Kilt Advice

[ChattanCat]

from Kansas City

One question, how much is the brides wedding dress? I would suggest about the same for your kilt budget. You will need a kilt and as much of the following as you can budget: jacket, hose, shoes, balmoral, flashes, sporran, belt, kilt pin, vest...

[James MacMillan]

from Sunny Southern California!

I have been to many a Scottish wedding, and I have never heard of wearing your Mother's tartan. You should wear your own tartan or one that you have ties to.

Please remember, as we say and joke about, there is no tartan police, and you can wear what-ever tartan fits your fancy. It will be more meaning for you if you choose a tartan that has some meaning to your family.

If the entire wedding party is to be decked out in tartan, the groom picks the tartan with some sage guidance from the bride. I have seen some smashing wedding outfits where the bride and her maids are in one tartan and the groom and his men are in another.

For my wedding, 39 years ago, I was on active duty, and so were my best men, so we were all in our best dress uniforms.

Some very smart wedding parties have each person wearing their own tartans and make for striking pictures. Especially when you see a Campbell standing beside a McDonald or a Forbes beside a Gordan....

[auld argonian]

Click that orangey-red box to the upper left and you will go to USA Kilts homepage. Look at the semi-trads and you will see MacDuff listed as an option. USA uses poly-viscose as distinct from wool but the semi-trad has an excellent reputation here at Xmarks. USA can also sell you an appropriate jacket and vest to go along with that puppy as well.

If you're thinking that you want to go the real wool route, you're probably looking at a minimum investment of $400 US for the kilt. There are several kiltmakers coming in at that price point which seems to be the low end of the range. You're still going to need the reset of the kit (jacket, shirt, hose, sporran, etc.) so look at that as part of the expense.

Several of the UK companies seem to be pricing things to remain competitive in spite of the Dollar/Pound rate. Tartanweb would be one to look at and you can do a google to find others. Beware the dreaded tariffs, duties and carrier's service fees that buying from overseas can incur, however. Many horror stories about Xmarksers being held hostage by the FedEx guy waiting for the payment of fees and duties before they can get their hands on their new kilts.

Search the forum for a while and you'll find lots of threads dealing with situations like your own. Usually there are lots of suggestions and the questioner follows up with his decision and photos of the wedding. It'll be helpful.

Best

AA

[starbkjrus]

Well AA beat me to what I was going to say and others have given equally good advice so all I'll say is :


from Northern Virginia!

(and congrats on the wedding)

[Mael Coluim]

from the Old Dominion State!

I wore a belted plaid (Great Kilt) in our wedding. The plaid will be much less expensive than a tailored kilt. My groomsmen whom I called my chosen men help wrap me up on the wedding day. It was a blast! A thought for you.