Wedding & Vows Renewal Celebrant in Scotland

Scotland also gives you a great deal of freedom when choosing where to hold a symbolic wedding or vows renewal ceremony. Our access rights allow responsible access to most land and inland water, opening up possibilities for ceremonies in some remarkable places. There are, of course, exceptions and practical considerations, and some locations may require permission or a little more planning.

I have conducted weddings and vows renewals all over Scotland. If you already know where you want your ceremony to take place, I am very happy to work with your choice. If you are still deciding, I can also help you think through possible locations and the practicalities of holding your ceremony there.

Handfasting has deep roots in Scottish marriage tradition. Historically, Scotland was unusual because a couple didn’t need a church ceremony or the presence of a minister or priest in order to be recognised as married. A marriage could be formed through the couple’s own declaration of mutual consent, made publicly and in the presence of their community.

In many communities, that declaration might be witnessed or overseen by somebody of standing, such as a clan chief, village elder or another respected figure. At Gretna Green, couples famously turned to the blacksmiths, who became known as the “anvil priests” for the marriages they witnessed there.

The joining and binding of a couple’s hands with cloth, ribbon or tartan came to symbolise that mutual commitment: two people making their promises openly and being joined together. Their hands are quite literally tied together, and it is this tradition that has given handfasting its enduring association with the familiar expression “tying the knot”.

Today, handfasting can be included in either your wedding or your vows renewal ceremony. Your hands are joined and bound with ribbons, cords or tartan as you make your promises to one another. Just as handfasting historically formed part of a public declaration of mutual consent, your handfasting becomes a visible declaration of the commitment you are making to each other at your wedding, or reaffirming together during your vows renewal.

The Oathing Stone draws upon an old Scottish belief that an oath made upon or beside a stone carried particular weight. During your wedding or vows renewal, you hold the stone as you make your promises to one another. The stone represents permanence, strength and your connection to the land beneath your feet. In doing so, your vows are symbolically set in stone.

I confess that I have taken the liberty of making a small amendment to centuries of Scottish tradition: I like to use two stones rather than one. One comes from Scotland and the other from your home, or from somewhere special to the two of you. You hold both stones together as you make your promises, bringing those two places together as part of your ceremony.

Afterwards, if your ceremony is outdoors, I’ll ask you to place the stone you brought from home somewhere nearby, in a spot of your choosing. In doing so, you leave a little piece of home in the place where you made or renewed your vows.

You can then take the Scottish stone home with you, carrying away a little piece of the land where you stood and made your vows to one another.

Your Oathing Stones can form part of your handfasting or be included as a separate part of either your wedding or vows renewal ceremony.

During your wedding or vows renewal, you each take one of the quaich’s handles and share a drink from the same cup. It normally follows your vows and handfasting, becoming one of your first shared acts after making or renewing your promises to one another, and symbolising the life you continue to share together.

Whisky is the traditional choice, but you can choose another drink which has meaning for the two of you, and family members or friends can also be invited to come forward and fill the quaich as part of your ceremony.

You may also like to have your own quaich engraved with your names and wedding or vows renewal date. It gives you something personal to use during your ceremony and a keepsake to take home afterwards. Over time, it can become a family heirloom too, something that may one day be used again by future generations of your family!

I recommend The Quaich Shop where I purchased my own quaich, and if you’re travelling from overseas, it can be delivered to me in Edinburgh before your ceremony rather than being shipped internationally.

If you’ve chosen Scotland for your wedding or vows renewal, there are few sounds that make the occasion feel more Scottish than the Highland Bagpipes. I can welcome you as you arrive, play for your processional and bring the pipes back at the conclusion of your ceremony, dressed in the spectacular Piper’s No.1 Full Highland Dress.

​There’s also an old belief that it’s good luck for a bride to see a piper on her wedding day! Whether or not you are superstitious, it’s a lovely Scottish tradition to add ceremony and bring into your ceremony.

I’ve been a bagpiper for more than 30 years, competing as a solo piper and in Grade 1 pipe bands, but it ‘s always been much more to me than simply something I do for work. It is part of who I am. I feel very fortunate that I can now bring that together with my work as a celebrant and share this with couples who have chosen Scotland for such an important occasion.

For me, there is something special about being able to welcome you with the pipes and then stand with you as you make or renew your promises. If you have travelled to Scotland for your ceremony, I hope the sound of the pipes becomes one of those moments you remember long after you have gone home.