What about dress? Kate says "90%+ of grooms will wear full kilt regalia, and it is expected that any guys who are attending should also wear a kilt if they own one. It is very common to hire a kilt for the weekend (around £100). Brides almost always wear white. Then anything goes for guests! The average wedding dress is £1000 and above, but vintage is a HUGE trend these days meaning so much about weddings is changing!"
And the reception? "Instead of an evening buffet, it is becoming increasingly popular to serve guests a 'piece and sausage,' which is an incredibly Scottish snack usually eaten for breakfast! These go down so well at every single wedding I've been to! Cakes used to be fruit cake, but now are typically red velvet (another Americanism!). There are 3 speeches at every wedding, either pre or post meal, and these are from the best man, father of the bride and then the groom. Breaking with tradition of our parents' generation, the bride and groom very rarely leave the wedding first these days. Instead, most Scottish weddings end in a ceilidh dance to a song called 'Loch Lomond' in which the bride and groom are centre of attention in the middle of a huge circle of all guests. After this, the wedding is then officially considered over!"
Many thanks to Kate for providing such wonderful insight to modern Scottish weddings.
And the reception? "Instead of an evening buffet, it is becoming increasingly popular to serve guests a 'piece and sausage,' which is an incredibly Scottish snack usually eaten for breakfast! These go down so well at every single wedding I've been to! Cakes used to be fruit cake, but now are typically red velvet (another Americanism!). There are 3 speeches at every wedding, either pre or post meal, and these are from the best man, father of the bride and then the groom. Breaking with tradition of our parents' generation, the bride and groom very rarely leave the wedding first these days. Instead, most Scottish weddings end in a ceilidh dance to a song called 'Loch Lomond' in which the bride and groom are centre of attention in the middle of a huge circle of all guests. After this, the wedding is then officially considered over!"
Many thanks to Kate for providing such wonderful insight to modern Scottish weddings.
Post-wedding Traditions:
At the end of the celebrations, wedding guests escort the newlyweds to their new home. As they walk, guests may shower the bride and groom with coins, and the bride will traditionally have an oat cake, or bannock, broken over her head for good luck. The wedding guests would each receive a piece of the bannock to share in her good luck. It is considered bad luck for the bride to trip or enter her new home with her left foot first. To avoid these bad omens, the groom will then carry the bride over the threshold of their new home. Superstitious couples may choose to salt the floors of their new home. The underlying reason for this is the belief that before a witch could enter a home, she would have to count the grains of salt before her. This would take her so long that the sun would rise before she finished and she would have to carry on her way. Once inside the home, the minister would traditionally bless the newlyweds, the home, and the marriage bed (Spangenberg, 2001).
Honeymoons were traditionally time for the newlyweds to spend alone in their new home and did not involve travel. The Scots believed that honey increased fertility, so for the first cycle of the moon after marriage, the couple was to stay at home and drink mead, a honey wine, thus the “Honey Moon” (Spangenberg, 2001).
Photo Credit for Header Photo: http://blog.romanticinnsofsavannah.com/2013/03/romantic-inns-point-to-georgias.html
At the end of the celebrations, wedding guests escort the newlyweds to their new home. As they walk, guests may shower the bride and groom with coins, and the bride will traditionally have an oat cake, or bannock, broken over her head for good luck. The wedding guests would each receive a piece of the bannock to share in her good luck. It is considered bad luck for the bride to trip or enter her new home with her left foot first. To avoid these bad omens, the groom will then carry the bride over the threshold of their new home. Superstitious couples may choose to salt the floors of their new home. The underlying reason for this is the belief that before a witch could enter a home, she would have to count the grains of salt before her. This would take her so long that the sun would rise before she finished and she would have to carry on her way. Once inside the home, the minister would traditionally bless the newlyweds, the home, and the marriage bed (Spangenberg, 2001).
Honeymoons were traditionally time for the newlyweds to spend alone in their new home and did not involve travel. The Scots believed that honey increased fertility, so for the first cycle of the moon after marriage, the couple was to stay at home and drink mead, a honey wine, thus the “Honey Moon” (Spangenberg, 2001).
Photo Credit for Header Photo: http://blog.romanticinnsofsavannah.com/2013/03/romantic-inns-point-to-georgias.html