Personal Scottish Wedding Ceremonies

Your wedding ceremony is personal and is as much about you as a couple as you wish it to be. If you’re a couple who feel you’re best friends, or perhaps soulmates, or if you share a passion for a particular cause or a love of nature, your ceremony can reflect that.

Some couples choose to have a light hearted, humorous feel to their marriage celebrations, others prefer a more formal or sacred feel. The content and structure and atmosphere of your ceremony can be determined by you, or we can suggest what might work well for you. You can have much input into the ceremony preparations as you choose.

You don't have to stick to a certain format or wording. We give you freedom and flexibility for the wording and content of your wedding ceremony which is determined by your beliefs, not ours.

We also give you the freedom and flexibility to have a legal or non legal ceremony of marriage, a legal or non legal hand fasting; a legal or non legal ceremony of commitment; a vow renewal or re-dedication ceremony; and a religious or non religious legal civil partnership ceremony (legal civil partnership is currently only available to same sex couples).

In Scotland all legal marriages for both opposite sex and same sex couples, irrespective of your choice of celebrant or minister, are administrated by Registrars. Three months before the date of your wedding, you must apply to be legally married to the District Registrar who covers the area where the marriage will take place; the venue or location you choose does not need to be licensed. Marriage Visas often apply to foreign nationals, but no period of residency is required.

For your ceremony to be legal you will need to say that you take one another as husband/wife/spouse, depending on whether you are an opposite or same sex couple, and your celebrant must then pronounce that you’re husband and wife, or spouse, or married, and the two of you, your celebrant and your two legal witnesses need to sign the legal paperwork.

Your minister/celebrant will guide you, and subject to your making your advance legal application and providing the necessary paperwork on your wedding day, will ensure your ceremony includes the necessary legal content.

We offer you the FREEDOM to CHOOSE every aspect of your ceremony - both content and indoor or outdoor location. Your ceremony can be as personal as you wish, traditional or informal, creative or alternative, long or short, elaborate or simple, sacred or secular, formal or fun.

Your Ceremony can be ENGAGING with your children and guests taking an active part if you wish. You can include rituals such as a candle lighting, sharing food and drink, or a simple hand tying ritual.

We GUIDE and SUPPORT you, offering ideas or suggestions if and when needed; listening carefully to your vision, your ideas and your wishes. Your ceremony is always in accordance with your beliefs in whatever way feels fitting and comfortable for you.

Your ceremony is UNIQUE and INDIVIDUAL just as you are a unique and individual couple. We invite you think about what getting married means to you both as individuals and as a couple, and will write wording to reflect this so we can define marriage in a way that feels comfortable and fitting for you.

We offer MEANINGFUL ceremonies all about you responding to your ideas and wishes. You won’t be asked to include, or not allowed to include, particular wording or elements that don’t fit with your beliefs.  The content and wording of your ceremony will respect your beliefs.

We can use wording to INCLUDE everyone present, so all your family and friends feel welcomed, respected and included regardless of belief – from the devoutly religious, to atheist or humanist, and everyone inbetween.

There are so many ways to make a ceremony memorable and whichever one of us you choose to create and hold your ceremony, we will work with you to bring your ideas alive – or make suggestions as needed.

What do you feel will make your ceremony memorable?  Will it be the quirky reading that will have everyone laughing and rolling in the aisle, or the moving poem or personal vows that will have everyone reaching for a tissue?

Perhaps you’ll have several small flowergirls and pageboys who can always be relied on for distraction in some form? – especially useful if you’re feeling nervous about being the centre of attention.

Your choice of music can really enhance and influence the feel of  the ceremony whether you favour sacred songs or upbeat melodies.

Ritual is very engaging for your guests, and very meaningful to take part in – many of us enjoy getting very creative with the ceremonies we write and create, and we’re happy to tell you about ring warming, candle lighting rituals, handfasting rituals, sharing a drink from a Quaich, and sand or salt rituals to name a few of the more popular choices.