Scottish Wedding Traditions
There is nothing better than a good Scottish wedding with kilts by the dozen and a lively ceilidh band. There are lots of traditions surrounding the day and the weeks before it which add to the spectacle of a wedding in Scotland.
It is good luck to hide a sprig of heather in a brides bouquet and the luckiest color of heather to have is white. Heather is also added to the buttonholes of the grooms' and best mans jackets. A luckenbooth is a silver brooch which is traditionally engraved with two entwined hearts and given as a gift on the day of the wedding. The Luckenbooth is traditionally used to pin the blanket of the couples first child.
The traditional wedding outfit for the groom and other male members of the wedding party is the kilt with the most common one being worn with the Bonnie Prince Charlie jacket. Bagpipes are commonly heard outside the church at a Scottish wedding and most wedding venues will include a piper in their wedding package. The bagpiper will often play the newly married couple on their way out of the church.
For the reception a ceilidh band can really make a wedding Scottish. A ceilidh band will consist of anything from an accordion player and a snare drummer to a six piece band including a fiddler and full drum kit. Ceilidh bands will play group Scottish dances like Strip the Willow and the Dashing White Sergeant as well as couple dances like the military two step.
A rather odd Scottish wedding tradition is the ominous sounding blackening. A blackening can be done to a bride or groom by their friends in the build up to the big day. It involves the bride or groom (or sometimes both) being caught by their friends, and covered in all sorts of sticky substances like treacle, eggs and flour. They are then driven around the town paraded to all.
It is good luck to hide a sprig of heather in a brides bouquet and the luckiest color of heather to have is white. Heather is also added to the buttonholes of the grooms' and best mans jackets. A luckenbooth is a silver brooch which is traditionally engraved with two entwined hearts and given as a gift on the day of the wedding. The Luckenbooth is traditionally used to pin the blanket of the couples first child.
The traditional wedding outfit for the groom and other male members of the wedding party is the kilt with the most common one being worn with the Bonnie Prince Charlie jacket. Bagpipes are commonly heard outside the church at a Scottish wedding and most wedding venues will include a piper in their wedding package. The bagpiper will often play the newly married couple on their way out of the church.
For the reception a ceilidh band can really make a wedding Scottish. A ceilidh band will consist of anything from an accordion player and a snare drummer to a six piece band including a fiddler and full drum kit. Ceilidh bands will play group Scottish dances like Strip the Willow and the Dashing White Sergeant as well as couple dances like the military two step.
A rather odd Scottish wedding tradition is the ominous sounding blackening. A blackening can be done to a bride or groom by their friends in the build up to the big day. It involves the bride or groom (or sometimes both) being caught by their friends, and covered in all sorts of sticky substances like treacle, eggs and flour. They are then driven around the town paraded to all.
