In this episode of Let’s Talk Weddings, Lesley speaks with Selina Carlton from Kilts 4 U about wedding kilts, bespoke outfits, hire options and their unique wedding morning dressing service. Selina also shares the story behind the family business, their exclusive tartans, Frank’s Gold Room, destination wedding advice and why couples should start planning their wedding outfits early.
In this episode of Let’s Talk Weddings, Lesley is joined by Selina Carlton from Kilts 4 U to discuss the role of kilts, tailoring and specialist outfit services in modern weddings. Selina shares the story of how the family business began 20 years ago, growing from a small garage-based idea into three stores offering hire, bespoke designs and wedding-day support.
The conversation covers Kilts 4 U’s unique groom and wedding party dressing service, Frank’s Gold Room for bespoke outfits, destination wedding kilts, exclusive tartan ranges, suits, womenswear, pet accessories and football tartans. Selina also explains why couples should start planning early, especially if they want a bespoke tartan or fully personalised outfit, and highlights the importance of feeling confident, comfortable and perfectly presented on the wedding day.
Let’s Talk Weddings EP 5
Welcome to Let’s Talk Wedding with Your Scottish Wedding. I’ll be your host today, Lesley Trainer, and I am so excited. I’ve got the beautiful Gayle and Gary in the studio today. Hi, guys. Hi. Hey. Aw. This is very Oprah, isn’t it? Oh do you like it, this- It’s very posh. Oh it is. It is, very much. If nothing changes- Nothing changes.
It’s lovely. Thank you for having us. Uh-huh. No thank you for, for coming on. I’m so excited. We’re not used to posh places, are we? No no. I’m sure you are. ‘Cause yous have obviously led a very glamorous life, have you not? Oh that’s a lot of rubbish. Is it? What are you talking about? Well your acting careers and, like- Oh.
I paid her to say that. Did you, aye? Thanks. Thanks for that, Taylor. No bother. No bother. Not as glamorous as you would think. So is it just what we see then that, that looks very glamorous, whereas in the background it’s just not glamorous? Like- Les, I’ll have you know, it’s hard work. Oh I know it’s hard work, 100%.
Yeah. Like, 100%, I get that. No it, it’s, it’s lovely. I mean, being an actor is is not for the faint-hearted, put it that way. No. Especially when the world is a-changing, eh, Gary? It’s changing very much. No it’s, it’s, it’s tough. Mm. And you need to be well, you need to be thick-skinned at points- Mm. Yeah.. and be tough, ’cause, you know, you, there’s a lot of, lot of, uh, refusals- Told you’re shite sometimes
and knock-backs. Yeah. but we’ve been lucky enough. Oh listen, really, we’ve been very lucky. Uh-huh. Very lucky. Uh-huh. Maybe, I mean, you’ve been doing it a long.. You, child. Can I tell a story? So really quickly- Oh here we go. Shut up. So- See you. Right. Can I just say before you start the story- Yeah.. so just so that people know, so Gayle, you were in River City for a long time.
Yeah. And Gary, you were in Mrs. Brown’s Boys. Yes. Yes. Yes. So just so that people know that. So- He was also in Take the High Road. << Daew, naew, naew, naew >> Oh. But yes, that, that’s- So my very first-ever boyfriend’s wee brother was in Take the High Road. What’s his name? And I went to go on set. It was so my boyfriend’s name was Barry Brown.
I can’t remember his wee brother’s name. It made that much of an impact on you, Lesley. Ah, that was a- Little wee pest. Little wee pest. But do you know what? Take the High Road just was my school because I lived down in, I’m from Bredalbane. Uh-huh. Uh, and I live in the Vale. Yeah. And they would obviously film round about us- Yeah
and that was the kinda local school, the Vale. Yeah. And they came down to film, and we would do wee bits and bobs as extras. I mean, and I had to say a line. They were like, “Can you just say bye-bye to..” And it was your sister, the girl Shona, who were in the school. Oh and you were up on the season with her.
Yeah. And I was like, “See you later, Sarah.” Like, gave myself lines, right? But Gary was there, and I remember you were like that, “Hi. Hi.” You were dead nice, actually. I mean, and then you turned out to be- Well yeah, nice.. and then I turned out to be this. Yeah. Nice. Aye. But I remember it being, I was probably about 13, 14, Gary, when I first clapped eyes on you.
And then it was years, and years, and years later until we actually finally got together. Destiny brought youse together. Well and the color of her hair. But uh, the two gingers. But uh, no, I, as Gail said, I started when I was 12. Mm-hmm. Were you 12? 12. Right. And The early, uh- Child, child actor.. a child actor.
Uh-huh. Tell
the story about the audition and- I know, the audition. So I remember it was back in 1992, and what was happening was that STV were going around various schools looking for kids to, to go and audition, but it was blonde-headed boys they were looking for. Right. And my drama teacher, Terry, had.. and Mandy had said, “Oh I’ve got a blonde, but I’ve also, I’ve got a ginger.”
Uh-huh. And they said, “Oh well, send him anyway.” And I- You’re more strawberry blonde, to be fair. Yeah. I, no, I was lot, lot, lot ginger then. Right. Just gray now. And I was going, going white now. Tell no porkies. And uh, hanging about with you. And uh, so we, we went.. I remember saying to my mum, because I had never from a background of acting- Yeah
we were a working-class family, and- You’re a Pollok, aren’t you? Yeah fae the Pollok. Oh sorry, the Pollok. And uh, and I said to my mum, “I’ve got this, uh, chance,” and, uh, off we went. I remember it was at Goldbergs at the time. Yes. Do you remember Goldbergs? Off I went to get a new rig out. Aw. A style card, mum.
You had a style card. We had the style card. Well I’ll tell you this, that’ll tie in with what I’m gonna say. And off I went to the Pollok center, now Silverburn, get a new rig out- Yeah.. and jumped the 48 bus to Cowcaddens, and there I walked into a room of 50 children, all blonde, and me. Right. So the- So so the good thing is you stood out.
Yeah exactly. Oh I certainly- Exactly.. I certainly stood out. Cut a long story short, a couple of auditions, and they offered me the, the job. Amazing. And it changed my life. Yeah. It changed my family’s life. Wow. And uh, great memories. Martin McManus, James, and Blythe. It was a fantastic, uh, opportunity, uh, and a lovely time.
Yeah. From that job, I was able to pay my mum’s style card off. Yes. And that was- And that was the Taggart.. my proudest moment. And that was from Taggart. Absolutely. Yeah that was Taggart. Uh-huh. And I remember you saying- Aye, wee Betty was no longer in any debt. Uh-huh. She’d been.. I was the baby of the family.
Uh-huh. She’d been paying this card off for years. Forever, I know, because the interest on it was so high. It was. It was. Isn’t that so lovely? But no, and that was me, that was sort of me put on the road to, uh, uh, to acting, and that’s when I got the bug. How great is that though? so that’s, that’s the lad up.
