I love incorporating a couple’s culture into their special day. Thought I would share some inspiration from my own wedding day in January 2021. My husband is Scottish/Irish/Italian primarily while I am of Portuguese descent. Here are some ways we DIY-ed and lovingly incorporated our heritages into the special day:

1) CATHOLIC WEDDING MASS: My father did the second reading–1 Corinthians 13 (my absolute favorite passage)– in PORTUGUESE! Our wedding programs had the translation in English and those who attended were already familiar with this reading anyway. Since our wedding occurred during COVID, it was being broadcast to my family in Portugal. They were so happy to have a reading said in Portuguese! Also during our Catholic wedding Mass, after we became husband and wife, our priest allowed us to include a moment where my new husband pinned our family’s tartan sash over my dress with his clan pin! Finally, we hired a bagpiper to play at our Catholic wedding Mass ceremony! She played “Highland Cathedral” as I walked down the aisle and “Scotland the Brave” as we exited!

2) ATTIRE: My husband wore a kilt — complete with cape! As for me, I wore shoes by Steve Madden called “Lisboa” which were White Leather Pointed-Toe Slingback Flats that matched the style of shoe worn by Portuguese folklore dancers. I also bought 5 azulejo tile replicas from Atrio Jewelry and added them to a hair piece! Azulejo is a type of tile found all over Portugal. To wear it in my hair that day was so special! We also had all our bridesmaids with Scottish/Irish heritage wear sashes from their clans, and our groomsmen either wore a generic kilt or their clan kilts as well! Our bridal party #kiltthegame

3) ENTERTAINMENT: We hired a local Irish band we loved and saw a lot while dating — Spade McQuade. Check them out on Spotify! They are based in Jacksonville, FL!

4) FAVORS: We bought a custom blend of tea from BlendBee and gave out tea bags as a party favor! Tea is huge in both of our cultures, and our custom tea included herbal elements from Scotland and Portugal.