Wedding attire ideas brainstorming…

[MacLowlife]

NPG, I congratulate you on your plans and on your good sense in knowing that the Bride is the one to please. I wear a kilt less than 10 times a year, but I have bought/worn/sold/attempted a number of "adventurous" and "festive" kilt outfits over the years. Maybe you can avoid some of the mistakes I have made.

The first thing I would urge you to consider is comfort and simplicity. Try to stay away from wardrobe pieces that require your attention or one of your hands- no canes, staves, handheld objects, etc. It is also important not to dress too warmly. Next, though, I would counsel elegance for your wedding. Personally, I suggest a velvet jacket, but some people would shy away from it because of expense or "fussiness". A nice compromise between practicality and luxury- with a historical twist- is moleskin, which is almost as soft as velvet, but is as tough as denim. MacLeay's subjects probably wore wool, but moleskin has a long history, too, and a moleskin jacket along the lines of theirs would be a nice way to nod in that direction. These days, it is fairly easy to find a moleskin jacket in navy that can be adapted for kilt use and I recommend that you look for one. A wedding is an occasion that calls for shiny buttons, even if you take them off and use horn ones forever after. David L Pope's suggestion of a brightly colored waistcoat is a nice touch.

Have you searched for older wedding threads? Various members have raised versions of this topic before. There are literally hundreds of threads and posts that discuss wedding attire, though not so many with your exact set of circumstances. Is there any way that you can afford small pieces of your new tartan for all of the guests? Can you incorporate that somehow? a bow on a gift bag, a ribbon around the napkins, pocket squares or scarves? Or, in these days of color printing on your desktop, can you scan the tartan and print it onto paper and use it effectively? Good Luck and let us know what you come up with.

[NPG]

NPG, I congratulate you on your plans and on your good sense in knowing that the Bride is the one to please. I wear a kilt less than 10 times a year, but I have bought/worn/sold/attempted a number of "adventurous" and "festive" kilt outfits over the years. Maybe you can avoid some of the mistakes I have made.

The first thing I would urge you to consider is comfort and simplicity. Try to stay away from wardrobe pieces that require your attention or one of your hands- no canes, staves, handheld objects, etc. It is also important not to dress too warmly. Next, though, I would counsel elegance for your wedding. Personally, I suggest a velvet jacket, but some people would shy away from it because of expense or "fussiness". A nice compromise between practicality and luxury- with a historical twist- is moleskin, which is almost as soft as velvet, but is as tough as denim. MacLeay's subjects probably wore wool, but moleskin has a long history, too, and a moleskin jacket along the lines of theirs would be a nice way to nod in that direction. These days, it is fairly easy to find a moleskin jacket in navy that can be adapted for kilt use and I recommend that you look for one. A wedding is an occasion that calls for shiny buttons, even if you take them off and use horn ones forever after. David L Pope's suggestion of a brightly colored waistcoat is a nice touch.

Have you searched for older wedding threads? Various members have raised versions of this topic before. There are literally hundreds of threads and posts that discuss wedding attire, though not so many with your exact set of circumstances. Is there any way that you can afford small pieces of your new tartan for all of the guests? Can you incorporate that somehow? a bow on a gift bag, a ribbon around the napkins, pocket squares or scarves? Or, in these days of color printing on your desktop, can you scan the tartan and print it onto paper and use it effectively? Good Luck and let us know what you come up with.

MacLowlife,

Thank you for the suggestions. I recently found an Argyll jacket pattern and found some high quality black wool, for cheap, so I am going to attempt (with practice fabric first) to make my own jacket, if all goes well I think that is the jacket I will use for the wedding. I appreciate the advice on the buttons and that is one of the internal debates I was having, I'll order some proper metal buttons.

One of the reasons we've order extra fabric is to be able to utilize it the wedding favors, likely as a bow or ribbon of some sort. With the bride incorporating the tartan in her dress. I feel like this will all tie together and be a great way to include my father's memory in the ceremony.

[CMcG]

I'm also working on a kilted wedding, so this thread is timely for me.

NPG, with a custom tartan kilt, the black wool shiny button Argyll that you plan on making, and a seal fur sporran, you're most of the way there! I'd avoid the McLeay historic look because it can be a bit costumey unless everyone else is also going to dress in 19th century attire. Add a plaid if you must, but consider the belted 1/2 plaid (à la Matt Newsome) because it will stay out of your way better. Personally, I'd skip it.

For the level of formality you're talking about at an evening wedding, I'd suggest black tie. You could go for the more subdued version, without all the bells and whistles in order to not end up two or three level dressier than your guest. To what you already have, you would just need to add solid colour hose, well polished dress shoes, a low cut waistcoat or waistplate belt (not both, it looks neater), a formal shirt, and a bow tie.

Here's a pic of me in that sort of outfit:

[NPG]

CMcG,

Thank you for the suggestions. I think the essentially look you have in that picture is similar to what I am going for, and the belted plaid certainly looks interesting, I'll have to considered it. Though I'm leaning towards no plaid at this point.

Since it has now been registered, I thought I would share the tartan that is going to be used in the wedding.

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