Welcome to Cultures

Scottish Wedding Traditions

Scottish wedding ceremonies date back to the thirteenth century and reflect Highland traditions. Today many of these traditions are no longer practiced but for an authentic touch to any Scottish wedding we reveal traditions you may want to add to your own Scottish wedding.

The Wedding Ring
Traditionally given only to the bride until the late 20th century. The gold band a circle with no beginning and no end, represented a marriage that’s love would endure forever.

Traditional Scottish Wedding Attire

Bride and Bridesmaids
Traditionally a bride would wear a white or cream wedding gown. She might wear a horseshoe on her arm for good luck or a young pageboy might deliver one to her as she arrives at the ceremony. The bridesmaids wore an outfit of the bride’s choice. It usually included a piece of Tartan. It was good luck for the bride to sew a hair from her head into her wedding gown. The bride was never to try the completed gown on before the day of her wedding as it was considered bad luck. Many a seamstress would leave a seam unfinished until the actual day of the wedding.

Something Old
A traditional gift from mother to daughter symbolizing her wisdom being passed on.

Something New
A gift symbolizing the start of the new married life.

Something Borrowed
The idea, traditionally, was the something borrowed came from a happily married couple in hopes that the bliss would rub off on the newlyweds.
Something Blue – blue was a sign of modesty, love and fidelity. It was also the colour for associated with Mary, the mother of Jesus, who symbolized steadfast love, purity and sincerity.

Groom and Groomsmen
The groom, groomsmen and the father-of-the-bride often come in full Highland dress in the traditional tartan of their clans. A Highland wedding outfit consists of the following: Bonnie Prince Charlie jacket and waistcoat, kilt, tartan flashes to match kilt, white hose, gillie brogues, kilt pin, sgian dubh, black belt with buckle, formal sporran with chain strap, wing collar shirt, black or coloured bow tie and a piece of white heather in the lapel.

Flowers
The bouquet would include tartan ribbons and bows. Posy bouquets were popular.

Click here to read about White Heather.

Before the Ceremony
Proclaiming the Banns – In medieval times the church would announce each wedding three consecutives Sunday’s prior to the event. The practice of proclaiming the banns lasted for six hundred years. Today a couple will announce intent to marry and then obtain a marriage license from a local registrar.

The Luckenbooth
Give a Scottish brooch (called Luckenbooth) as a token of your love or as a betrothal gift. This is usually made of silver and is engraved with two hearts entwined. Some couples pin this on the blanket of their firstborn for good luck.

Penny Bridal or Silver Bridal
These festivities, known as Penny Weddings, were renowned for feasting, drinking, dancing and fighting. Gifts were given to the bride and groom-to-be, in order to cover the costs of wedding feast and celebration. The celebrating started on the eve of the wedding with singing, toasts and ceremony of feet washing.

Feet Washing
A  wedding ring from a happily married woman is placed in a tub. The bride puts her feet in the tub and her single female friends wash them. The first female to find the ring will marry next. The female friends then find the groom-to-be and place him in the tub and his legs are washed with soot and cinders.

Show of Presents
Before the wedding day, the Mother-of-the-Bride holds an open house for all of the guests who gave gifts to the bridal couple (similar to bridal shower practiced today).  The gifts are unwrapped and set out for viewing. When the presentation of the gifts is over, the bride-to-be is dressed in a train of old household materials by her guests. They give her a baby doll and a plastic potty filled with salt and march her through town. The women sing and bang on the pots announcing the upcoming nuptials. To gather luck, the bride exchanges kisses for money which is put in the pot.

The Stag Night
The groom is taken out for the night with his male friends. The most popular place to go is a local pub where they drink and joke about the groom. Sometimes the groom is dressed as a pregnant woman by friends or left naked and tied up on his doorstep.

The Highland custom of “Creeling of the Bridegroom”
A large basket or “creel” is filled with stones and tied to the groom’s back. The bride has the option to kiss him at which point the groom could remove the basket. If she refuses, he has to carry the basket on his back through the entire town.

Morning of the Ceremony

Silver Sixpence
On the morning of her wedding, the bride is given a Silver Sixpence to place in her shoe. When she leaves her parents home for the last time, she steps out the door with her right foot first for luck.

The Wedding Procession
As the bridal party makes their way to the church, they throw flower petals in front of the bride. If they encounter a pig or a funeral procession along the way, it is considered bad luck for the couple and they must return home to set out again. The first person they encounter on the walk to the church is called the ‘first foot’. This person would be given a coin and a drink of whiskey from the bride. He would then accompany the bridal party for one mile before being allowed to continue on his travels.

Grey Horses
It is considered good luck to see a grey horse on your way to the church, therefore  all of the best bridal carriages are pulled by grey horses.