And that’s a very proud moment, isn’t it? It was. To, to help your family. Aye, I was proud and, uh- You’re very giving.. the wee boy fae Pollok- Yeah doing a police drama He’s made good. He’s made good. He’s, he’s, he’s still doing the drama. Do you know, the m- the most I’ve kinda done for my parents is I’ve, I’ve, I have got them a couple of holidays to Tenerife.
Lovely. Not, I’ve not paid any cards off or anything like that. You could have bought them a couple of Vesta curries as well. I mean, come on, don’t be hard on yourself. But now I’m out of job, I’ve not got much to offer anymore. Oh no, you’re only having a rest. You’re gonna get snapped up- I’m having a rest, aye
so you’re not gonna be out of work for too long, lady. Oh good. So don’t, don’t. ‘Cause you’ve got lots of.. But so, and we always gonna touch obviously that, you know, River City’s now finished. So what’s next for you? Because are you now, am I right in saying that you’re training to be a celebrant? Is that right or is it wrong?
So- Oh she’s past that point now. She’s past that point. There’s no returning. She’s past that point. She has her wings and she’s flying. So I think- Amazing.. as a, as an actor I do a l- well, myself and Gary host Yes.. a lot. We, as we do for you- Yes yes.. at Your Scottish Wedding Awards- Yes.. which we had a total ball.
Last year was our first year. The best, the best. And it was great, wasn’t it? And uh, yeah, we are obviously, we do this and we’re obviously, yeah, we’re, we’re out there available. And I think as a, as an actor, you need to wear a lot of different hats. Of source. So Gary- It does, uh, celebrate funeral celebrancy Yes And I said, “I quite fancy that.
That’s a really nice thing to do for someone” Oh. So I got lumped with it. So from February I’ve been going out shadowing him, and let me tell you when I tell you he is the best in the business no, it’s- No you are. Shut up. So he’s really good- Uh-huh.. and he’s been such a great mentor. Yeah. And I’ve done maybe about 10 funerals now.
Have you? And I’ve enjoyed it immensely, just being for the families. What a special thing, though, to do for somebody because it’s one of those things, isn’t it, where you’ve lost a loved one and you just don’t really know who to reach out to. Uh-huh. And if you can get somebody- Aye.. who’s going to be incredible at telling that human being’s story.
Such an honor for a celebrant- Yes.. you know, for us to be given that role. Uh-huh. You know, I sort of fell into it. I’d lost my brother six years ago, and then my dad three years ago. Left Mrs. Brown. Yeah. Uh, I’d moved back to Glasgow, and I was just- And we’re glad to have you back.. well, thank you. Uh, but I was just lost.
And of course- Yeah.. when I look back now really, you know, we’re coming out of COVID. I’d just had a, a baby who was premature. I didn’t obviously have the baby, my wife did. Yes. Lost my brother then- Yeah.. you know, everything was just all- A lot.. on your plate. Yeah. Uh, then Dad passed, and it just something, you know, I had many people in my life that passed.
Yeah. And of course loved them and missed them. But something with a parent, it just- Yeah.. something dies with you. Yeah. Yeah. and it was a, a friend of mine, uh, my cousin’s, uh, husband who’s a funeral director, and he said, “You should possibly look into doing this.” Uh-huh. “I think you would be good- Uh-huh
because of Jared and your dad. You can be empathetic, et cetera.” Yeah. Or not find a public speaking. Absolutely. All this carry on. It’s using your skillset as well. Yeah. Like mostly- Absolutely.. and actually I remember saying to Gary a couple of months ago, “Gary, you’ve got such a good why you do this.” Yeah.
“And I don’t know what my why is. And- Then when I started, ’cause I’m quite an analytical person, right? And I thought about it, and when I go to a funeral, sometimes you don’t know any more about the person when you go in to when you, you leave. Yes. And it’s their last show, it’s their last send-off.
Absolutely, it has. It’s really a special thing. It’s, it’s their celebration of life, isn’t it? Yeah and it’s a big responsibility. Yeah. And actually, that’s where my why came from, ’cause I would, I would always be like, “That was shite.” Like, give the, give that person the best that they should- Yeah.. you know, work hard on the eulogy and writing it- Absolutely
and actually using your skillsets. Yeah. Public speaking- Yeah.. writing, being creative- Yeah.. with the stories that you’re fed from the family. Yeah. And you’re only given a short snippet of that person’s life. I know. Because you can’t fit it in- Of course you can’t.. to just one service. No of course. But it has been, it’s been an eye-opener.
It’s been quite a beautiful experience, actually. Yeah. And it’s lovely when you walk away as, as we do- Yeah.. and the family are so grateful. Yeah. And they’re so.. They can’t thank you enough. Absolutely. You get the wee message the next day. Yeah. That’s nice. “You made it so special.” I always wait on that, you know?
And you walk away, ah, you walk away, and you just think, “Okay that’s why.” I think it takes a special person, though, to do that job, whereas I couldn’t. I would just be a blubbering mess. I’d be reading everything. Well I am sometimes. And I would just be crying. I honestly would be crying. Like, if somebody cries- Yeah
in front of me- Yeah.. I immediately just cry. Actually, you’re emot- you’re emotional. Because I’m like, “Oh my goodness.” Like they’re, they’re hurting, or they’re sore. Yeah so I couldn’t do it, so hats off to you guys for, for going down that. No thank you. And- We, we need more people like you in the world.
No as they say- Yeah.. as I always say to families, you know, they say, “You enjoying it, Gary?” And I say, “If we can use the word enjoy, I enjoy giving back.” Of course. I enjoy making you walk away from your loved one- Yeah.. knowing that you have done your loved one proud- Yeah yeah.. just by the help of, of me.
Absolutely. We’re there to narrate their story. Yeah. and of course, as Gayle’s saying, the experiences and comedy may be pulling into that empa- Yeah.. being empathetic, all those little things. And here we are falling into that. Uh, will I ever act again? Never say never. Absolutely. But for me, and this- Door’s always open.
Uh-huh. For, for me, doing this journey was, it was, that’s what I found I had to do. That’s where you were, the place that you were at. Yeah yeah. and it’s turned into this is a, a new business. A career. Uh-huh, which is very exciting. Yeah. But you’ve also written plays, Gayle. Like, you’ve.. Was it just last year you did that?
Like, share. Last month. So well, last month, and actually I did, uh, an adult panto, so that was a bit more risky. Love it. It was very. So tell us, so where did the inspiration for that come from? Like- Well I think, uh, I mean, it’s just, it’s working class humor, isn’t it? I mean, sometimes it can be a bit smutty, but, uh, I don’t think anybody ever goes, wakes up in the morning and goes, “I’m a writer,” right?
