Scottish Traditions to enhance your wedding day
Scotland is a popular and romantic wedding destination. With vibrant landscapes and interesting ceremony traditions, the historic and cultural richness of Scotland makes it the ideal choice for an unforgettable wedding. Here are some examples of Scottish wedding traditions, mixed with more contemporary interpretations and ideas.
Hand fasting
Handfasting, also known as hand-tying or hand-binding, is the ceremonious act of tying the marrying couple’s hands together to symbolise their commitment to one another. This Celtic tradition is often done with a material that feels significant to the couple, but originally, this would have been the tartan of one of the families.
This is a gorgeous ritual that takes place during your ceremony and can be facilitated by a celebrant. For a handfasting ceremony grounded in beliefs of equality, inclusivity, compassion, and love for all, then we would recommend Sarah of Celebrate People, a group that promotes humanist and spiritual values. Sarah would certainly lead you through this touching Scottish tradition with care.
Kilts
A kilt is a traditional Scottish garment wrapped around a person’s lower half. These are worn by Scottish folks at special occasions, especially weddings, and the tartan is often one that correlates with the wearer’s family tartan. There is also a list of Kilt accessories which includes a Sporran, Kilt Pin, Sgian Dubh, and more.
Wearing a kilt is guaranteed to bring Scottish appreciation and culture to your wedding, and is not necessarily restricted to certain genders. Laird Jarvie Kilts offer a fantastic range of bespoke kilt services that are not gender-specific.
Piper
Bagpipes are a stand-out Scottish sound. Having a piper welcome guests into a space for a special event is very common in Scotland, and introduces a traditional feel from the very beginning of your day. Pipers are clad in kilts and tartan too, as mentioned above, this easily incorporates the vibrance of Scottish culture into your wedding.
Ceilidh
A Ceilidh is a series of traditional dances that are woven throughout Scottish folks’ lives! Ceilidhs are very accessible dance additions to your wedding, because the Ceilidh band you hire will “call” the dance - meaning they will explain the moves and steps to everyone before the dance begins. There’s a variety of dances in a Ceilidh; some group numbers, some partner work, and some where you consistently change who your dance partner is. This makes a Ceilidh a great choice to help bring your guests together to have some fun!
The Havering Ceilidh Band is who we would recommend for your traditional Scottish dance entertainment.
Scottish flowers in bouquets
Another simple way you could add Scottish culture to your wedding would be to include traditional Scottish flowers in your bouquets or floral arrangements. The most well-known Scottish flower to include is a thistle, but other colourful options are Heather, Bluebells, and Primrose.
She Bloomin’ Gathered offers a range of bespoke floral arrangement services, and we recommend you take your list of favourite Scottish flowers to them!
Poetry
Poetry and literature hold strong significance in Scottish culture. With famous names from the 1700s like Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, to modern names like Carol Ann Duffy and Jackie Kay, Scotland has produced many diversely influential poets.
Love Out Loud and Purple Poetry offer unique services that thread the poetic culture of Scotland into your wedding day. Our current poet roster is predominantly composed of Scottish individuals who perform with emphatic and encapsulating energy; either a bespoke poem written specifically for you, or your favourite traditional Scottish poem. There’s even the chance we’d wear a kilt for it, too.
Additionally, our on-the-spot typewritten poetry service is an interactive wedding entertainment option that honours the cultural significance of Scottish poetry in an accessible way. Most poems are written in plain English (see previous poems here) with the potential for occasional Scots’ slang to be peppered in upon request.
If you’re interested in uniquely and creatively incorporating Scottish culture and tradition into your Scottish wedding, you can get in touch with us here.
