Another beautiful couple has graciously offered to share their wedding story with all of us. Elizabeth & Jimmy (quite literally) tied the knot in a Castle in Ireland. Jimmy chose to wear Silver Mist with a Glen Orchy tweed jacket. Jimmy had hired a few different tartans from us before but Silver Mist and Glen Orchy combination had always stood out as his favourite. We can’t blame him as it does look brilliant, especially in the surroundings of his venue. Jimmy bought his kilt and because Silver Mist is also one of our hire tartans, his grooms could wear the same outfit.
We always strive to deliver an exceptional service to every customer that we deal with but we always like hearing what they thought of the service they received, so we asked them. “Both the staff at the shop and the wedding planning team were friendly, professional, and attentive. Despite us hiring a large amount of Kilts, the process of planning, ordering, and collecting them went very smoothly.”
Marriages these days are far less traditional than they were 50 years ago and there aren’t any rules as such. It’s the bride and groom's day and what they want is totally acceptable. Jimmy could have chosen anything to wear for his big day so we were curious to learn what his motivation for wearing a kilt was. “As we were getting married in a castle in Ireland, we thought wearing the kilt would be appropriate given the setting and that it would be a good way to represent Scottish and Irish culture. Jimmy's dad decided to wear matching tartan trousers as opposed to a kilt. These were specially made for him by the staff at MacGregor and MacDuff and looked very smart. Elizabeth's dad didn't wear a kilt either; however, we were able to include him by wearing a matching tartan tie and tartan pocket square, which we ordered from the online shop and collected in-store. Elizabeth also had his pocket square embroidered with a special message.”
Neither Elizabeth or Jimmy have a family tartan which ruled out a lot of the traditional Clan tartans. While anyone can wear a Clan tartan, its understandable that some may not want to wear another families colours, especially on their wedding day. Silver Mist was actually our first ever tartan that we designed, back in 2009. It’s a favourite among our customers and you can easily see why from Elizabeth & Jimmy's photos. “The staff helped us go through our options, and we decided to go with the Silver Mist tartan. It may not be the most colourful of tartans, but we both agreed that it looked modern and stylish.” We totally agree with you.
A highlandwear outfit isn’t complete without it’s accessories, with so many options to choose from, how do you decide. This is what Elizabeth and Jimmy did: After discussing our options with the staff, we decided on a few different things which helped Jimmy stand out from the rest of the wedding party. Firstly, we decided that Jimmy's sporran would be white in comparison to the groomsmen's sporrans, which were all black. This meant Jimmy's would stand out. We chose to upgrade Jimmy's tweed jacket by adding a few features such as extra buttons and epaulets. We also hired a matching tartan plaid which the staff kindly helped attach when the kilt hires were collected.
Like highlandwear isn’t complete without accessories, a groom isn’t complete without his groomsmen. As thanks to his best guys, Jimmy gifted them all a personalised hip flask, a cigar, and a pair of sunglasses. He was even nice enough to fill the hipflasks with some whisky which we think is a great touch. Before the wedding, the entire groom's party got together to help each other get ready. “The kilt hires came with a guide on how to put the kilt on which proved to be very helpful for some of the guys as it was their first time wearing one.” There are a lot of elements that go into a full outfit, so help is sometimes required, especially for first-time wearers.
The next question we asked the newlyweds is our favourite as each answer is so personal and different. We asked them what the best part of the day was. “We got married in Elizabeth's local church. In addition to the religious ceremony, we also included a handfasting ceremony which was performed by Jimmy's sister while Elizabeth's brother read a poem/words of advice. This was a very special moment for both of us, and one we will remember forever. One ribbon was a cutting from Elizabeth's dress and the other was a section of 'Flower of Scotland' tartan. We thought the handfasting was another nice nod to our Celtic heritage. We have kept the handfasting ribbons still tied as a memento from the wedding.”
From our favourite question to arguably the most important. We asked them what advice they have for future brides and grooms and their answer should be paid close attention to, as we think they’ve made some important points. “We received a lot of advice from our friends and family about our wedding day. Many people told us that the day will go by in a flash - which indeed it did. The most reoccurring and best piece of advice we received was to try and take a few minutes aside together to revel in the moment and relish the experience.”
Congratulations, Elizabeth & Jimmy and thank you for sharing your wedding story with us. It really does look like you had a perfect day. If there are any future brides and grooms reading this and want some help getting the outfits ready for their big day, contact us at info@macgregorandmacduff.co.uk
Photographer - Rashida Keenan Photography
