Scottish Wedding Traditions

We love a wedding tradition here in Scotland. From proposal to hen or stag night to the wedding itself, there are just about as many ways to get married as there are people planning to do it!

Scottish Wedding Traditions

Did you know that traditionally in Gaelic-speaking communities, a còrdadh (agreement) would be made between the bride and groom a few weeks before the wedding?

This would take place in the house of the bride’s father.

Friends of the bride and groom would come along and a series of ‘false brides’ would be brought in with humorous results, especially when they included already married women. Recordings from the Kist o Riches tell us that food, drink and laughter would be in plentiful supply.

Flora at a còrdadh

In this recording, Flora MacCuish from the island of Berneray discusses a còrdadh she attended as a young woman in the 1920s.

This is in Gaelic, but for those who don’t have the language, at the event a friend of the groom pretended that he was looking for a wife or a servant for a certain man.

The bride’s friends were each brought out and the groom rejected them all as unsuitable, until the bride herself appeared.

The rèiteach

The rèiteach (betrothal ceremony) would take place a week or two before the wedding. This was an informal gathering where the father of the bride-to-be was asked to give consent for his daughter to marry.

In some areas, a friend of the groom would ask for the bride’s hand in marriage on behalf on the groom but the bride would be referred to as something else. This ‘thing’ often related to the bride’s family’s trade.

If she was from a crofting family, she might be referred to as a lamb. The groom’s friend would promise to take care of the lamb and look after it well.  This would all be done in a very good-natured way. After the bride’s father consented to the union, food was served. This would be followed by singing and dancing until the early hours of the next morning.

In this recording (again in Gaelic) Peter Morrison recalls how the ‘rèiteach’ was usually held a week before a wedding on the island of Grimsay in North Uist.

It took place in the bride’s home. He remembers plenty of food, drink and entertainment, including witty speeches. The celebrations lasted all night, until the sun rose.

From Foot to Soot

Another Scottish wedding tradition undertaken before the big day was feet-washing. Friends of the bride would wash her feet in a tender manner, in a symbolic act of cleansing.

Treatment of the groom was much rougher. His feet were covered in soot and feathers. Soot represented hearth and home and was thought to be lucky.

Over time, this tradition evolved to include the application of other substances, such as:

• Boot polish
• Tar
• Treacle
• Eggs
• Flour

It was no longer just the feet which were blackened. The groom (and sometimes the bride!) would be covered from head to foot in all sorts of difficult-to-remove substances.

This custom became known as ‘blackening’ and  is still fairly common in rural parts of Scotland. Once the couple have been captured and blackened, they are paraded through the streets for all to see.

In this recording (in English this time), John Mitchell recalls the custom of foot blackening in rural Stirlingshire.

The Wedding Scramble

The wedding scramble/scammle/scatter was common in many parts of Scotland. The best man or bridegroom would shower children with coppers and silver as  the bridal party left the church after the marriage ceremony.  On occasion, the father of the bride would also do this as he and the bride-to-be left home to travel to the church.

Weddings could therefore a very lucrative affair for the local children, who would spend their spoils on sweets and fizzy drinks.

In some areas the children would shout ‘Poor oot [Pour out] ye dirty brute, ye canna spare a ha’penny’ in order to encourage the best man or groom to fulfil their duty.

This is another of those Scottish wedding traditions believed to bring good fortune to the married couple. Rumours that local children were key to spreading that story remain unproven.

Below you can hear Alice Maud Hailstone describe (in English) scrambles at weddings in Fintry and what the children would shout.

Here comes the bridescake

Wedding cakes are a common feature of Scottish weddings today but in earlier times there would be a ‘bridescake’. This would be made by the bride’s mother and was often made of scone or shortbread. It would normally contain oatmeal and carraway seeds.

Part of the tradition was that a portion of the cake was broken over the bride’s head!   If it broke into small pieces, it was meant to signify a fruitful marriage.

Margaret Tait and Ertie Irvine discuss (in English) how this custom was carried out in Shetland and what the people would do with the fragments of cake.

As with other cultures, food and drink were central to Scottish wedding traditions. In rural areas, marriage celebrations were often held at home or in outbuildings. The couple’s family, with help from friends and neighbours, could spend weeks preparing and cooking the wedding feast.

Ethel Findlater discusses (in English) the preparations undertaken for farm weddings in Orkney and the celebrations on the wedding day itself. From baking cakes and bannocks from scratch to hand plucking chickens and clearing out the barn, there was plenty to do before the couple could get married.

Want more historic romance content? Check out these hidden and romantic spots in Scotland, or even plan your cosy Scottish castle wedding elsewhere on the blog.

Thanks to Elsie Maclean, Tobar an Dualchais, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye for this post, originally published in February 2018 and updated in 2024. All recordings © School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh.