Tag: Weddings

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Highlandwear

Handfasting

Scottish Wedding Traditions

Many cultures and religions have traditions that are performed during wedding ceremonies and receptions, for example Jewish cultural tradition is to smash a glass under one’s foot once the vows have been said. This is to remind the couple that marriage has highs and lows, and to stick by each other through the peaks and troughs of life.

The Scottish tradition of hand-fasting dates back to medieval times, and is also thought to have came from Celtic and Pagan rituals. Gaelic scholar Martin Martin describes hand fasting as an ancient custom of the Isles where “a man would take a maid as his wife for the space of a year without marrying her, and if she pleased him all the while, he married her at the end of the year and legitimised her children, and if he didn’t love her, he returned her to her parents”. Not exactly the stuff of Hollywood rom-coms!

By the 18th century, the Church of Scotland no longer recognised unions formed by consent and consummation, even though civil authorities did. So the way around this was to perform the ceremonies in public. This was until 1939 when Scottish marriage laws were reformed and hand-fasting was no longer recognised.

Modern interpretations of hand-fasting are ones of love and the binding of two souls. It has seen a revival over the years due in part to more and more couples wanting to personalise aspects of their wedding and make it unique to them. It was also featured in the Stark wedding of Game of Thrones, further romantising this ancient practice.

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Highlandwear Jackets Made In Scotland

Shipping Kilts Worldwide! From the USA to Australia – and Everywhere in Between!

Houston’s Kiltmakers prides itself on providing the finest quality Kilt Outfits, crafted with woollen cloth made by the Scottish Mills. This certainly doesn’t mean that our products are exclusively for clients in Scotland – quite the opposite! We ship our products across the world through our international carrier DHL and Interlink Express. Customers living outside the EU can also take advantage of Tax-Free prices!

Houston Traditional Kiltmkaers

Don’t worry if you are Overseas – you can still experience the same high class service we offer all our customers who visit the store. Communication is key when creating your bespoke Kilt outfit, and we take the time to converse with each customer to make sure that the finished Highland Outfit they receive is exactly how they imagined it. You can get in touch by Email, Phone, Skype – or a combination of all three!

If you can’t make it into the store you can still send us the required sizes we need to craft your Kilt Outfit. A local tailor/seamstress can take the sizes we need, or you can use our Self-Measurement Guides and helpful measuring videos to take your own sizes to send to us. Don’t worry, we have many years’ experience working on Highland Wear outfits, so will double check all sizes and let you know if we think any measurement you have sent us seems a little bit off!

Tartan Kilts

Whether your outfit is for a special occasion such as your Wedding day or a Graduation, or perhaps for more casual day-wear at a Celtic Gathering or Highland Games, we’ll give you expert advice at each step of your outfit – making sure you look a million dollars, no matter the event!

Living abroad doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the full Houston’s experience – take a look around the shop with a 3D virtual tour from Google. (Maybe you’ll get the chance to visit and meet the team!)

Scottish Kilts and Sporrans

You can also take a behind the scenes look at our In-Store workshop, where our wonderful seamstress Beth crafts Tartan extras for you Highland Outfit and makes alterations to Kilts. Check out our sneak peek at how Tartan Flashes  and Tartan Shoulder Plaids are made!

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If you’re from Scotland or somewhere else in the world, let Houston Kiltmakers be your No.1 Kilt, Tartan, and Highlandwear specialists!

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Highlandwear Kilt Hire

Kilt Hire for Weddings Overseas

Houston Kiltmakers have the largest and best range for of Kilts for hire in the West of Scotland, with over 130 tartans, 20 styles of super lightweight jackets with three different button options and over 120 ruche tie colour. We also Hire Kilts overseas for special occasions.

(Click on the Photos to Enlarge!)

Many of our customers come to us with the problem,

”We are getting married in England/Europe/Overseas, but we still want to have the Wedding party kitted out in Kilts, can you help?’