Unless you’ve, you know, you’ve went to university. Yeah yeah. You’ve done a, kind of, writing course. Yeah. I’ve just, kind of, fallen into it. And I think, like, when I’ve spoken to production companies or maybe been in something- Uh-huh.. they’re like, “Gayle, do you have voices in your head?” And I’m like, “Well aye.”
You know, characters. Yeah yeah, yeah. That’s what I mean. And I think that- Beautiful.. yeah, I just I think, uh, yeah, just starting something, having a vision, having characters in your head, like really- Uh-huh.. analyzing people. Uh-huh. I enjoy that. Very creative though. Yeah. And I, I, it was actually the l- the one last month was in Aurum More.
Right. And I’d written it with a lovely guy, Mark Pye, and working class story about bingo, but it was about friendship, love, like, you know- Nice.. stakes are high. Like, you know, all the, the working class themes that we expect, and then the adult panto was an absolute godsend. It was a hoot. Yeah. And that was probably..
I’m really, really proud of that, ’cause it was good, wasn’t it? No it was very funny. It was funny. I, I got to see it. It was very good. Yeah. So will you resurrect that again this year, or- Yes. We’re doing, uh, Jack with a Big Beanstalk. Oh. Uh, that’ll be going out in February actually. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Oh she, she needs to wash her mouth out. That’s what she needs to do. But do you know what? It’s like you can go anywhere with something like that, and actually the beauty of that was that when I f- first put that out and you do a table read, you’re like, “I don’t know how this is gonna go.” Yeah. And actually when the first night we went up, it was like bang, bang, bang, and then you would land a joke.
Yeah. And I thought, “Right okay. All of that’s working. It’s all right. You’ve learned as you’ve went along in your life.” Yeah. Because you don’t know. Yeah. And you did enjoy the audition process, finding Jack and the big beanstalk. The beanstalk and his big beanstalk. That was, kept you busy. But it was, it was actually the wizards were the big boss.
And we had Sanjeev Kohli in, uh, play the big boss. It was hysterical honestly, and it was really good, and everybody was really on board. Yeah. I, it was just a, it was actually just a lovely team to work with. Uh-huh. I think I would talk to Gary when I was writing the panto- And I was like, “Gary, it’s gonna be shit.
It’s gonna be this, it’s gonna be that,” and oh, and I’m walking in this park, walking the dogs, and he’s like, “Will you cop yourself on? I’m burying people every day. Go and see a ward of dying children and then you’ll know what the..” You know? Absolutely. That is nothing. And he does, he puts me in my place- Yeah
for that because you’re in- So that’s perspective, isn’t it? And you’re put, and you’re- Not very much.. you’re creating, you’re making people laugh. You’re- Yeah.. you’re giving back as well. Yeah. Yeah. That’s it. But you’re entertaining. Like, you’re having a laugh. Like, come on. Yeah. It’s not that deep. And- There’s a lot worse things going on
I know. And you also don’t know that what that laugh might do for somebody. Like, that might be the worst day of their life or, you know, maybe something, they’ve just had a crap day. They wish they hadn’t got out of bed. And then you’ve just made.. You’ve turned that around because you’ve made them laugh.
Well I do that for Gary every day. We speak every day. Oh the phone bills are increasing and increasing. Three, four times a day. And see if it goes straight on the answer phone, I just ping it right back. I go, “Oh no, he’s put it on DND so he doesn’t need to stop and talk to me. I’m just calling that again.”
You do. Do you do that? Short dial. No. Yes you are, pal. Boys. I know. Man talk. Love it. Oh. So obviously we’ve, we’ve touched obviously on your careers and stuff like that. Is there anything else? Like, if you could go back to, like, your sort of 16-year-old self.. Well you were 12, so you’d need to go back further than that.
I’ll go back to 16. Like, is there anything in life that yous would change? Is there anything that yous would have done differently? Or would you have gone into acting? Would you not have? Like- I mean, you know, the acting- What would you tell yourself? I would probably tell, you know, that 16-year-old to- Uh-huh
to not worry so much. Yeah. You know? I, I think with my kids now, I say, “Please don’t worry.” No. And especially the job I’m doing now. Uh-huh. That life is so short. It is, and it’s precious. Don’t worry. Yeah. Enjoy. And I wish I’d, you know, been more relaxed back then. It was always, I grew up so, so quickly- Yeah
within the acting world. Yeah. I, I, I.. Yeah I was, I wish I’d went on the boys’ holidays and just relaxed more. Uh-huh. and again, don’t be frightened about making mistakes, because you learn from mistakes. Of course. But at that time you don’t think that. And of course at 16- Yeah.. you, you thought you knew everything.
Yeah. and I, so I, I would say just enjoy and just don’t worry. Yeah. I always say there’s, you don’t fail at anything in life. It’s just a life lesson. Yeah. That’s lovely. Yeah. I don’t believe in like, you know, those losers and winners- No.. and, and all that kind of nonsense. I just think that- We’re on this planet for such a short period of time- No yeah
and you don’t know what tomorrow’s gonna bring. Yeah. So you’ve just got to- It’s so true.. ride out the storms and ride out the good times and- It’s so true. And even now, you know, the, the, since losing Dad and, and, and life has changed. Yeah. It’s, uh, changed me, uh, that my outlook is now I don’t people please the way I used to.
Yeah. I do things that suit me. Yeah. Uh, I look after my children and, and the timeframe. Yeah. I spend more time with them. I make them more priority. Yeah. I’m not chasing career. Yeah. I’m not chasing money. Because all of that really- It’s irrelevant.. yes. Isn’t it? The big grand scheme of thing. When you look at the big picture.
Yeah. And you just think, “Okay let’s slow down now- Uh-huh.. and enjoy time with friends- Yeah.. time with family- Yeah.. doing things for you.” ‘Cause it’s so precious, isn’t it? So precious. It really is. It really is. It really is. Life is precious. But I do think sometimes you get hung up with- You do.. “Oh I need to get the car.
I need to get the house. I need to do the..” Yeah. That’s it. So ’cause when I obviously started Your Scottish Wedding up- Yeah.. like, I sold my house. I sold my beautiful big house. That was huge though. It was, and we lived in a cara- we lived in a caravan for a year and a half. In a caravan. That’s it, in the caravan.
I know, I love them. is it- That’s right.. those thingy giants? What do they call it anyway? Yes. but yeah, so, so I did that, and I thought, do you know, like, we’ve had all that, but we started with nothing. Like, Ted and I genuinely started with nothing. I was 21, and we built everything up ourselves.
And I thought, do you know, you can always make money. Yeah. Like, I really, like, you really can. That outlook, because I think that, you know- Especially from somewhere like, like you’re asking would you change anything, and the worry is definitely something, or not people pleasing, or even chasing.
