How to Have a Scottish Wedding
Ten Scottish Marriage Customs Bring a Warmth to Any Wedding Ceremony
Nov 5, 2009
Sure, it’s a fairly simple thing for a groom of Scottish heritage to wear a vest, or even a formal kilt, as part of his wedding attire. The bride, too, can incorporate a bit o’ tartan into her wedding outfit, whether as part of a brooch or as a ribbon in her bridal bouquet. Or tartan fabric can even be used to decorate the wedding cake itself!
But, with just a little information, imagination, and effort, it’s possible to imbue a wedding ceremony with true Scottish wedding traditions.
Scottish Wedding Traditions
Whether the bride or groom is of Scottish ancestry or not, try observing some of the following customs in the days leading up to the wedding to add a rich touch of Highlands culture to the blessed day.
- Reading the banns. For three successive Sundays before the wedding day, proclamations of the intended wedding are read aloud in the parish church—or, in whatever church the couple regularly attends together. This custom makes the intended wedding public knowledge, so that anyone who might know of an impediment to the wedding has the opportunity to speak up before the event.
- Creeling the bridegroom. During a stag party a few days before the wedding, the groom’s friends tie a creel, or basket, to his back and fill it with stones. He has to walk around the village with the creel on his back, to be rescued only by a kiss from his bride-to-be. One can only imagine the symbolic implications regarding marriage!
- Showing presents. A few days before the ceremony, the bride’s mother invites friends over to an open house at her home for a display of the opened wedding presents that have already been received by the couple.
- Feet washing. At raucous festivities the night before the wedding, guests gather to wash the feet of the bride in a tub of hot water. Tradition says that whichever unmarried guest finds the ring of a married guest that had been placed in the tub before filling will be the next person to wed.
- A sixpence in her shoe. While dressing for the ceremony, the bride receives from her parents or another beloved relative a silver sixpence coin to place in her shoe. This is meant to bring good fortune for her wedding day.
- First foot. En route to the church, the first person to encounter the bride is rewarded with a coin and a drink of whisky and invited to join the procession.
- Piping in the bride and groom. Of course, professional or gifted amateur bagpipe players perform traditional hymns as the groom and bride walk down the aisle.
- First and second dances. The newlywed couple’s first dance is traditionally a Scottish reel performed to traditional piper’s tune. The bride dances next with the most honored attending celebrant.
- The scrammy. As the couple leaves the church, the groom and his friends scatter handfuls of coins in the churchyard. Local children scramble to pick them up, sharing in the good fortune of the wedding couple.
- Breaking the bannock. After the ceremony and before the bride is carried over the threshold by her groom, the traditional cake of barley or oat flour known as a bannock is broken over her head as a sign of good fortune. Pieces of it are passed around to guests.
May the marriage be happy, prosperous, and blessed! (Looking for information on the perfect wedding ring? See How to Judge a Diamond’s Quality and Shape. Want to know how much Champagne to buy for the reception? See A Guide to Champagne Bottle Sizes.)
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