Natalie and Arran tied the knot last December and were kind enough to share their story with us for this blog. Arran and Natalie are actually close friends of Dave, who works in the marketing department here at MacGregor and MacDuff. Dave was invited to the wedding and when he returned to work after the celebrations and told us all about their special day, we knew that their story would be an excellent one to share on our website.
The first question we asked was why did Arran choose MacGregor and MacDuff. We know why we think people should choose us over our competitors, but it’s always interesting to hear our customer's individual reasons. Arran explained that “Since moving to Glasgow for University I have had great experiences hiring with MacGregor and MacDuff, the quality has always been kept to a great standard and I’ve never had a problem with my hires. I had actually purchased an ex-hire Prince Charlie jacket and was happy with the condition considering it had been used as a rental. So when it came to investing in my “kilt for life” I knew it would have to be MacGregor and MacDuff.”
Knowing that Arran had purchased his wedding kilt, we then followed our first question up by asking him why he decided to buy instead of hire for his big day. Arran explained “I’ve always wanted to own my own kilt - also having heard the old adage along the lines of having hired 'X-many' kilts you really should have bought one as it would have ended up being cheaper. My wedding day was the perfect excuse to justify to myself the purchase for life - one hopes. As it was for such a special event in my life, I could afford to really treat myself to the exclusive Mists line MacGregor and MacDuff had brought out just before I went kilt shopping. With my namesake being the Isle of Arran and having no real draw to my familial tartan, when I saw the stunning tartan that is the Arran Mist, I was smitten.”
While we can understand that some people like the flexibility of hiring a kilt and others prefer to have their very own, we are always curious to see where people will wear their wedding outfits next. Unlike a wedding dress, a kilt bought for a wedding can be worn to any and all events. We asked Arran if he thought he would get more opportunities to wear his kilt outfit. He said “I love an excuse to dress up, weddings, ceilidhs, New Years parties - even trips abroad to other friends' weddings, I’ll not miss the opportunity to wear my kilt again! The furthest a MacGregor and MacDuff kilt outfit has traveled with me has been to a wedding in Philadelphia, PA. My next outing in my wedding kilt will be in April this year, for a friend's traditional Indian wedding evening.”
As Arran has used MacGregor and MacDuff various times for many different occasions over the years, we were really curious to see what he thought of his experience with us. He said “My experience with MacGregor and MacDuff has been nothing short of excellent. Having bought my kilt many years ago for a false start wedding and then having to pick back up on the planning 4 years later; the staff across the business, from the Store, Marketing and Online fittings have been amazing. I had a remote South African Groomsman to get fitted who was due to be flying in the day before the wedding and the staff were great at helping me get all of this arranged. We also had two little page boys up from England who had to be sized months ahead of the event and growth sprouts accounted for as they are of that age!”
The wedding venue looked stunning so we were curious to learn more about it. “We got married down in Hawick at Branxholm Park House. It was on my ‘now’ wife’s wish list and it was a happy medium between an old castle and a modern hotel wedding. Having set up more spreadsheets than any husband-to-be ever wants to trawl through, we eventually shortlisted this eclectic venue which offered a 3-day package effectively for the price of a single all-inclusive package at other venues and we were sold. This was the perfect mix of fairytale and boujee manor, which our guests also appreciated and agreed with on the day.”
We love asking why grooms choose to wear a kilt instead of a suit. This was Arran’s slightly cheeky answer. “Because I wasn’t going to be in my underwear! Jokes aside, I always knew if I was to get married I’d be getting married in a kilt. I’m proud that we have a national dress and wouldn’t have considered anything else for my day.” As their celebrations were over a two-day period, we were curious to know more about his outfit on the second day. “For the second day I was genuinely torn between my full Kilt outfit again and wearing a suit. I got talking to my friend, Dave. He had shared that he was going to wear his kilt casual for the second day and introduced me to the Aran Stitch Jumper which combined with the kilt on the bottom allows for a completely different outfit on the second day.” We love that he chose to switch up his look while keeping the kilt in the limelight. A kilt worn with a wooly jumper is an excellent look.
