The Hype FAQs

We always play it safe by saying an hour, but we are always ready to start on time. 

We know timings can either run over or speed up during weddings, so we always make sure to work around you and your guests and keep constant check on when we are allowed to offload and set up. 

We then play until around 9.30 where we introduce a 20 minute ceilidh to get your guests jiving, the ceilidh set is ended by some beautiful acoustic Scottish songs sung by our singer Andrew.

When you book with us our guitarist Kenny will always drop you a little hi and hello email and at that point if you’re unsure of anything in relation to timings he can always have a call with you and chat things over!

For this one we always ensure to reach out to the venue ourselves, couples have so much to do with planning and organizing so we feel this is something we can deal with ourselves to take away any pressures or worries from couples. Also not many couples do this day and day out, we get to know venues the more we play. We always check in about the important things like Noise Limiters, loading in area, setting up area etc....even if the venue has a small band area there is NO venue we have played where it has been an issue for us.

During our email exchange with couples they sometimes have info to hand on who to contact at the venue and pass on a coordinators contact details. This allows Kenny to touch base and get all of the technical questions out of the way. If couples don't have the info to hand then Kenny always reaches out to the venue direct to clarify anything to ensure the night of the wedding runs smoothly from loading in to setting up to playing etc

We have a successful bank of dep musicians who we have used over the years and are very reliable, this will always be a last resort and we always aim to ensure the original line up of The Hype appears,

When we arrive at the venue the first thing we do is find a member of staff to alert them of our arrival, we then ask what stage the wedding is at (Some weddings can run over due to delays etc) that will help us know when to start offloading our equipment etc, whenever we arrive at a venue and if there is space ready for us to set up we will set up even if it is before our contracted time. When we have set up we run a quick sound check but don't give away too much as we enjoy the anticipation build up of the night. For Couples you will usually see a bunch of guys with Hype T-shirts arriving! What we always say is do not worry, enjoy your day , you have both worked so hard in planning this amazing day, we will take care of it from here.

If we are due to start at 8 then we require a hours set up- typically if we can get into the room the set up is 7-8 with a 8pm start. Due to us being early birds ie we always arrive in good time at venues the only time we have noticed delays is if the wedding day itself runs over slightly but do not worry we are really good at setting up and will have the night underway before you know it.

In our experience of playing with Noise Limiters I can safely say you would not notice, we are still loud and have a great sound, we fully adjust our speakers to ensure they fall within the noise limiter readings but that is something you won't ever have to worry about.

If there is ever a time when we are playing and the noise limiter sets off, we reset our speakers and carry on and adjust the level a bit more! We have a few funny stories we can share about Noise limiters

We take 30 minutes for the break and ALWAYS have background music playing! If the past couples have used this time to play certain songs for the kids before they settle down for the night!

We like to go with the term "Smart Casual" , nice shirts, jeans/trousers etc...if we play country and western songs, depending on the vibe sometimes the cowboy hats come out to play!

From the moment we start we read the room, always before the wedding though we find out what sort of styles and artists the couples like but we always read the vibe of the room, it's amazing how quickly a vibe can change, one minute we are playing living on a prayer and to avoid crowd burn out we will go into Tennessee Whisky to allow a little bit of down time for the crowd. If we play a certain artist and see that style is being received better than other artists we play we then know to change up the set list and add more of that style.

With our name we like to try and keep the room as HYPED as much as we can the whole night, we are a high energy band but are no stranger to noticing if couples might want to sit out the next high energy number, so we will change that number for something more mellow to keep them on the floor, from experience we also notice the second half generally has a MAJOR ENERGY BOOST, it might be due to the buffet giving everyone a little uplift but our second half is total high energy right until the end

At any wedding we do get requests, if we know it (providing it's ok with the couple) we will play it, we have had in the past couples telling us they don't want a certain song, then that night we have been asked for it and we are very good at politely saying no. Due to the equipment we try and keep people away from stepping over cables as we don't want any injuries or damage to equipment, again this is something we are experts in dealing with and there's always a good atmosphere. Sometimes on the night we have family members who are big ACDC fans or even the bride or groom wants to sing a song, if we know it we will get you up and give you the spotlight in front of your guests.

