Gentleman's attire

This weekend saw a flurry of activity where the man's outfits were concerned. Naturally I have left this aspect firmly in James' domain. However he has consulted my opinion on a number of occasions - normally to be met by a blank stare and a swift request for clarification.

We have thus far visited Austen Reed and James has looked at various places online. However this weekend as I was purchasing bridesmaids shawls in debenhams we walked past the formal hire section and I picked up their brochure. This has proven to be of great interest and we have an appointment booked for the forthcoming weekend to confirm our order. 

James' grooms party will outnumber my own bridal one. He is to have a best man, a longstanding friend from university, four adult ushers and a child usher. The adult ushers are friends from his time at university and his time in London. My cousin, Fraser, and godson, Zachary, will complete his party. 

But back to the outfits. Needless to say James will be wearing a kilt, as will his best man and two of the ushers. The other two ushers have chosen not to wear kilts and I've actively persuaded my dad not to. My reasoning is that as with everything to do with the wedding I want people to feel comfortable and I don't think dad would be. To my knowledge his knees have never seen daylight and I'd hate to be the one to shock them! 

When it comes to the men wearing kilts it's fairly straightforward to accessorise them as they'll be wearing a similar style to James. The debate then arose over whether those in suits should be wearing prince Charlie or prince Edward jackets or whether to wear lounge suits. It has ultimately been decided that they will wear tails and pinstriped trousers and that by hiring from debenhams each gent will be able to go to his local branch for measuring and collection. 

When it comes to the kilts we're actively not coordinating them. James' tartan is the Robertson which is red based. Of the groom's party I think he will be the only one who has a predominantly red tartan and will thus stand out. Those with their own kilts will be encouraged to wear them and only one will need hiring. 

The coordinating factor will be the neckwear as all the men will be wearing the same cravats - and tying them themselves. I quite wish I could be a fly on the wall for that but I will instead have to rely on my trusty photographer for the scoop!

Theme

I've always been sceptical about 'themes' when it comes to weddings and if you'd asked me a few weeks ago I would have strenuously refuted the idea that our upcoming nuptials would have a theme. However as our plans have evolved a theme has gradually started to emerge, however unintentional. The indisputable fact is that I am marrying a true Scotsman. I always said I would and it was on the wish list I gave to the mutual friend who set us up, but I couldn't have foreseen the way things would pan out - it was just a dream. Said dream did involve marrying a guy in a kilt. And it just so happens that my dream guy wouldn't dream of not wearing his kilt on our wedding day.

 So it started with the kilt. Anyone who's ever been in the process of planning a wedding to a groom who wears a kilt will know that it's a mixed blessing. Yes it's seriously hot. But it's also an absolute nightmare to match with a colour scheme. James' tartan is the Robertson tartan. It's red based and thus my natural predisposition towards pink had to go out the window to avoid a clash. I didn't want to go with the blue in the tartan - navy and thus too dark. I didn't want to go with the green as it's not my favourite colour in the world. For me red was too much of a generic, easy choice and if I'd gone for a red it would have been a completely different shade from the one in the tartan anyhow. And so it was I decided simply not to clash and go with purple as the colour scheme.

Then my thoughts turned to flowers. The obvious choice in this situation is the thistle - not only is it the national flower of Scotland and a very common Scottish emblem but it's purple. It won't be the only component of my bouquet but it'll certainly feature in that, the buttonholes and potentially the stationary and the favours.

It was never in dispute that our evening entertainment would vary from a disco/ DJ/ band. The fact that the evening would feature a ceilidh was inevitable. Not only is it a way to get people up and dancing - because let's face it who can resist a reel - but it's also reminiscent of one of our early dates and yet another 'us' feature.

The piper we've booked (yes I do actually really like the bagpipes!) founded a ceilidh band and we're in the process at the moment of seeing if they're available to play for the wedding. The piper has already confirmed and we've given him an idea of some of the tunes we'd like to feature during his set. Last time we saw him perform (at Burn's night last year) he was kitted out in spectacular regalia and I'm sure he will not disappoint on the wedding day - 8ish months and counting!

It was only today that I came up with table names. We'd talked through a few ideas and what we'd provisionally decided just didn't seem quite right to me - although we have worked out how to involve it in the table design anyway. However today I pitched my latest idea to James and he loved it - we'll name the tables after distilleries. True, whisky is more of James' passion than mine, but we've been to a number of distilleries both together and separately and I appreciate the process even if I don't like the product. A lot of them also have seriously interesting names.

So we now have the national dress, national dancing, national flower, national instrument and the national drink featuring prominently at our wedding - not to mention an actual national as the groom. And the theme is...

'Aye that's right'...

It's Scotland!

Ps...

Who knew how many men would be keen to wear a kilt!?!?