Ideas For A Scottish Wedding

Looking for inspiration to make your wedding more Scottish? Whether you are getting married in a beautiful castle, or have Scottish ancestry, here are 10 fantastic ways to sprinkle a little highland magic into your wedding celebrations.

Photo Credit: Sean Bell 

How to make your wedding more Scottish

1.  A touch of tartan (or tweed) – There are lots of ways to weave tartan into your wedding styling, and not just by wearing a kilt. Use tartan ribbon on bouquets, buttonholes or favour tags or you could choose tartan chair bows or napkins. Tweed is a great choice for the groomsmen, and not just for their suits. It can be used for the little details like hip flask covers. With Scotland being a little chilly in the evenings, tartan and tweed are on-hand to warm your wedding guests up! Look into tartan shawls for the bridal party and tweed rugs for your guests.
2.  A Scottish Ceilidh: Get your wedding guests dancing with this traditional barn dance or highland fling. It’s perfect for warming up the evening reception and getting folk on the dance floor - all the better if you have live music too!
3.  Bagpipes – No Scottish wedding would be complete without a bagpiper! They can be hired to play during the ceremony or reception and even outside in the castle grounds. If bagpipes aren’t your thing – a string quartet, harpist or gospel choir would also add an air of romance to your day.

1. Embrace the Traditions - There are some lovely Scottish traditions to add a special touch to your wedding day including the traditional handfasting ceremony and the quaich ceremony.

Scottish Wedding Stationery Ideas

1. Style your stationery – There are countless ways to create Scottish wedding stationery – add tartan ribbon to your invitations, use forest green wax seals which could even have a thistle stamp! You could incorporate Scottish thistle in any painted florals and foliage, and perhaps some tartan envelope liners?
2. Custom venue illustrations – One of the best ways to personalise your wedding stationery is to incorporate a custom venue illustration. If you’re getting married in a Scottish castle, I can create a stunning ink drawing or watercolour painting of your venue, to be used across all elements of your stationery suite. 

Scottish Wedding Menu Inspiration

1. What’s on the menu? Try adding traditional Scottish dishes to your dining options such as haggis, neeps and tatties, Cullen skink, or Scottish salmon. Your table stationery can get involved too, by adding Scottish wax seals, incorporating green, navy or purple and adding thistle to your menus or place cards.

1. Whisky tasting – Keep the cockles warm with a wee dram of whisky. Set up a whisky tasting bar for guest to sample a variety of local spirits.
2. Scottish wedding favours – Miniature whisky bottles, locally sourced chocolate or fudge, or Scottish shortbread cookies make excellent favours! Don’t forget to customise the labels and use tartan ribbon! 

Keep the Guests Entertained, the Scottish Way…

1. Scotsman are fabulous entertainers! Why not hire a Scottish band or singer to create the perfect ambience at your wedding or perhaps a Scottish storyteller or comedian for cocktail hour. You could also add some highland games such as caber tossing, tug of war or the sheaf toss.

Scottish Flowers for Weddings

1. When it comes to wedding flowers, many bouquets and florals take their inspiration from the natural surroundings – with deep green, purple or rustic tones. Lots of foliage and highlights of heather or thistle. 

1. Wildflowers and dried flowers are also on trend right now. Dried floral décor looks fab in rich burgundies, burnt orange, dusty pink and other autumnal shades.