We are well known for our crowd interaction! Typically our interaction when we perform is what we get complimented on the most!! Between some songs we will always have a bit of banter with the crowd- that allows a quick sip of water and a tune up, during our ceilidh set you get a lot of to and fro banter between us and your guests!

If we arrive at a venue and the wedding is running over due to a late meal etc we try our best to work with the venue and pull back the time, as long as we can get in and set up we will do our utmost to bring the night back,

If there's ever a technical issue ie a guitar string breaks or a microphone battery dies you would never know as we have lots of contingency plans in place, from spare guitars to extra batteries etc, there hasn't been a technical problem which has affected us or the night we give to couples.

With us we typically aim to have the dance floor look the same the whole night!!!

From experience usually at 8:30 you get people dancing but you might also have guests that have arrived for the evening mingling and mixing BUT I can assure you that we will get your dance floor off to a great start. Around 10pm is when we notice people have probably had a roll n sausage at the buffet and they've got this little burst of energy and raring to go, by 11:30 pm we typically have the dance floor bouncing!! We are all on the floor with your guests, our guitarist has his light up guitar at that point to mingle in with the glow sticks, you then question if it's a wedding or a gig you are at haha

We are always happy to give one more song venue pending (some venues have a strict do not go past 12 am policy), we always sign post before Loch Lomond it's the last song of the night BUT we always leave room for an extra one - something like 500 miles really gets everyone singing along!

At the end of the day, it's your big night and we want you to have the best time!!

In the past we've had couples who wanted it played through the iPad instead because they want the original vocals and that's fine by us too. 

We also send a little video highlight reel of your night and your first dance too!

Of course we can take requests! If we know how to play it, we will play it! If it’s a song that we don't know we can always play the original through our PA for you. 

We always say to couples when we first make contact if they know their first dance let us know right away, if they are unsure we usually say 4-6 weeks before the big day. Gives us a chance to learn it and feedback how we are getting on. We also have couples who would prefer the original artist playing (no offence taken haha ) and we ensure the correct track is downloaded and ready to go.

For us when it comes to a first dance any first dance has the ability to be great, it lets you witness a moment between the couple, there could be a hidden meaning in the first dance that we learn about.

In terms of a Tricky first dance the only time it might be tricky but still doable is if the original artist is female and we are performing it, with having a male lead we might need to change the key for it etc, only if the key change totally affects the song we reach out to let couples know.

The way we ALWAYS work is if we know it we will play it, we are never afraid to attempt a song, even on the night we have been known to jam a song and before we know it that song has ended up in our set list! The only time we feel learning a song wouldn't work for us would be if there were time constraints from when we have been requested to learn the song to when the song is due to be played. We always try our best to accommodate any request and any request we are unable to fulfil we always reach a resolution to ensure you still have an amazing night. If a song gets requested that is way beyond our capabilities of learning we still offer to ensure it's part of the night and play it through our sound system.

Couples can have the night as couture as they want! We have had many couples request a certain song at the end of the night as they want to break away from Loch Lomond. We have had couples ask if we can play a certain song for a photodash so they can capture images with all of their guests. We can also announce the winner of a first dance sweep stake if that happens on the night.

We have had couples mention to us that they have family members who are musicians and want to perform on the night, we accommodate that and can perform along side them. Anything we can do to help give you the absolute PARTY of your life we will.

Typically the start of the night involves the cake cutting, what we always do is have every guest (if able) to stand up as we announce the bride and groom in to cut the cake, as they make an entrance we will play a little intro song for them to get the crowd HYPED up for them. We ALWAYS give a countdown for the cake cutting, this really goes down well with guests as they love to shout 5 -4 -3-2-1!!

After the photographs have been taken we allow for the cake to be moved off the floor safely albeit a bit of banter can ensue between band and guests when a cake is getting carried!

We then ask the couple if they are ready for their first dance and away we go!! The only time we won't invite anyone on to join is if we are specifically told by the couple, what we have noticed works is give the bride and groom a verse and a chorus so they have their moment for photographs, videos etc, then gradually get people on, starting with bridal party and by the end the whole floor. From experience if the floor is full at the beginning of the night we usually keep it full for the WHOLE NIGHT

Also if any of the guests fancy a sing song we can easily get the backing track on the iPad for a bit of karaoke fun!