The Church
The bridal couple would meet the clergyman just outside the church to exchange their wedding vows in Scottish. The couple and the guests would then come into the church for a second mass done in Latin. The food brought to the mass by guests and family would be blessed.

During the Ceremony

The Pipes
The bride and groom enter and leave the Church to the sound of bagpipes playing. Traditionally the musician wore full highland dress pipes; today they just wears bagpipes.

Hand Fasting
Hand fasting is a wedding ceremony from the middle ages. It was a temporary marriage that lasted one year and one day. In Scotland they did not have a minister to perform marriages in the town so they would perform a hand fasting which was legally binding until a clergyman would pass by and perform the ceremony. Today, to honour the couples Celtic heritage, the hand fasting ceremony is incorporated into the wedding. To signify that the couple is now joined as one, their hands are bound together with a tartan cloth during the vows.

Pinning of the Tartan
Following the announcement that the couple are now husband and wife an additional ceremony takes place, “the pinning of the tartan.”  The ceremony, customized by each family, welcomes the bride to the family clan. Any member of the family can pin a rosette pin or sash fastened with the clan badge to the bride. Often the groom himself will present the pin to the bride. If the groom’s mother presents the pin, it is an exceptional honour.

Presentation of the Sword
On the wedding day, the groom presents the bride with the family sword. The bride accepts it and it is to be passed on to the first-born son. If the bride’s family presents the groom with a sword it is an act of acceptance into the family and signifies the responsibilities he will bare to protect his new wife.

Wedding Bells
As the bridal couple leaves the church, bells ring announcing a wedding has taken place. The sound of the bells is also believed to drive out evil spirits.

Throwing of Confetti and Scramble
It is tradition to throw flowers or petals at the couple as they depart from the ceremony. In some rural areas, coins were tossed and children would gather them up, this is called a ‘Scramble’. The groom would often reach in a pocket and throw coins to the children as well.

After the Ceremony

The reception is called a Ceilidh (pronounced “kay-lee”). It is the Gaelic word for a party or gathering.

Scottish Wedding Blessing
“A thousand welcomes to you with your marriage kerchief, may you be healthy all your days. May you be blessed with long life and peace, may you grow old with goodness, and with riches.”  - Rev. Donald Macleod, minister of Duirinish, Skye, Scotland c. 1760.

Special Dances at a Traditional Scottish Wedding

The First Dance – The first dance is a reel led done by the bridal couple.

The Second Dance – The second dance is reserved for the person of the highest ranking among the guests.

The Shaim Spring – It is the privilege of the bride to choose the music for “Shaim Spring”, a reel dance performed with the bridesmaids and best man.

The Sword Dance – The sword dance is similar to a jig and is usually preformed as the last dance at the wedding. Guests then make a circle on the dance floor and sing “Auld Lang Syne”.

Bell Ringing – Guests are provided with small bells to ring throughout the ceremony. The bridal couple is expected to exchange a kiss when they hear the bells.

Siller Spuin – The groom would give the bride a silver spoon to insure they never would go without food.

After the Reception

The Walk Home
Traditionally the bridal couple was escorted home by those in attendance at the wedding. Before entering their new home an oatcake or a bannock was broken over the bride’s head. This was taken as a sign of good fortune and a blessing for a long life and many children.  Pieces of the oat cake where then shared with everyone. The priest or minister would bless the couple’s house and bed. Finally, the groom would carry the bride over the doorstep. (The superstition is that evil spirits inhibit the threshold of the doorstep is why the bride is carried over the threshold.)

Traditional Scottish Food
Smokies – a wood-smoked haddock.
Bannocks or Oatcakes – a barley and oat flour biscuit.
Scottish Beef – Angus breed beef cattle known for tasty rich meat.
Scotch Broth ( also called Hotch-Potch) - A rich stock is traditionally made by boiling mutton. Vegetable are diced and added: carrots, garden peas, leeks, cabbage, turnips just to name a few.
Black Bun – is a rich fruit cake.
Colcannon – boiled cabbage, carrots, turnips and potatoes.
Crowdie – a simple white cheese, made from whey of sour milk. The cheese is rolled in oats.
Scottish Salmon – the rivers of Scotland have an abundance of these fish.
Forfar Bridies – an oval delicacy, similar to a Scotch Pie. The only difference is the filling is piped into the pastry shell.
Haggis – made from sheep offal, it is a delicacy in Scotland.
Scotch Pies – A round and crusty pie made without a pie tin and filled with minced mutton
Traditional Scottish Wedding Cake – The traditional Scottish wedding cake is a brandy-flavored, two tiered, fruitcake. The cake is baked at the time of the engagement. One tier is eaten at the wedding and one is saved to celebrate the birth of their first child.

Scottish Drink
A Scottish wedding would not be complete without a “wee dram” (a shot of Whiskey).