Now, I was always gonna act, but, uh, uh, but you chase a lot. And you possibly go into circles that you don’t actually feel you belong. Right. Okay. And that’s another thing about our industry as a whole. Whereas I’ve really stripped that back and I suit myself.. definitely. And there’s, there’s always that kind of, you have to be on on call for anyone or, like, you know, maybe be seen.
I’m not very good at that networking thing because it’s like you have to go to be seen. I, I could not. Thank you. No passed all that. I know. But I’m past it. I know. And I don’t want to be past anything. Like, I feel as if I’m quite a young-spirited person, but- Absolutely.. you know, talent doesn’t just speak for itself- Yeah
and hard work. Yeah. It’s so much more than that in our industry. Absolutely. Yeah. It’s not about that. Yeah. And especially nowadays, it’s about followers, shite like that, you know? Yeah. And that’s not to say that somebody isn’t talented that’s got all that. Yeah. Yeah. But it’s just not as simple. Yeah. And actually, do I think that if I just kinda rocked along and just kinda..
Maybe my life, I would’ve had more kids or you know, I’ve only got, uh, one wee girl. She’s amazing, and maybe that’s the way my life was meant to go. Yeah. But you know, maybe I would’ve lived a wee bit more of a family life, because I remember when I dec- when we were having Stevie, I remember saying to Jack, like, that, this is the only time we are gonna get the opportunity of a normal life- Yeah
if I’m in this career. Yeah. Because this is so, it, it, it’s beyond anything that my, my man could ever, you know, even go into, because he just didn’t understand it, right? Yeah. Yeah. So it was obviously my career would take away from him. Yeah. And actually, I didn’t never want to, I didn’t want to do that to him.
No of course. So so having Stevie really did give us a normal life- Uh-huh.. in this kinda crazy business- Uh-huh.. that you’re part of. Yeah. So would I change? I would probably just- I would probably just experience a wee bit more actually, and not pin all my stuff on- Yeah.. that career. Yeah yeah. Because you talk to people, Lesley, and they’ve had, like, five jobs.
I know. And like, I’ve had one job my whole life. No. And I go, like- Yeah.. I’ve maybe missed out on something else. So true. Yeah. Because you’ve been so like, “But I, I want the part, and I, and I forget this opportunity.” Yeah. And it’s like, but what have you left? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right? No it’s, uh, it’s so true. It’s funny, isn’t it, reflect, to reflect back and y- y- ’cause, yeah, ’cause I’d never, ever thought that I would own my own business.
I was just always brought up to, you buy a house. That’s, uh- If you buy a h- you’ve got to have a mortgage, you’ve got to be with the one company, ’cause my dad was with the same company for, like, 40 odd years. Yeah. Maybe even 50 years. And and I was just like, God, that sounds so boring. Yeah. I’ve always wanted more for myself.
Yeah yeah. Like, so so yeah, it’s funny looking back and you kinda go, gosh, I.. But here we are today, and, you know, we’re all doing the things that we want to do, and like- That’s it.. where, where we are. Happy. Uh-huh. Happy. Contented. I think it’s like we’re pivoting. Uh-huh. P- like, we’re, like, I suppose I, I’m really at a crossroads where I’ve, I’ve spoke to you about it.
Like, you’re, you’re pivoting all the time. Uh-huh. But does it really matter if you’ve got the big motor and the, the cad and- It’s only stuff. It’s only stuff. I know. Whether you drive a Micra or whether you drive a Maserati- Yeah.. it’s four wheels and it gets you from A to B. I think just not- No
catastrophizing life is a
really good thing. Uh-huh. So true. Just to go like- Uh.. you know what, it’ll come and it’ll go. Absolutely. In this job now, when you’re dealing with families, and when you meet families- Oh.. and it’s not a big, about the, the big house- No.. or the fancy cars. No. Do you know, the most touching thing is when you’re reading a eulogy or you’re meeting a family and you’re discussing the, the memories, it’s the caravan holidays.
Yeah. Absolutely. The camping trips. Yeah. The day to Largs. Yeah. Yes. The fish supper- Yeah.. and the pissing rain. Yeah yeah. And you think, wow. Yeah. That’s what everybody remembers. It’s things that cost no money. Not the Maldives. No it’s not the Maldives. It’s not, you know, look at my lovely, you know, marble kitchen.
Yeah. People don’t remember that. No they don’t. And and so by doing this, it’s, it’s just, it’s changed everything, my whole outlook on everything. Yeah. and, and I feel, and, uh, certainly my family, we’re much better for it. Uh-huh. And and we’ve, we’ve been so privileged to w- you know, I’ve worked for 36 years.
Yeah. You know, not unemployed, battered through it. Yeah. Chased a career. Yeah. Uh, finances, all this with it But when you took a step back, I thought, ah, I’ve missed out on that pissing rain with a fish supper with my boys on the beach. Yeah. Yeah. So that’s what we’re doing now. Doing now. Very true. Yeah. I love that.
I’ve I’ve got a friend who is a multimillionaire. And they say in order to keep ourselves grounded, we go back to when we just started dating and we’re going to the beach- Oh right.. with, you know, the wee disposable barbecues. Barbecues. And they have sausages and a can of beans- Mm-hmm
and that’s our dinner. I love that. Aye. It is. I love that because we’ve all started from somewhere. Yes, you, you grow into whoever it is you’re gonna be, but I do. I’m like, you’re a multimillionaire. You could literally have a chef in your kitchen, but you choose to go into the the beach- That’s quite humbling
and have- That’s special I, I think that is because they’ve never lost- No.. touch with where they started. Well as my mother and father say, “Don’t lose your old arse.” Aha. Aye. Don’t forget your old arse. Don’t forget your old arse. 100%. I’m not a multimillionaire by any means, but I mean, I remember in the days of, we called it poverty pasta.
Right. And jack- What was that?. tuna pasta. And I was like to Jack- Oh yeah, I’ve never heard of that.. “Do you, do you want tuna pasta?” Oh tuna pasta. And he’s, “Ah, nah, that reminds me.. That’s poverty pasta. That reminds me of the poverty days.” And I’m like, “All right. Okay. That’s what he calls it.” So we never have tuna pasta in our house.
I’m laughing. Do you not? But I’m like, I quite fancy- Oh God.. tuna pasta now. Are you? I mean, I quite fancy it. Wow, Ollie loves that. Aye. Me saying that, here’s Ollie- Poverty pasta.. and his poverty pasta. So aye, we’ve not quite went back to the poverty pasta, but yeah. So we call water council juice. Council juice.
Aha. Aye. Council juice wa- Yeah.. waters at the tap is council juice ’cause we buy bottled water now. But you know what? I was talking about, like, phones, and I’m really interested in that kinda like, you know, everyone’s, like, absolutely stuck in their phone. And even with, like, Stevie growing up, she’s 14 now, and- Yeah
and she went on a guide camp last year, and I said to her, “Right what’s your, uh, rose and what’s your thorns? What’s your peak and your whatever? Like, what’s your good thing and your bad thing?” Uh-huh. And uh, she said the good thing was that nobody was allowed their phones. That is good. And that we were outdoors because- Or were they all full of anxiety because they didn’t have their phones?
