Irish/Scottish Wedding

the church where the ceremony was held

rehearsal outfit..this chair was in my bedroom

duh

car/bus/thing that took the guests from the castle to the church

cocktail hour before dinner reception

yes, that would be a gun in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. 

Honestly guys,

this wedding was impeccable.

They had the entire castle grounds booked just for the wedding for whole weekend.

Free roam of a castle for three days.

I could basically just end this post now.

Except I need to mention again how there was a bagpipe band 

that made a grand entrance during the dance part of the reception

everyone was clapping their hands,

banging their feet.

I was the only American in a room full of Irish and Scottish folk.

best.time.of.my.american.life.

Here are the differences between a wedding in the states

and a wedding in the UK..

1. everyone attends the rehearsal dinner (all guests invited..not just those in the wedding party)

2. The Bridesmaids follow the bride down the aisle, they dont go before her.

3. The bridesmaids don't stand at the alter, they sit in the front row

4. the father of the bride hands over the bride about halfway through the ceremony instead or right away, so he stands up at the alter in the beginning.

5. The signing of the marriage license is part of the ceremony

6. people stand during the vows

7. the speeches are very important and given by the father of the bride, the father of the groom, the groom then the best man. Each person needs to make sure to address either the bridesmaids, the bride, the staff, the mothers, etc.

8. The Bride is not allowed to speak during the speeches. 

9. Gifts are presented to the mothers during the reception as part of the grooms speech

10. the head table consists of (in order from left to right) father of the groom, mother of the bride, best man, groom, bride, chief bridesmaid, father of the bride, mother of the groom.

11. women wear hats and fascinators. and in this instance, some men wore kilts.

12. there is no father daughter dance because the idea is that the father handed over the bride during the ceremony, and to have a dance would be like going backwards.

13. the grooms mother dances with the brides father, and the grooms father dances with the brides mother. It symbolizes the joining of the families.

14. there is a break in the reception (after a few hours of dancing) where more food is served and the wedding singer or brand takes a break. Then the party starts again.

My favorite part

(aside from the continuous free flowing booze)

the irish/scottish song and dance at the end.

where everyone surrounds the bride and groom and sings some irish or scottish (dumb american) song then does a dance.

Perfection.

Nothing but class.