A Quaich ceremony is a Scottish traditional two handled cup. The Quaich is often referred to as the love cup as you each take a handle to take a drink, showing you trust one another to share the cup. You can fill the cup with a drink of your choice, usually whisky or you can combine two drinks symbolising the two of you becoming one. They also used the Quaich at the reception for their first toast together.
Symbolic of the sharing between the couple, it’s an ancient vessel used by two families or clans, to celebrate a bond, with each leader partaking of the offered drink.
[Party 1] drinks from the Quaich and then offers it to [Party 2] . The order in which it is then passed is purely a matter of choice although historically it would have been the leaders of each family or clan who would have passed the Quaich around.
Quaich ceremony would be conducted once the signing of the schedule has been completed.
What you will need
A Quaich (sometimes the couple have this engraved with their names and date of marriage)
Preferred drink to fill the Quaich
Example Wording
Example 1
[Party 1] and [Party 2] would now like to take this time to toast their new life together. It is a tradition in Scotland to toast friendship and love with a Quaich. This small pewter cup has two handles symbolizing love and partnership. (cup is handed to the couple). As you both hold on to this cup, reflect on how your love for each other, makes you stronger. Your marriage today, is a partnership, which prepares you for the challenges, and triumphs life will bring you.
[Party 1] as you drink from this cup know that you have a [husband/wife/life partner] to have and to hold please take a drink from the Quaich.
[Party 2] as you drink from this cup know that you have a [husband/wife/life partner] to love and to cherish, please take a drink from the Quaich.
As you have shared from this cup you have promised to share all that the future may bring. And may the sweetness that life brings be all the sweeter because you have drunk from this Quaich together
Example 2
To celebrate the marriage of [Party 1] and [Party 2].they are now going to share in the drinking from the Quaich.
The Quaich, a two handled loving cup, is an ancient Scottish tradition that seals the bond of two people, and marks the blending of two families. It symbolizes the love and trust implied by the bond, as the new couple shares the first drink of their marriage together.
Example 3
The Quaich which I am holding is a traditional drinking cup which is unique to Scotland. Drinking from a Quaich was part of a long established tradition of hospitality. [Party 1] and [Party 2] would like to continue with this tradition today. As their first act together as a married couple, they are going to drink from this Quaich. In doing so they are symbolising their commitment to sharing everything in life and sealing the bond between them, whilst signifying the blending of their families.”
Family member or a guest fills the Quaich with whisky, wine or other preferred drink and says:
Strike hands with me, the glasses brim,
The dew is on the heather.
For love is good and life is long,
And two are best together.
Bless the union of these two,
Eager for marriage, eager for love.
May they begin life together,
Live that life together
And come to the end together.
[Party 1] and [Party 2], it is now time to complete your bond.
Registrar steps forward and presents Quaich to [Party 1] and [Party 2] then to the wedding party.
Example 4
Registrar: The years of your life together are like a cup of Whisky poured out for you to drink. This Loving Cup contains within it a Whisky that is sweet – symbolic of happiness, joy, hope, peace, love and delight. This same Whisky also has some bitter properties that are symbolic of life’s trials and tribulations. Together the sweet and the bitter represent “Love’s Journey” and all of the experiences that are a natural part of it. As you share the Whisky from this Loving Cup, so will you share all things in your life.
Family Member/Friend pours drink into the Loving Cup and holds it up
Registrar: This cup of Whisky is symbolic of the cup of life. As you all share the preferred drink from the Loving Cup, you undertake to share all that the future may bring. All the sweetness life may hold for each of you will be the sweeter because you drink it together. Whatever challenges it may contain will be less difficult because you share them. Drink now from this cup, and acknowledge to one another that your lives have now become one
Family Member/Friend hands the Loving Cup to the couple and says…….
May the best ye’ve ever seen
Be the worst ye’ll ever see
May a moose ne’er leave yer girnal
Wi’ a tear drap in his e’e
May ye aye keep hale an’ he’rty
Till ye’re auld eneuch tae dee
May ye aye be jist as happy
As we wish ye aye tae be
The couple sip from the Loving Cup and hand it back to the registrar.
Registrar: As you have shared the Whisky from this Loving Cup, so may you share your lives. May you explore life’s mysteries together and find life’s joys heightened, its bitterness sweetened, and all of life enriched by the love of family and friends.