Well, ’cause they had enough to get on with- That’s good.. ’cause they were doing a lot of activities. That’s good. But she said, “You know, when you’re in a group of people, Mom, and they’re all on their phones- Yeah.. the only thing for you to do is go on your phone.” Yeah. True. Whereas everybody was in the same boat- Uh-huh
and they come off their phones. Yeah. So true. And I thought that, I don’t even know. Is that even relevant to what I was saying? Anyways, it doesn’t matter. Have you seen the ban, though, kids can on- Oh I can’t wait. I know. What’s this? Liv- The ban.. so they’ve banned, so, so kids under the age of 16- Yes.. are now not allowed to be on, like, TikTok, Facebook- Ooh
Instagram. They’re not allowed to have accounts. So you’re gonna be fine. No social media. I will be fine Yeah they are, you know But going back to the basics- I do.. that’s what I meant by that about obviously the, your friend on the beach with the beans and the- Yeah.. the sausages. Yeah. I mean, I’m not too keen on the sausages, the lips and lugs and that.
L- But I can, I can identify with the fact that there’s basic stuff- Yeah.. that makes you actually, that really you enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. And actually can’t wait for the ban. Yeah. Don’t know what they’re gonna do. There was a wee girl interviewed the other day, and the, she had her face on her like- Oh.. like smacked her.
No happy.. like she was raging. And the interviewer’s like, “So what was your screen time last year?” And she was like, uh, la, uh, yesterday, and she was like, uh, 12 hours. Oh. Something like that. 12 hours in a day, by the way. Hours. Mine’s about seven in a, in a week, right? So anyways, this wee girl was interviewed and she was like, “Oh my screen time was 12 hours in the one day.”
And the, the interviewer said- That’s a lot.. “And what are you gonna do then in place of that time?” And she went, “Stare at the four walls.” Like, she was raging. And I thought, “I get it.” But that worries me because- I know.. the youth, as we did in our days, not so much phones, but we always find a way around of- Uh-huh
that, so it worries me that, that things aren’t getting monitored. Yeah. That our kids are.. I mean, I try and say no. Well it’s like an ele- electronic babysitter, isn’t it? Yeah. Well it can be. I mean, we’re all, we’re all guilty of it. And we’re all guilty of it, of course we are. Yeah. Yeah. You want peace and quiet for your own kinda like- Well maybe so much that, but you know, like when we’d be traveling a lot when we lived abroad, we’d be s- the first thing we’d do is there’s an iPad- Yeah
for him to watch a movie- Yeah.. so that nobody else in the plane-.. was disturbed and that we could- Yeah yeah, yeah.. relax. Yeah yeah. Or in a restaurant. Yeah. I get all that. Yeah. But social media’s different because your, their attention spans are like that. ‘Cause they’re just flicking. I know. And I sound like an old- But you are Okay.
Yeah she’d be bottled up, honestly So that’s okay. I cannot work with him. Let me tell you, Lesley, that these, these awards are gonna be absolutely brilliant this year. I was just about to say, so we’re not doing the awards together then. Oh we’ll do it together. The two gingers have split. We’ll do it together.
Yeah they’ve split. Well sorry, what were you gonna say? No I’ve got nothing to say. Right. So that naturally just brings us onto the awards actually- Oh.. because Can’t wait.. you joined us last year, which- Yes.. I was, I was absolutely ecstatic when you guys said yes. I was like, “Oh my God, we’ve got them.”
’cause we needed a wee change. We always had Elaine C. Smith and then we just needed a wee change because you can’t, I think, keep using the same people- No.. time and time and time again. Yeah. ’cause people want to see a change. Aquavitae shelf life. Yeah. No of course. so yeah, so you joined us last year.
You’re here again this year. Yes. So the date is the 22nd of November. It’s at DoubleTree- DoubleTree.. by Hilton. Yes. in Cambridge Street again. so yeah, so do you want to tell us just a wee bit about who the opening act’s gonna be this year? ‘Cause I’m very, very- On you go. On you go.. excited. Oh it’s the super sexy, the super talented Callum Beattie.
Drum- Oh I was gonna say drum roll. Ah-ha. I mean, what, what a thrill. Callum Beattie’s, he’s- Yep. Callum Beattie. He’s a fallen sweetheart. He’s so- Yes.. brilliant. He is. And do you know what? He’s a cracking guy into the mix, isn’t he, Gary? What I love about.. I met him years ago, uh,
and his manager Dave. We became great friends. Yeah. What I love about him- Lovely.. is that in this industry you can be affected and you, you know, things can change. Yeah. He’s, he’s growing- Yeah.. and his popularity, his fame’s growing. Yeah. Yet he has not changed one bit. He doesn’t change. He’s gonna be out doing himself in schools.
Oh loves that. He’s just amazing. Isn’t he? They do so much for charity. I love that. He’s just a genuine guy. Yeah. Uh, and that’s what, uh, just makes him extra special and, uh- Yeah.. they’ve agreed to s- I know.. well, we’ve managed to tie the date down. Yeah. I’m so, so happy. I know. Thrilled. And just what an entertainer, though.
I know. And that’s such- Imagine that having your a- your, your opening act. But that’s the thing- Yeah.. because l- I mean, last year the entertainment was brilliant as well. It’s always, it’s always incredible. Such a great night. Yeah. I mean, before the dinner we had those light up things. We had everything.
Remember all of that? We were having a rave- As we was having the meal.. before we even had the chicken. It was brilliant. And actually the food was amazing. You had you’d chosen it all. What was it? It was a something Wellington. I think it was like chicken Wellington. The chicken Wellington. Yeah. It was a chicken Wellington.
Beautiful. Because usually you get your function chicken or your shin of beef, you know? Yeah. So- Whereas it was really different.. yeah, so we usually do a beef dish just because I always think beef is a wee bit more Like high-end than- Upmarket.. than chucking. But but yeah, so, and I thought we’ve done, we’ve done beef again, like for all these years- Yeah
so we’ll change it up. And chef said, “Look, don’t think that chicken’s a, a, a different or a bad option.” So he- he’s always.. Stuart, I’ve got to give Stuart a shout-out because h- he is the head chef at the DoubleTree. And he’s such an incredible human being. Like, I always go in every year and go, “I want something that nobody else has ever had.”
