Ethnic weddings are all the rage today, as young couples find pleasure in reconnecting with the customs and traditions of their families, past and present.

In the thirteenth century, the medieval Church announced intended marriages with a process called "the banns of marriage." The banns were announced in the parish church for three successive weeks during Sunday services. The practice of issuing banns continued in Scotland for more than six hundred years. In later centuries, an alternative was to give notice and obtain a license to marry from a registrar. Although the Church was not pleased with the "nonreligious" way of proclaiming upcoming weddings, eventually they capitulated and the new process was accepted by the Church of Scotland. In present day, the practice of banns of marriage has declined, but giving notices have become compulsory for all regular marriages.

Once notice has been given, there is a compulsory waiting period of fourteen days before any wedding plans or arrangements may be made for a civil marriage. This waiting period also applies to collecting the marriage schedule (a document which licenses the chosen officiant to conduct the marriage) for the minister or priest for a religious marriage. Even when couples decide to elope to Gretna Green (a location that became known for marrying without the knowledge of families and friends) preparation time beforehand for notice to be given to the local registrar, etc. had to be followed.

Today's Pre-wedding Celebrations
Even today, In some regions of Scotland, usually about a week before the nuptials, a bride's mother may choose to hold a show of presents for her daughter. The custom is somewhat similar to bridal showers in other cultures, but in this case the emphasis in on showing the wedding presents. Invitations are to an open house rather than for a set time. The invited guests are the women who gave presents to the wedding couple. The presents are all unwrapped, assembled if necessary and set out with the card of the gift giver set up next to the appropriate gift. The interaction that follows gives the guests and bridal party a chance to get acquainted before the wedding. During this time, the guests are shown the presents, primarily by the bride (the bride's maid of honor helps when the bride is busy), have conversations, and enjoy a light repast of tea, sandwiches, cakes, and other foods and beverages, after which time, they leave.

After the show of presents, some Scottish brides are made up and dressed in long trains that may be made from old curtains colorfully decorated with party-like material that are readily available. In some instances, the bride is dressed up in a prepared costume. The bride may be given a baby doll, a plastic potty with salt in the bottom, and other small items to carry in her arms. Thus adorned and made up, the bride is traditionally taken out around town by her friends and any who remain from the show of presents. The women make lots of noise by singing and banging pot lids and pans to herald the bride's status. For luck, the bride exchanges kisses for money, which gets dropped into the potty, as the group goes from place to place around town. The significance of the salt-filled potty, the doll and the money is that they are believed to bring luck, prosperity and fertility, but the true symbolism and remains uncertain.

The groom, for his own party experience, is taken out on the town for a stag night. Stag night is actually more of a British than a Scottish tradition. The groom may also be dressed up and paraded around town by his male friends. Some costuming goes so far as to dress the groom so he resembles a pregnant woman. More often, he and his friends find a bar or party place to celebrate by drinking, usually to excess. There is a lot of practical joking, with the groom as the brunt of the humor. At the end of the evening, the unsuspecting groom may be left in front of his home, partially or totally stripped of his clothes, and in some cases tied up . . . presumably all in good fun!

Just as today's groom finds himself the target of practical jokes, the Highland groom of yesteryear also endured the jokes of his friends. In the Scottish Highlands, there was an old custom called "creeling the bridegroom." A creel is a large basket. It was filled with stones and subsequently tied to the groom's back. It was the bridegroom's burden to carry this weight though the town. His friends only permitted him to escape the creeling if his bride would come out and kiss him. If the bride was not so inclined, he had to complete the round of the town without removing the creel full of stones.

Scottish Marriage in Days of Old
In the past, guests at a Scottish Penny Wedding were expected to cover their own expenses for eating, drinking and dancing. The banns were called three Sundays in succession. The wedding took place on the Tuesday after the last calling.

Today, most Scottish brides follow their British neighbor's custom for in selecting their wedding attire. Old records show that at a traditional British wedding, circa 1907, the bride wore a hat and a white veil over her face. When the ceremony was over and the bride came home, before she sat at the table for the meal, she was given a wreath to put on her head. Brides of old never chose to be married in white. Most brides wore a blue costume that was made-to-order. The costume consisted of a long skirt (down to the top of high boots done up with laces work with black stockings or handmade stockings, spun white) and a jacket. No outfit was complete without gloves. Today, most Scots are married in kilts.

The toughest part of the traditional wedding was plucking and cooking of many many hens. The hens were gifts to the couple for their wedding party and came from friends from all across the island. A team of kitchen help was assembled to deal with preparation of cold chicken, roast mutton, scones, bannocks, fresh and salt butter, new cheese and many another special delicacies of the island. Tea, a mainstay of the Scots, whisky and port wine for the toasts, was readied as well. Chickens were such an essential part of these wedding meals that when an epidemic killed many hens on the island, Seonaidh Caimbeul, the local bard, wrote a song. In the song, he refers to the grief of prospective brides at the impossibility of making proper wedding feasts with so very few hens available.

Wedding celebrations began in the evening. There was lots of singing, drinking and toasting to health. A ceremonial "feet washing" was held. A married woman's ring was placed into a tub of hot water (before the ceremony) into which the bride put her feet. All the guests gathered around to help wash her feet. Much like today's tossing of the bride's bouquet, the first person to find the ring was said to be destined to get married next. More singing and drinking and toasting followed the "feet washing."

On the wedding day, everyone in the wedding procession started out for the church. Sometimes, flower petals were thrown at the bride as she departed. Today, in lieu of petals, colored confetti paper may be thrown at the bride when she leaves her home or the church. Tradition held that the first person met by the bride on her way to the wedding was to be given a coin and a drink of whisky. That person, called the "first foot," was required to join the procession and walk for about a mile before continuing on his or her own way.

The couple would be married by a priest, as they stood just outside the church doors. The vows and joining ceremony were spoken in the vernacular Scots. After the joining, the priest would lead the couple and all the witnesses from the procession into the church. There they would participate in a nuptial mass conducted in Latin. Mass ended with the blessing of the food and drink which had been brought by the guests. After the blessing, everyone present shared in food and drink.

Then, the wedding procession returned to a relative's house to celebrate. At the celebration, pipers played merry tunes. Outdoor dancing and feasting might well have lasted late into the night. Today, traditional waltzes and sometimes country dances like the Gay Gordon are played. Contemporary dance tunes have also become part of the dancing. If the couple prefers a Highland style of dancing, they might hire a ceilidh band. The newlyweds lead off the dancing with a traditional reel. The bride's second dance is with the person of the highest rank amongst the guests. Then, all the guests join in.

When the celebration was drawing to a close, all the guests accompanied the newlywed couple to their new home. As the bride and groom departed, the groom and groomsmen might sometimes have been seen to toss handfuls of low value coins to the ground. Before the bride could enter her new home, an oatcake or bannocks (a biscuit made of barley and oat flour) would be broken above her head and pieces of the cake passed out. With that done, the bride was carried over the threshold. The culmination of the marriage ceremony was the priest's blessing of the couple, their new home, and their marriage bed!

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