Scottish Wedding Traditions

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! The shops are full of cards, hearts and chocolates and love is in the air! With many romantic Scots planning a Valentine’s Day Proposal or indeed a Valentine’s Day Wedding; here at Houston’s HQ we thought we’d fill you in on some age old traditions for your traditional Scottish wedding!

Firstly, it is customary for the gentleman to ask his girlfriends Father for her hand in marriage. Although this tradition has become less popular of late it is still practised. Many couples will have an engagement party to celebrate the union, you know us Scots; any excuse for a party! The party will of course be filled with family, friends, loved ones, dancing and of course celebratory drinks to toast the happy couple.

At the wedding ceremony there are many traditions which are carried out at almost every wedding. One of the most important is music . Bagpipes are of course symbolic of traditional Scottish music but there are often other instruments involved such as the harp. This may be involved in the wedding ceremony and then carry on afterwards at the reception.

Dress code is of course a very important factor in any wedding. However in Scotland it is suggested that the couple state the dress code on their wedding invitation. Dress code is often dependant on the venue and time of day. For ladies the dress code would imply whether or not they should wear a hat. However; more importantly for the men it would be outlined if they should wear Highlandwear, morning wear, lounge suits, black tie or smart casual.

If the groom wears a kilt it is suggested all his grooms men wear matching attire. Tartan for the kilt is a personal choice. Some men choose their family or clan tartan but others will choose a colour which coordinates with the bridesmaids dresses. Organising kilt hire is one of the Best Man’s duties. Best man duties include looking after the groom before, during and after the wedding. Duties also include organising the hires of outfits for the groomsmen. This includes fittings, collection and return of hires, etc.

One of the most important (and for the men nerve racking) traditions is the toasts. Tradition dictates that the father of the bride prepares a speech and at the end offers the first toast to the bride and groom. This speech usually offers advice and well wishes for the future and is often filled with funny anecdotes from the brides childhood or personal stories about hid daughter and new son in law. The groom will then give his wedding toast, which generally includes special thanks his parents, the bridal party, and to all those involved in organising the big day. The best man is the last to toast. This toast is normally the most dreaded by the groom as tradition states that it be filled with funny or even embarrassing stories about the groom!

Thereafter tradition states that everyone attending must join the bride in groom in making their special day the best day of their lives!

On that note Houston’s would like to wish all those proposing ad getting married this year all the luck in the world! If you have any further questions regarding this blog please don’t hesitate to comment below. Or if you wish to hire or buy highland wear for a wedding visit our website www.kiltmakers.com

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3 Responses

  1. Laura says:

    Is it against etiquette for the groom to wear the tartan of the brides family instead of his own family.

    • admin says:

      We Get quite a few grooms doing this

      • normally if they do not have a specific clan tartan or overseas customers marrying into a scots family, or if their own clan tartan is not available to hire

      Houstons

  2. nimabi says:

    Thank you very much for sharing, I learned a lot from your article. Very cool. Thanks. nimabi

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