Juvenile references to pre-nups and contraceptives aside, let me actually say congradulations to you on your nuptuals. You are doing well to be planning in advance for your wedding -- you would not believe how many people call me up saying "I need 5 kilts in such-and-such tartan... can they be ready by Friday, I'm getting married this weekend?"

Kilts, from most places, will take a minimum of two months to have made and delivered. Depending on the availability of your tartan, and what other accessories you want, it may take longer. So give yourself plenty of time.

To answer your question, what should you be wearing -- there really isn't one singel answer to this question. Just as there are many different options for the gentleman getting married in pants, there are many different options for the gentleman getting marries in a kilt. The first step, of course, is to decide on the level of formality. This is going to greatly affect the outfit you wear. I know people who get married in very informal outfits -- just a kilt with a "Jacobite" style shirt and no jacket, for instance -- but for the sake of this post, I'll assume you want to go with a formal to semi-formal attire.

So, from head to toe:

Head: Most people choose not to wear a bonnet or any type of head covering for an indoor ceremony, especially a religious ceremony like a wedding. So no bonnet for this occasion.

Torso: For a full formal occasion the Prince Charlie jacket is fairly standard. This is typically black (though you will sometimes see other colors such as dark green, navy blue -- I've even seen white) and is the Scottish equivalent of the tuxedo jacket. It's worn with a 3-button vest, and a bow tie, with a formal shirt (pleated or unpleated front, up to you). The bow tie normally is in the same color to match the jacket, but if you want to wear a tartan bow tie to match the kilt, that would be ok. Sometimes you see people wear a black cummerbund instead of the vest.

For a semi-formal look, a black Argyle jacket will work. This is what I got married in. To dress it up you can wear a tux shirt with a bow tie (this is what we did), or you can wear a nice white dress shirt with a neck tie, to dress it down a bit. You can add a five-button vest (either in black to match the jacket, or tartan to match the kilt) if you like. Argyle jackets are also available in other colors (including many tweed lovat mixtures) but these are generally considered casual day-wear. It would be like getting married in a tweed sports jacket. But in black, they can be dressed up quite nicely.

There are other styles of formal jackets, including Sherffimuir doublets, Montrose doublets, etc., which are not seen with as much frequency as the two I mentioned before, but would be very nice for a formal wedding. Do an on-line search for the above two terms and you should find plenty of images.

Moving down, we'll come to the kilt. Any tartan you choose will work. Just make sure you get a hand-tailored kilt made from a worsted, twill weave kilting cloth. This is not the place to try and save money. Pay for the real thing -- you'll look great and never regret it.

If you wear a vest or a cummerbund, you won't need a belt. Otherwise, you'll want a black leather kilt belt, with a silver or nickel buckle. There are many styles, just pick one you like.

Same thing with sporran. You'll want either a semi-formal or formal sporran. There are countless varieties of these. Get something you like.

The style of kilt pin, like the sporran, is completely up to you.

On your feet, we'll talk about hose first. Diced hose or Argyle hose look fantastic with formal wear. Solid color hose are also ok, cost less money, and are easier to come by. I had a recent post in my blog about kilt hose:
http://blog.albanach.org/2005/07/on-kilt-hose.html

Read that for some advice on picking colors, etc. You'll want to select a color of flashes based on the tones in your kilt and the color hose you pick. Again, there is advice in the above article about that.

As far as shoes go, you can wear a pair of the "ghillie brouges" that you see for sale in Highland Dress shops. These are the patent leather dress shoes with the extra long laces. They are nice looking and certainly add a bit of extra pizzazz. But don't feel limited to them. Any black dress shoe like you would wear with a tux or a dark suit will work with a kilt as well.

Oh, last thing would be a sgian dubh. Again, there are countless styles of these and it is purely a matter of personal choice as to what style you wear.

If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to ask!
Aye,
Matt