The answer is Yes!
Houston Kiltmakers provide hires all over the world for Wedding parties and can ship full kilt hires ready for your big day abroad! Don’t worry if the full party can’t get into the shop to get measured, we have a handy Self-Measurement form that lets you know all the sizes we need and how to get the correct measurements. Once you have these sizes simply send them to us by phone or email and our experienced expert team will check and double check everything matches up!

We have some flexibility on the Length of Hires and return dates if you are taking them abroad, so relax and enjoy your special day!

Another question we are often asked is,

‘Our Wedding is going to be in a warm place with the sun shining, what weight of Kilt would you recommend as the coolest, and what about the jacket?’

In a Kilt outfit the heat is generated by the Jacket, not the weight of a Kilt. We would always recommend 16oz Heavyweight Kilts. These are not any warmer than 11oz or 13oz Kilts and the weight helps them to sit and swing better, making you look your best for your big day!

As it is the Jacket that generates the heat, all our Jackets are Super Lightweight and have been custom designed over many years to create the best fit. They are made from high quality lightweight Barathea wool, meaning they are the coolest jackets around! We are the only Hire company in Scotland that provides these Super Lightweight jackets and as you will be wearing the jacket for most of the day, you’ll want the Jacket that will keep you the coolest!

Houston’s have spent 20 years getting the cut and block of our jackets just right so they sit perfectly on the wearer. Our jackets are also Stain-Proof (and Beer-Proof!), increasing the lifespan of them dramatically!

And remember, we love to see photos from your Wedding with our Kilts on show, so if you want to email us or post on our Facebook page some snaps from your special day we’d love to have a look! You can check out pictures past customers have sent us here!

Categories
Highlandwear Kilt Hire

Where to Wear – Weddings

The next stop on our ‘Where to Wear’ journey takes us to perhaps one of the most popular occasions to wear a kilt, a Wedding. Whether you are the groom looking to make your big day extra special or part of the wedding party looking to stand out, a kilt can add a special touch to the wedding day.

Check out the Bute Heather range on our site: www.Kiltmakers.com

The popularity of wearing a kilt to a wedding is at an all time high and wedding dresses featuring tartan for the bride are also popular.

While there are no rules on what tartans someone can and cannot wear, when choosing a kilt for a wedding the Groom often chooses to wear their clan tartan (or tartan associated with family name), giving them a sense of belonging which has passed through generations.

If you don’t happen to have a tartan associated with your name, don’t worry! You can pick any tartan you like the look of and we have a wide range of Tartan’s for Everyone. Why not pick from our exclusive range of Bute Heather tartans, designed by Houston’s owner Ken MacDonald on his visits to the Isle of Bute. The Bute Heather range is available to both buy or hire. The Bute Heather range consists of Grey and Purple Tartans that coincide with the colour pallet of today’s weddings.

How to Put on a Kilt – A Video to Help Make Sure Your Kilt is Worn Properly on Your Big Day

On the day of the wedding, it is the job of the Best Man to make sure that the Groom is looking in top shape in his Kilt. He should make sure that the Groom’s outfit is in good order. Ideally your Tartan Outfit should have a pivot point down the middle, with the set of the tartan, Sporran, Jacket Buttons and Tie/Ruche/Bow Tie all lining up (See Picture below). The Sporran should be around 3 finger widths under the belt buckle. The Sporran comes in handy for somewhere to keep the ring safe too!

The tartan shown is Bute Heather Kyles

With the Groom all kilted up, a nice touch is for the Bride’s dress to be matching in someway. Perhaps a small ribbon of the same tartan around the bouquet or on the dress. Another option is for a tartan wedding dress. This way you can have a nice combination of kilt and dress, creating a full tartan wedding. Tartan Wedding dresses can be created by Joyce Young, who has won an OBE for her services to the fashion industry. He tartan dresses range from small touches of tartan incorporated into the design to full tartan dresses.

Whether your hiring or buying, a Kilt can really add a special touch to your big day!

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