Yeah. And he goes, “Well here she comes.” And he’s like, “Oh no.” Absolutely. and he just always takes that brief and he just runs with it, so he’s incredible. So so yeah, I’m really excited for this year ’cause we’re, we’re five. Yes. This is- That is five years.. big year. Uh-huh And it’s been a, it’s been a big journey, but like what you’ve done- Oh it’s been a slope
in the last, like year as well. But I mean- It’s not been easy.. no, but I do think it’s all coming good.. and nothing is, but- And it’s actually such a great night. Like we had, we had a ball. No it was a genuinely a brilliant night. Uh-huh. Yeah. Everybody in the room- Yeah.. everybody knew why they were there. Yeah.
Uh-huh. They were there to enjoy. Yeah. Yeah. It was a big party. Yeah. It’s a posting awards ceremony. It went so quickly. Celebration. Yeah. When we, when we got all the papers through and looked at the scripts, it’s, “Oh my goodness, we’re gonna be here all, all, all night.” And it was like, yeah. It flew by. Yeah.
And then it just partied. And we took the cars last year. We’re not taking the cars this year. I was gonna say, you’re not bringing the cars this year. No. No. We’ll- No.. we’ll- We’ll all stay over.. maybe sh- I’m not allowed out. She gets two Proseccos and that’s her. No listen, I’m the same. I go and I say my speech, and then I come off.
The shoes are kicked off- Yeah.. and I had my flip, had my flip-flops on last year. But there’s, there’s a, there’s a, a reel of me in my flip-flops, and I was like, “I need to get nice wee sandals for this year.” Nice wee sandals this year. I’m not, I’m not doing flip-flops. Use the style card. Nice wee sand- I’ll get you a nice pair of sandals.
Oh do you know what though? It is such a great night, and it’s lovely for the whole industry to celebrate, isn’t it? ‘Cause it’s like where they let their hair down. Yeah. I think that having somebody like Calum Beaton, and we’ll obviously have a DJ and- Yeah.. that kind of thing. Yeah. And we, but that guy, that sax guy was brilliant as well.
I know, I know. He was- He was something.. Conrad. He was, he was- Conrad was great.. Conrad was amazing, yeah. he is.
The whole package was brilliant, and, and we’re so looking forward to it. Oh yeah. Yeah. So looking forward to it. Yeah so I think, like this year we are five, so we’re just pulling out all the stops for it. Yes. I’m thrilled that you guys are gonna be there again. We’ll have a couple of games as well flung in there.
We cannot wait-.. to absolutely mortify these guests. Yeah. How’s your donkey? Yes absolutely. Honest, we’re doing well. Sorry. yeah, and, and we might do a few wee competitions and stuff like
that. Yes. So so nice wee prizes- So much looking forward to it.. will be in there as well. So so yeah I’m so excited for this year. I, I genuinely am. Like, and also Like I started the awards because I’m so passionate about this industry. I genuinely am. Like, like You can see that. No you are. And I, you know, when we first met you, I couldn’t believe how passionate you are.
I could actually cry just now, you just talking about them, honestly. Like I came into this industry years and years ago started in venues and then went to Scottish Wedding Directory for 17 years. And I, that was my dream job, dream job. And then when it closed, devastated, which is obviously why we’re here now.
so for me it was important to To really have a voice for the industry because they work so hard. I mean, honestly, these people are up at, like, sometimes 4:00 in the morning, sometimes 2:00 in the morning to get to a venue or to set up or- For someone’s special day.. and then they’ve got to go back the next day- Yeah
and then collect all that stuff, and they maybe already got another wedding on that day. So I just think that’s all the things that people don’t see- Yeah.. the, the graft. They don’t. Ah. The amount of work that goes into it. Uh-huh. They just see the pound signs because obviously th- these things cost money.
Uh-huh. But it’s like the graft that goes into that- Uh-huh.. is phenomenal. Uh-huh. Yeah. And it really upsets me, like, when m- potentially wedding couples will say, “Oh why is a cake £600?” or, “Why is that £1,000 and why is that?” And I’m just like, “Because you don’t see what actually goes into it.” Yeah. No like- They’re not..
It’s just not just standing at a, you know, your kitchen sink whisking up a few- It’s not a Victoria sponge we’re talking about here, you know It’s not a Victoria sponge. These are- Lego cake. No. Ah, like, they’re making the flowers, they’re making the petals- Yeah.. they’re making- Yeah.. absolutely everything. so yeah, so I’m so passionate.
If I can give them a voice and show them, you know, like, they are genuinely.. You know, I want to look after them. It’s not my job to look after them, but I just want them to have- You’re appreciated. I want- Give them a pedestal to be seen. Uh-huh. I want them to have a night just for them. You know, get glammed up.
Yeah. It’s just for you. Let’s go, all go out, have fun. and win an award. But if you’re in that room, I genuinely.. Like, we do so many checks, like, so many checks, so if they are in that room, it’s because they’ve, they’ve ticked a lot of boxes. Yeah. You know, they deserve to be there. Yeah. So for me, this night is an incredible night just for, just for us to give back.
It’s a great honor. It really is. So important. And you can really see that, and they do really use it as their- Yeah.. their night out. It’s, it’s like a big Christmas night out, isn’t it? They go wild, and why not? And everybody’s lovely. You know- They’re like the like the-.. genuinely lovely people. Uh-huh. Oh they are.
They are. Like, this industry is incredible. Yeah. Incredible. Like, if someday, if something happens they will just swoop in to help. Yeah. Yeah. That’s kind. Like, you know, it’s everybody’s got everybody’s back, and I love that. That’s, that’s one of the things that I absolutely love. Yeah. And it’ll be here before we know it.
I know. November. And then after that’s Christmas, of course, you know. I know. Yeah. Oh I know. What you wearing that night, Gail? Oh I don’t know. Maybe something, you know, a wee skimpy number. Just- Oh.. couple of nipple tassels. Oh no. A wee, a wee thong. No again. No again.
Aw. It’s been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for being here. No thank you. And thank you so much for hosting again this year at Your Scottish Wedding Awards. No thank you. I really can’t wait for it. It’s like we cannot wait. We’ll have a fantastic night. We’re gonna have a great time. We certainly will.
Thank you. Yeah. And we cannot wait to see Calum and do all the The hosting and- I know.. and all, it’s all the carry on that we love, the carry on We do, and I can’t even see your new pair of sandals. They’re lovely. I know. They’re lovely. I’ll have my big heels on at the start, and then they’re getting chucked to the side.
They’re getting tossed. Ah, they’re getting chucked to the side- Good on you, Lesley.. as usual. Good on you. And then it’s just Prosecco all the way for me. I’m just like, “Right my job is done.” Whoop, whoop. My job is done. Yeah. I can’t do anything else. I’ve organized it. I’ve planned it to the, the Nth degree, so yeah.
That good on you. Yeah. And that’s not forgetting Ted either. Oh wee Ted. Wee Teddy. Poor Ted. I know. He’s the one, he’s sorting out the awards at the side. He’s my rock. Oh I know. He is your rock. Yeah. He’s amazing. Whenever I have a meltdown, he’s like, “Listen, you got this. You got this.” Aw. And I go, “Right okay.
