Third time was a charm for Elgin wedding band Diamond Skies as they were named best in Scotland.
The group secured the coveted title of Best Wedding Band of the Year at the Scottish Wedding Awards.
It was the third time the band had been nominated in the category, but their first win.
Drummer Craig Sim and lead singer Jessie-Ann Fleet attended the ceremony at The Marriott Hotel in Glasgow on behalf of the band before walking away with the prestigious prize.
‘You have to be in it to win it’
Mr Sim said: “We are all so over the moon. We weren’t really expecting it to be honest but you have to be in it to win it I suppose.
“We’ve been finalists the last couple of years so this year we thought we would go to the awards. Sadly, we couldn’t actually attend the awards the last couple of times but we managed to attend it this year so it worked out pretty good.”
The band say they are extremely proud to be able to bring the award home to the north as “a small fish in a big pond.”
Mr Sim added: “We are just a small fish in a big pond almost so to beat some of the bigger bands from Glasgow and stuff is amazing. It just shows you that anything is possible really.”
What is the secret of a good wedding band?
The five-piece band, made up of Daniel Pearson, Callum Ord, Scott Ramsay, Craig Sim and Jessie-Ann Flett, first came together in 2015 before taking to the stage for their first gig in 2017.
Diamond Skies has now become a household name for couples planning to tie the knot.
When asked what the secret is to becoming a successful wedding band, Mr Sim said being able to read the crowd is key.
“Being musicians and friendly, you need to be easy to work with,” he added.
“You also have to read the crowd. You’re going to get songs that people’s going to dance to and songs that maybe people don’t like so you need to chop and change to suit the crowds.
“Each one can be totally different. Some crowds will prefer rock songs; some other crowds will prefer the cheesier songs and some enjoy a good mix. It just depends on the night really.
“You get a good mix of crowd. Most times, around 90% of the crowd is up for a good party and having a good time so if they are having a good time, we are having a good time as well.
“You feed off the energy they bring, you bounce off each other almost.”
With an extensive repertoire at their disposal, the drummer admits their signature Abba medley is a real crowd pleaser.
He said: “You have Proud Mary which is a floor filler but we made an Abba medley made up of five Abba songs that we mixed together. If you’re struggling to get people on the dance floor that’s always going to fill it.
“That’s our special song and technique to get everyone up.”
