Scottish Wedding Traditions

Since every part of the world and every religion has its own customs for everything and so for the wedding too. Various regions and religions have their own way to celebrate wedding, which is followed from one generation to another and sometimes modified or improved too. If we talk about the traditional wedding in Scotland, we will find a lot of interesting things. Like other cultures, a Scottish Wedding is also a combination of unique and interesting customs. The Scottish wedding of today is a combination of old and new traditions. The traditions of Scottish Wedding started in the thirteenth century. In the ancient times the medieval church would announce the each wedding in church for three successive Sundays. These announcements were called the “banns of marriage”. Things are now modified, all couples wishing to marry still give notice of their intent but the “banns of marriage” for three successive Sundays is now over.

There is an interesting tradition called ‘creeling the bridegroom’, in this tradition the bridegroom carry a large basket filled with stones on his back. He carry this basket from one end of the village to the other end and continue to carry it from one town to another until his intended bride would come out of her house and kiss him. When the day of the wedding comes the entire village turns into a procession leading the happy couple to the church. The exchange of wedding rings also takes place at the end of the wedding ceremony. The circular Scottish Wedding Rings with no beginning and no ends, which is a symbol of never-ending love. After the exchange of the rings the couple would kiss their wedding kiss in front of all their assembled witnesses. The couple leads to the private home or to a restaurant for a lavish reception feast. The wedding cake is also an important part of wedding ceremony, which the couple cut with a special long bladed knife called dirk. According to the custom as the bride slice the cake her hand is guided by the hand of her husband. The Scottish groom of today carry his new bride over the threshold of their new home together like the groom used to do 700 years ago. Like other cultures the music and singing is also one of the main parts of the Scottish wedding. The modern wedding style of Scotland includes a groom’s stag party before wedding in which the groom enjoys his last days of freedom with his male friends. The bride of the Scotland wears a white gown while the groom wears a highland kilt or a kilt jacket and sporran. In order to have an idea of the Scottish Wedding Dress one can find so many pictures of the Scottish bride and grooms. The designs of the special Scottish Wedding Rings can be seen at various online shopping stores.