Yeah I’ve got this. Right. Okay. That’s fine.” Jesus. He said it, so I’ve got it. Yeah. No you have got it. Amazing. Yeah yeah. Absolutely, Lesley. Yeah. You’ve done so well. Yeah. So you should be very proud, and we are so excited to see you at the five years as well. I know. Five years. Honestly, it has- Unbelievable
zipped by, zipped by. Yeah. It’s been an incredible journey. And it’s a huge achievement, so well done. Oh thank you so much. Big round of applause. Aw, thank you. Here’s to the next five years. I know. Yay. Here’s to the next five years. I’m so excited, yeah- On that note.. ’cause we got, we got big plans. So yeah thank you so much for coming on the journey with us.
No not at all. Thank you. Thank you. Really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. No problem. Thank you. Take care.
Let’s Talk Weddings EP 6
Hi, and welcome to Let’s Talk Weddings with Your Scottish Wedding. I’ll be your host today, Lesley Trayner, and in the studio we have the beautiful and very talented Selina Carlton from Kilts 4 U. Selina, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. This is so exciting. I know, I know.
My first podcast. I know, I know. Absolutely. Absolutely. So Kilts 4 U, how long have you been in the business? Like, Mum and Dad have obviously launched the business how many years ago? It is our 20th anniversary this year. How exciting. I know. 20 years. 20 years. It’s honestly just zipped by, hasn’t it?
It’s been the quickest time ever. The last 10 years I genuinely do not know where they’ve gone. I know. It’s been every single year there’s always been something exciting, something new. The time has really evaporated to be honest. And how long have you been in the business? I’ve been in the business for about 12.
12 years. I started- Straight out of school, get you into work. Straight out of school. Get you into work. Ian had me straight in. Absolutely. I worked for my parents for a couple of years, and then I went and did some other things in the wedding industry. And then I went back to- I went back to Kilts 4 U.
You’re working really hard for someone else, so that didn’t make much sense to me. I was, it was time for me to go back as well. I think I had to do a couple of other things. Absolutely. Get some more experience elsewhere. And definitely made the right decision going back.
I’m very, very happy going back. It was the perfect time. Because you specifically within the business, you offer a really unique service. So what is it that you specifically offer out to people that have bought their kilt or hired their kilts, like you then can potentially go out on their wedding day and dress them.
Absolutely. So- Which is very unique. Like, I’ve never heard of that before. Never? No. That’s very, very good to hear. We’re basically getting the demand in the stores and every man’ll know that unless you wear a kilt all the time they’re quite tricky to put on, and everyone can get by with it
But if you don’t put it on properly it can be quite uncomfortable. Or if you’ve not tied your laces properly, they can fall down every 30 seconds. So it’s the tiniest little tweaks that can make a massive change in your day. So we will turn up to whatever venue, whether you’re getting ready at home or whether
You’re getting ready at the wedding venue. And we will dress everyone head to toe. We’ll press all your outfits out if you’ve hired them. Amazing, make sure they’re all sitting absolutely perfectly. And just make sure everyone’s feeling really confident because brides, we get our hair done, our makeup done
Everything done in the morning of their wedding. So, why can’t grooms not have that too? Why not, absolutely. And also civil partnerships. This isn’t just for men. No. This is for women too. And we want everyone feeling their absolute best on their wedding day. Absolutely. So it just, we’re that extra service that just relieves any, any extra stresses in the morning
Of the wed- you don’t want to be ironing your shirt 9:00 AM on your wedding morning, we’re there to do that for you. Well, boys are already, boys are always quite funny I think, on their wedding day anyway, like they’re- because they’re all together and they’re all being lads as th- as they do, so like cracking the beers open and stuff like that.
Somebody’s going to like put a, an iron burn into that shirt or something, aren’t they? Like they’re just not paying attention. And no heat on, no heat on the men too-… But sometimes you need a woman there just to keep you in check and- be like, “Right, it’s time to actually start getting ready for your kilt.”
And what side does the buttonhole go, and what like totally… It’s just- Totally… It’s just all these small- Every little small detail like that and oh, even everything like if I go to a wedding, see if like all the groomsmen have their ties all tied different ways. I’m over there like fixing their ties.
It needs to be a double Windsor. Absolutely. They all
Need to be sitting at the same point. Just all their sporrans need to be sitting at the same point too. And just, and I don’t wanna go over what I said, but being comfortable is the most important ’cause if we wear a set of heels that are just that slightly bit too high on a wedding day- They’re uncomfortable
That’s really uncomfortable. And that can throw me on a wedding day. No, absolutely. I just wanna take my shoes off. I know. So- With some flip-flops. Keeping all of the right parts of the outf- Absolutely… Making sure your pleat’s on the right side and making sure your buttonholes are just sitting at a nice point- Absolutely
For photographs because these couples have these photographs for their whole life, and they’re always looking back on them. Whether it’s in a snippet in a video they’ve got them forever, so it’s really important that we get all of those fine details. I was gonna say that.
So you see back and you look back on people’s maybe videos or their content creation, and you go, “Oh, that kilt’s far too long,” or, “Those socks aren’t high enough.” Or like, the, it just isn’t sitting quite right. And I think if you’re offering that service in-house, why would somebody not want to then hire
That out? Totally. Because it’s dead easy to hire a kilt or get a bespoke kilt made, and you’ve spent a lot of money on it to look incredible. And then if you’re not quite wearing it properly on the day And you’re spending- You’re a bit like, “What?” typically people they’re spending a lot of money on, on, on- Yes
Their special day, and they’ve paid a fortune- I know, so-… For their videographer. They’ve paid a fortune for- their photographer. Yes. And it’s just it’s not an expensive service. No. It’s a couple of extra 100 pounds we’re there for the full morning of your day right up until your ceremony.
And it just, it’s that fine little detail just to finish and all of that to make sure that all of those photographs do come back right, and you’re not asking your photographer to blur something out ’cause it’s not quite right. Making sure everyone’s perfect. Absolutely, and it’s so important.
It’s so important. So important. So obviously you do have Frank’s Gold Room. Which is again, a phenomenal service. So Ted, for those of you that don’t know who Ted is, that’s my husband, my wee rock. He has been in a few times. Ted loves Frank’s Gold Room. Loves Frank’s Gold Room. God damn it.
He loves Frank’s Gold Room. So he’s come in, and he’s had a beautiful service. And it is just something really very special, I think, for men to do, just to go in and pick… You can explain it better than me, but you’re, you’re literally picking every single wee detail. Absolutely. So from the jacket to the lining to the stitching, colors, et cetera, like all the wee bits that you get in your suits, the buttons, like- Your cuff.