Arran mentioned in one of the earlier questions that he wasn’t drawn to the traditional clan tartan associated with his family name. We wanted to know more about his journey in picking a tartan for his wedding kilt. “I didn’t choose Arran Mist, it chose me. As I’ve alluded to previously, I visited MacGregor and MacDuff looking for my wedding kilt but with no affiliation to my familial tartan - which we believe to be the Leslie. Rumour has it we were excommunicated, besides I’m more fond of blues and purples than the Leslie greens/reds. We were in the store, my future wife and I about 4 years ago, just browsing, unsure about tartans and I wanted to be sure before I made a choice. I disappeared into a corner of the Bath Street store and when my partner found me I was in awe of the full Navy Arran Mist kilt outfit on the mannequin standing in front of me. A store assistant saw this interaction and kindly offered to help me try it on that day. I ended up purchasing the Arran Navy Tweed Kilt Outfit, tan brogues and a white sporran. I would later replace the white sporran. On one of my trips into the Bath Store 4 years later, while getting my groomsman’s outfits ready for the wedding, I spotted the Arran Mist mannequin wearing a stunning bronze / brown rabbit fur Sporran. It turns out this was a new Smokey Rabbit Dress Sporran With Bronze Stag that had just recently been added to the range, in my opinion it worked so well with the bronzes in the Arran Mist tartan that I just HAD to have it to complete the look!”
As Arran mentioned that he had a groomsman in South Africa and page boys in England, we wanted to know how he coordinated with everyone to make sure they were all measured properly for the big day. "We initially had our page boys come to Scotland about 4 months before our wedding to be sized and fitted for their kilt outfits. Given their ages, they’re still growing at an accelerated rate so it was essential for us that we got the opportunity to have them sized by the professionals in the store. My best man and I attended the Bath Street shop together as well on numerous occasions to get the best man fitted. This experience was exceptionally thorough as he has some uncommon dimensions and so we had more senior fitters then double-check the fittings, this actually led to a few alterations in the recommended size which gave my Best Man a better feeling fit. My groomsman from South Africa was booked in for a virtual kilt fitting over zoom. With the assistance of his wife on site to help with measurements, the fitter was able to recommend sizing which when we collected the kilts the day before the wedding (as he only flew in the day before) were perfect for him."
On the topic of groomsmen, we asked Arran if he gifted them a special something to say thank you for being part of his big day. “I decided I wanted to gift my groomsmen something that would be useful on the day and would be a sentimental token of their time here in Scotland. Many years ago my fiancé at the time had won a bottle of Blue Label and I wasn’t much of a whisky drinker at the time but over the years I found a taste for Whisky, so we decided we’d keep the Whisky for the wedding. As I wanted to share it with my grooms party on the big day, a hipflask was always going to be the best gift idea. The fact that I was able to get them in matching Arran Mist made it that little bit more special, so I purchased the groomsmen and grooms-woman an Arran Mist tartan hip flask each.”
From the photos, it looks like an absolutely perfect wedding. We asked Arran what his advice would be to future brides and grooms. “Do you, don’t bend for family and friends. At the end of the day, this is your life memory where you come together with your partner for the rest of your days. Do what feels right and enjoy the day! We chose a lovely mansion house that was ours for the weekend which was meant to feel like home, this allowed me to be able to take my wife upstairs and bring her down in her PJs when the day's tiredness finally caught up. We couldn’t do that in a hotel, this is what we wanted and she grooved away the remainder of the night in her “bride” tartan PJs. That’s doing it our way, so go do it your way!”
We’d like to thank Natalie and Arran for sharing their big day with us. We applaud your highlandwear style choices and we look forward to seeing more photos of your kilt, wherever you wear it next.
Photographer - Canvas and Peach
Wedding Venue - Branxholm Park House