We offer a DJ set option which seems to be a popular because it covers the dance tracks we don't have in our set list and it’s a great opportunity for people wanting to come up and ask to hear a certain song they love. 

Also if any of the guests fancy a sing song we can easily get the backing track on the iPad for a bit of karaoke fun!

The handover works very smoothly, during the night we signpost there is a DJ set after our band set and if anyone has requests they can fill in a request sheet which we leave on everyones tables, as it's us to perform the DJ set you wouldn't notice any difference

I think our clients love how diverse our set list is!! Imagine going to a concert and one minute you hear Franki Valli then after it straight into Metallica! We all love playing live and that can be seen when we are on stage with how we interact with the crowd. We can even rock up the slosh for you!! 

From previous weddings our clients have also commented on how they love the interaction, during the night you'll see our guitarist Kenny running onto the floor using his wireless guitar equipment to give you all a dance and solo right in front of your faces!! 

Also our clients have loved that they feel the set list takes them on a bit of a musical journey, given we play everything from Queen, to Elvis, to Metallica, to Ben E King!

We have a lot of couples who comment on our off stage interaction, as we are known for it, typing about it is one thing but actually witnessing it is another thing, we have had lots of couples struggling to come back down from cloud 9 because they can't believe the night they experienced with us.

To be honest, for us every wedding has been an adventure, you're meeting lots of new faces and being part of a couples memory!

If we were to narrow it down to one memory it would be travelling to play at a friends wedding on the Isle of Jura! For us it felt like a mini tour and a holiday haha. We all got up at silly o-clock (4 am) and drove to the ferry port where we had to get the 2 and a half hour ferry crossing to Islay, on the boat Kenny and David pulled out the acoustic and strummed up a singalong on the boat for some holiday makers! When we landed there we had to get a small ferry crossing to the Isle of Jura to get ourselves set up, we played in the local town hall and the WHOLE ISLAND was invited, instantly everyone knew we were the band when we arrived (probably due to the Hype T shirts haha) We were given a beautiful house on the beach to stay for the night and after we played the wedding we lit a fire on the beach, put on some tunes, even had a cheeky cold one and cigar to toast an adventure which we will always remember!

We certainly can provide a ceilidh set!! The standard ceilidh set lasts for 30mins to 1 hour. 

We have two options for the ceilidh, we can provide a live ceilidh with booming drums and guitars!! Always goes a storm at weddings as it’s a bit different!!

Alternatively if you want a traditional sound we have some classic ceilidh tracks, which ever option you go for I guarantee you that your guests will be having the best time!! 

We have still to meet a reluctant guest that doesn't get up for our ceilidh, our ceilidh set is fun and interactive. We always do a demo in which we come down to the floor and take you through the dances step by step, that way everyone gets a chance to take part!

We also do a few little fun warm up dances before our strip the willow but I don't want to give the game away on here hahahah

Our guitarist Kenny always calls the Ceilidh whilst David the singer carries out the demonstrations

When a couple books The Hype for their wedding the first thing we do is have our guitarist Kenny send a little hi and hello email thanking them for booking us and offering to be a point of contact. It's in this email we sign post when we will reach out to discuss your big day but in the mean time if couples have any questions they can reach out anytime!

From the moment of booking there is contact however over 6 weeks to go is when the contact really ramps up, that is when we reach out to ask if couples have decided on their first dance or are there any specific requirements ie father daughter dance, order of songs etc. We also offer a video call if the couple would like, that way we get to have a bit of banter and let you know a bit more about us!

A few days before the wedding Kenny reaches out to couples to ask if they have any last minute questions any last minute requests etc, Kenny then also links in with the venue to give them a rough ETA for the band. Even though we are contracted generally to set up 7pm-8pm we are absolute early birds, we like to scope the place out directly as seeing a venue adds more weight than an email.

We would always say to couples who have never booked a band before "YOU'RE IN FOR A GREAT NIGHT!!" , there is something about live music that just lifts everyone and we will give you a night that your guests will talk about for years to come.

For us if we want to play 5 or 6 more songs at the end of the night we know it's been a great night haha! Also when we see the smiles of the bride and groom who clearly have had a good night that's what makes this job so rewarding for us. We are always deeply touched by the approach and comments we receive from guests at the end of the night.