'd like to be introduced. Then you'll cut the cake which Gary will also announce, after which he'll introduce you to the dancefloor for your chosen first dance. We don't usually invite the guests up during your first dance unless you instruct otherwise, so if you're shy feel free to let us know you don't want to be on the floor alone for too long. Other times the couple may have practiced a dance routine so you can also request to be alone on the dancefloor for the entire first dance. After your first dance and any other special requests (eg father daughter dance) we'll invite everyone onto the floor for our typical opening song Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen. This one always gets people up straight away and sets a great tone for the party.
How do you decide what to play next during the set? What are the signals you're reading from the crowd, and how quickly can you change direction if the energy shifts?
Three Card Trick are renowned for our ability to read a room and as such we never use rigid setlists. Some crowds react best to party standards like Shut Up and Dance, others like a more guitar-based set including plenty of AC/DC etc, some even love a heavier rock out with Linkin Park etc. If the crowd is super-varied, we have a tendency to group a similar style of songs together in chunks of 15-20 mins to keep fans of each genre on the dancefloor for as long as possible. When it feels like they're ready for a break, we'll maybe play a classic ballad as a palate cleanser then fire up a totally different set to please a different demographic of your guests. We do everything in our power to make sure we play not just something for everyone, but a lot for everyone! We also have far and away the most extensive repertoire of any band you'll come across with over 2000+ songs to pull from at any given moment.
How do you structure the energy across the whole evening? Do you build to a peak, keep it high throughout, or work in waves? How do the breaks fit into that?
We have a standard selection of upbeat, universally loved hits to open the night and re-assure your guests that they will recognise every single song. This opening 30 mins gives us an idea of how easy it is to get them dancing, what era or style of music is getting the best response, and how much verbal encouragement is required. Usually this is none but Gary has no problem in, let's say "coaxing" a timid audience into getting up, letting loose and generally having a good time. We want your dancefloor jumping as much as you do, and we've never failed yet!
Having said that, there's always space for a couple of ballads, usually to give people a rest or if the dancefloor is getting a bit wild. This also gives your older guests a chance to have a wee shimmy.
By the second half we've really got an idea of what's gonna rev your guests up to fever pitch. Usually we'll start the second set with some country classics like Shania Twain and Taylor Swift. This is when your bridesmaids really get their groove on. After this we'll either do some indie classics like Oasis etc or if we're getting an even rockier vibe we'll hit out with some Green Day and escalate it from there. Sometimes this goes all the way to Limp Bizkit, other times we go back to standards like Country Roads. It all depends on how the dancefloor is looking song to song.
We can even change direction halfway through a song if required, or spontaneously create 15-20 min medleys (songs that seamlessly run into each other like a DJ). This is the benefit of a small band that doesn't use setlists or backing tracks.
How do you deal with live requests from guests on the night? What are your rules of engagement - do people come up to the stage, is there a system, and how do you handle requests you can't play?
Taking requests is our strong point. With a repertoire of 2000+ songs, there's not many popular songs we don't know. The best way for your guests to request a song is to write it on their phone and show us it, (far easier than trying to have a conversation and sing at the same time). We'll usually nod and mentally add it to the set if we think it won't empty the dancefloor - nobody needs to hear Tears in Heaven at a wedding. One reason we have such a vast list of songs is because we take requests and learn them on the spot if we can, so it really is one of the most fun parts of the job.
If it's a song we can't play, which is rare, we'll often add it to the break playlist or DJ set.
We're currently working on a system whereby people can scan a QR code on our onstage banner and view our song list online, then request a song and even add a note/dedication which will pop up on our iPads and we'll read it out. Technology. What a time to be alive eh.
You offer a live ceilidh set - talk us through exactly how you perform it. Who calls the dances? How do you teach the steps? How do you get reluctant guests involved without making anyone uncomfortable?
We play up to 45 mins of ceilidh music live, albeit with fiddles and accordion on backing tracks to save you money on paying for extra musicians just for the ceilidh set. If you request a ceilidh set we usually try and do it before the buffet break when people are still sober enough (hopefully) to follow the moves. We explain the dances in full before the dance and during, although if there's any P.E. teachers in the midst, they're more than welcome to "help out"... ;-)
The ceilidh set is always fun and a great chance to break the ice and get people comfortable with being on the dancefloor en masse, and we always encourage everyone to get involved.
How much do you interact with the crowd between songs? What's your style - chatty and MC-like, or let the music do the talking? Do you make announcements if the couple asks?
Three Card Trick, fronted by brothers Gary and Dean are renowned for our crowd interaction, when it's required! If the dancefloor is jumping from the get go (which it usually is) we don't mess with the magic - we just keep playing! However there are times with a shy or smaller group of guests where we like to have some chat to coax them onto the floor. The band want a busy dancefloor as much as you do! We'd class our stage banter as playful but professional.
