Shortbread and Love: Wedding Traditions and Ways to Show Your Love with Shortbread

February is the month of love. The big day is of course Valentine’s Day on February 14th, but there are plenty of other romantic aspects in this short month. Read on for some heartfelt and sweet romance this cold February.

Sweet Valentine

Valentine’s Day is famous as the most romantic day of the year. The celebrations on February 14 hails from several traditions with long historic roots. Popularised in the early 1900s, the modern incarnation of Valentine’s Day has become a highly romantic holiday where gifts, cards and romantic gestures abound. Lovers and even friends send each other Valentine’s Cards and love letters, and it is common to buy romantic gifts for the one you love. Get some gorgeous and unique gifts for your loved one, like these tartan cufflinks, a luxuriously soft tartan cashmere scarf, or maybe a stylish golf umbrella. There are also plenty of foodie gifts to choose from, like one of our beautiful gift boxes with lots of delicious products inside. Perfect for a romantic evening together, maybe watching one of the most romantic films of all times.

Wedding traditions

Valentine’s Day is not the only day of romance where sweet treats play a key part. As part of some Scottish wedding traditions, the groom would break a freshly baked piece of shortbread over his new bride’s head. If the shortbread crumbled into several pieces, the marriage would be fruitful. In Shetland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread over the bride’s head as they entered their new home together. This would bring good luck and a happy marriage. Today, shortbread is often used as wedding favours in Scottish weddings. Wrapping up pieces of delicate and delicious shortbread, like these Stag Assorted Shortbread selection, in a beautiful favour bag will be a cherished memory from a happy day. You can also use individually wrapped shortbread like these beautiful shortbread rounds with traditional Scottish thistles, or some cute Mini Scottie Dogs for a unique wedding favour.

Leap year engagements

February is also the month which gains an extra day in a leap year. This has long been connected with romance, weddings and engagements. In modern day relationships, it is not uncommon for women to propose, or at least to be part of the planning when a couple get engaged. Traditionally, however, leap years and February 29th were the only time women were supposed to pop the question to their partners. This appears to originate from an Irish tradition, supposedly introduced by Saint Brigid and Saint Patrick, who allowed this day to offer some balance to the traditional gender roles. If a man turned down a woman’s proposal on the leap year day, he was expected to pay her a penalty. In several European countries, the custom was that an upper class man had to buy a lady 12 pairs of gloves if he refused her request for marriage. There were even public laws governing this tradition. In other countries, like Greece, getting married in a leap year was said to be unlucky.

In Scotland, February 29th also had a slightly less romantic notion. If you were born on this day, it was said you would end up unlucky in love. Hopefully that’s just superstition, but if you need some assistance in the romance department, we can recommend wooing your special someone with a romantic dinner, followed by a thoughtful gift, like this gorgeous Keepsake Tin with a traditional Shortbread selection. The motif on the box is quite romantic too! Read more gift ideas in our blog post about Christmas gift suggestions – many are good all year round!