Scotland has always displayed a headstrong way of doing certain things in their own unique fashion, and that certainly includes weddings. Today, Scottish weddings are more of a combination of the contemporary and the ancient traditions of the Highlands. According to the historical archives, the Scottish wedding traditions can be traced back in the 13th century. In those days, the medieval church announces every wedding for three consecutive Sundays, or what is known as the wedding banns. However, nowadays, banns are no longer required but it is still necessary for couples to p[publicly announce their intent to marry.

Another one of the highly interesting ancient Scottish wedding traditions is called the ‘creeling of the bride’, which basically requires the groom to carry a huge basket or a creel that are filled with a lot of stones right on his back. The groom would need to carry such weight starting from one village to the next and proceed to carrying it all around the town up until his future bride would come and kiss him. While this may sound a little too primitive, in those days, the Scots were such sticklers to such customs and it certainly presents an effective way of gauging the determination of the groom. On the very day of the wedding, all residents of the village turn up to join the procession and the crowd leads the couple to the church, where the Scottish wedding services will be served traditionally. However, the ceremony will only be held at just outside the church’s doors, once in the Scottish language and another one inside the church but now in Latin version.

After the ceremony, the procession that will be led by the bagpipers will make their way towards one of the couple’s relative’s home where an elaborate and lavish reception will be held. The pipers are responsible for playing lively music to entertain the guests during the entire duration of the party and people will celebrate the union with a lot of feasting, dancing, and merrymaking. The first dance will be led by the newlyweds, after which everyone else will be free to join them as the festivities continues throughout the day.

According to the Scottish wedding custom, when the party is about to end, the crowd will then lead the couple to the groom’s house, where the groom would lift the bride up as he crosses the threshold to ward off the evil spirits that is believed to inhabit the doors. The priest will bless the home along with the bride as she ventures into what would be her new home/. The wedding bed will also be blessed and prayers and wishes for strong and robust children are offered after which the new couple will be left alone for the very first time as man and wife.

Today, although the rituals are no longer rigidly adhere to the ancient rituals dictated by the Scottish wedding traditions, traces of the Highland influences are still very much apparent. The groom still wears the famous Scottish kilt and the sporran and bagpipers still play a major role in providing entertainment all throughout the wedding. The reception will still be a scene for merrymaking, and everyone partakes to the feast to celebrate the union of two individuals and the party can be expected to last until the wee hours of the morning. It will no longer be surprising to know that the ritual of carrying the bride over the threshold is still strictly observed and even other religions have adapted this particular Scottish custom as part of their very own traditions. While the modern grooms don’t have an inkling on the significance behind this ritual, it is nonetheless solemnly performed to this day and age.

Suffice it to say, the Scots have successfully preserved their heritage all thought the decades and majority of the customs observed about 700 years ago are intrinsically similar to the contemporary weddings performed today.