We're also more than happy to make any and all announcements required.
For couples who've booked your DJ set as well - how does the handover work between your live performance and the DJ set? Is it a seamless transition or a distinct changeover?
If you book a DJ set with Three Card Trick, the transition is seamless. We go straight from the last song as a band to the first song of the DJ set. All the relevant equipment is already set up and ready to go. Also, you're more than welcome to send us a list of songs you'd like played during the DJ set.
What's your approach when something doesn't go to plan - a late-running meal, a change to the schedule, a technical issue? Can you give an example of how you've adapted on the fly?
When it comes to things not going to plan, whether it be scheduling or technical issues we've seen every possible scenario. As such we have infinite experience in adapting to such changes. Our setup time is an hour as standard to cover any issues but with an easy load in and sufficient stage space we can cut this down to 45-50 if your day is running late. As far as technical issues, we've only had a few over the years (as any band would) but we're well prepared for any gremlins in the machine. We take spares of everything, we have contingency plans and even after we've loaded in our main rig, there's always backups in the van. Backup guitars, spare drum heads etc.
To get into excruciating detail, we even chose our PA (speaker) system based on the fact that if the control desk goes down, we can bypass it in seconds and go direct to the PA, and if a speaker goes down we can re-route to the other until we can get the spare out of the van. Also we use real guitar amps on stage to give you the sound of a real rock band, but if these were ever to fail we have backups of these as well. We even have backups for the backups in the form of digital modelling pedals! It's all completely failsafe and something you wouldn't even notice in real time.
How do you handle venues with noise limiters or sound restrictions? Does it change what you do, and would the couple or guests notice a difference?
In short, we've never met a noise limiter we couldn't work with. They are a pain in the *neck* for fully live bands like us but we always find a way to work around them. However if you're booking Three Card Trick for the authentic rock festival atmosphere we'd advise against venues with noise limiters lower than 86db (db = decibels - the measure of loudness). 93db is pretty standard for any live band in our ballpark.
99% of the time you and your guests wouldn't notice but we have had a couple of occasions where people have booked us for our heavy rock sets and asked why we were playing so quiet on the night, at which point we had to explain that we were bound by the venue's volume limiter.
In summary, unless you're planning on creating a mosh pit on the dancefloor, a volume limiter shouldn't be an issue, but it's something you should definitely make a point of asking your venue about.
What does the dancefloor look like at different points in the night? If I was standing at the back of the room watching, what would I see at 8.30pm vs 10.00pm vs 11.30pm?
We want the dancefloor to be as busy as you do! Most of the time the dancefloor will be mobbed for the first half hour, busy-ish for the rest of the first half and fever-pitch/music festival/superbowl half-time show for the second half. Obviously sometimes that's going to be dependent on how loose and lubricated your guests are. You can see genuine dancefloor footage on our social media pages, including one on YouTube which is a full timelapse of 4 hours in 5 mins to show how full the floor usually is all night.
How do you close out the evening? Is there a go-to finale approach? How do you decide when to end on a high vs giving the crowd one more?
As much as we don't use setlists, the last 20 mins is crucial to everyone's amazing memory of the night so we don't usually mess with our own unique, road tested, ironclad, absolutely failsafe way of closing out your night in style. We won't disclose the exact songs but it's all classic Scottish traditional end-of-wedding material which gets absolutely everyone on the floor with the bride and groom to celebrate the climax of the evening and day as a whole. Put it this way - prepare to crowdsurf!
How do you know it's been a good night? What's the thing that tells you "that was a great gig" - is it something you see, something the couple says, something you feel on stage?
If the dancefloor has been busy all night, we've done our job. If we managed to play all the requests, we've done our job. If your guests lift you up on their shoulders during the last song of the night, we've done our job. We take so much pride in creating these moments that we simply don't allow it to play out any other way. We're not good at anything else, so might as well be the best at this ;-)
What's something couples often tell you after the wedding that they didn't expect about the live experience? The thing that surprised them.
The most satisfying feedback we get is when couples mention how busy the dancefloor was all night, how we played every request and how much they appreciated us learning and performing their first dance.
What's your single favourite moment or memory from a wedding you've played? The one you always tell people about.
We played a venue in Thurso in 2025 where the venue's power went out around 11pm. Gary pulled out the acoustic guitar and kept the party going by leading singalongs, walking round the tables, taking requests and keeping the guests dancing until the power came back on 20 mins later. What a hero ;-)
Also in 2021 a couple asked us to play one of our own songs, "I Fit You" for their first dance. That was a tearjerker for us.
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