The fit of your jacket. It’s incredible. We really had a demand for specialist outfits. We wanted to offer the industry something that no, not any other retailer had. And we really thought about Frank’s Gold Room very carefully when we launched it. In each store that we’ve opened, we’ve made sure that there’s a suite of Frank’s Gold Room in every store to accommodate every area- Nice
That we’re a part of. And this is really for a lot of people, if they’ve not worn a kilt before and they want to spend 150 pounds on a hire, that is absolutely fine. But loads of people that maybe wear kilts all the time, they’re not alien to them in any way. They want to come in.
They want to spend a bit of money. Absolutely. And Frank’s Gold Room basically offers all of the requirements that people want. You can come in, and if you want to just get a kilt or just a jacket you can get… Once you come in, I think a lot of couples and customers, sometimes it takes maybe two or three appointments because they come in and they go, “Oh.”
It’s overwhelming. I had no clue that you could get your kilt made five different ways. We offer loads of specialist services within the suites. We have handcrafted stag horn skean dhos. Typically if someone maybe has picked a navy outfit, everything from the leather on their shoes
To the leather on their sporran- Because you get the shoes made as well… Is all navy. Everything matches. Everything. Literally from top to toe. It’s every single detail- Coming together and you will like fit. Even when you have the cantle in your sporran if that’s got a brass effect on it
Or an antique effect, we’ll make sure the kilt buckles on the kilt match up accordingly. So nice. The leather on your straps match up accordingly. Everything from top to toe- is all flowing. It’s all syncing. And we do, I do have to say we do plumb out a few really, really beautiful outfits from Frank’s wardrobe.
Oh, well Ted’s is incredible. Like, he absolutely any chance he gets, it’s out and it’s- there’s- some couples have came in and they’ve had absolutely no clue what they’ve wanted. And they’ve designed their own tartan right through to designing their own sporran
And then opening up into the jacket. Absolutely. And every appointment has probably been a part of their outfit because there’s so much that they never knew that they could do before they actually came in. So it’s a learning curve for them, too, and- it’s, they’re, th- we come up with really, really special products.
And of course it’s special because some customers designing their own tartan, that’s not an everyday occurrence? No, of course not. And it’s great that- And they’ve got that tartan forever. And they might have some tartan left over from after the wedding to make some cushions for their house or- Oh, that is so nice
Incorporate into their home because typically couples, when they’re getting married th- they tend to have babies and buy houses all at the one time, too. I don’t know how they do it- but- it’s a special service available in all three stores. It’s incredible.
And also, but you’re not just doing Frank Sgouros. You’ve also got obviously the Higher A side of the business, which is how Kilts 4 U started all those years ago. 20 years, I can’t believe it. But 20 years ago, so I know the story about how you started, ’cause it, am I, am I right in saying it was from your mom and dad’s garage?
That’s where it started. Totally by mistake. But I, listen, that’s how brilliant things happen. Total mistake. Just- That’s how it all happens, though. It’s incredible… Super random. It was, it was very random how it came about. My, dad used to be in the chemical industry. And he had a customer down in the borders.
And he was a customer, but he was a friend of my parents, too. I was really young at the time. I can still remember what the warehouse looked like to this day. And he’d went down to visit him, went into his workplace, had this warehouse, and it was just full of kilt stock. And my dad was like, “Ray, like, what are you doing with all these kilts and sporrans?”
And he’s like, “Oh, like I’m just, I’m actually really enjoying it. Like, do you want some stock and you can just see what what, what you can do with it?” My mom had just finished up with her dancing schools. Yes. She had eight dancing schools so she’d, like, taught girls, like, dancing
Her whole life. But your mom was on the telly and all that. She had a big career. She was- She had a big career… She had a big career. I hope she doesn’t mind me saying this, but she was 50 years old when she started this, so, I think at that point she was probably looking to retire. And she’d had a wee bit more free time in, in that year, and Ray basically said, “Take some stock and just see what you can do with it.”
And my parents went home, and they bought the domain kiltsforyou.com. And basically sold this stock, sold like 10 grand’s worth of stock within like, I think it was two or three weeks. And then they went back down and got some more, sold that off, and then grew out of the garage- Absolutely
And got a tiny little unit in Hillington. It was like s- 700 square, square- Yep… Square foot or something. Really, really small. And just sold some, some stock for about six months, and then realized that they wanted to get into the wedding industry at that point. And enjoyed it.
Wanted to get into the wedding industry. They were really enjoying it. And they’d went to a couple of bridal stores and realized that everyone within the area had different labels. And they knew that they needed to do something that was set aside from what everyone else was doing.
And they found a particular design that my mom loved, and it was an emblem tartan. There’s only one loom in Scotland left that makes this- Oh, wow… This style of tartan. It’s called a jacquard loom. And black was really big at that point. Every wedding was- Yes… Black and white themed.
That was, that was, was the trend at that point. And made this one tartan black thistle, stocked that. I think she made about 20 kilts or something- Wow… Back then, and then that’s just where it, where it took off. It just blossomed. It just blossomed from there. Got a few more kilts, then did another kilt.
Absolutely. Got another shop. I know. Expanded the warehouse and- I was just about to say, so how many stores do you have now? We’ve got three. It’s incredible. Three. One in Ayrshire, Is it Prestwick, Hillington? One in Hillington. Prestwick. One in Prestwick. Prestwick’s incredible. I’ve been down to the store.
I’ve not ever been to the… Been to Hillington lots of times, been to Prestwick, which is amazing. I’ve… Is it East Kilbride, your other one? One in East Kilbride. I’ve not been there. Prestwick was a beautiful store. It’s a lovely store. Lovely. Great location as well. Wonderful location. Like right on the high street.
It’s perfect. Love Prestwick. And have you been down there on a Wednesday? It’s absolutely buzzing. Is it? The town of Prestwick, it’s the busiest little town. I love it. You’re popping down there on a Wednesday afternoon, the street is absolutely heaving, so. Is it really? It’s a, it’s a gorgeous little busy town.
How fantastic. Fantastic. So three stores now, and every single one of them all has Frank Seldrums as well. Which is incredible. Absolutely incredible. So I know that, your mom Takes a good hand in the business, and she loves to, venture out the comfort zone of, like what should we do in terms of, like, kilts and stuff like that.
And she created a beautiful kilt. Is it something sands? What is it called? Ivory sands. Ivory sands. Ivory sands. That’s the very one. And that’s now so popular, is it not? By far our bestseller. Is it really still now? ‘Cause that was, what was it, two years ago that was launched? Two years ago.
And we took we took deposits from the customers- ’cause we needed to know how this was really gonna play out. What the demand was, We had no clue whether to make 50 kilts or make- 500. Yep. Weren’t sure. Launched it, and it just went pew. But the thing that we’ll always do is we’ll always listen to customer demand.
Correct. And people wanted a cream or ivory outfit. It’s beautiful. I love it. The customer’s always at the front of whatever we do, so, took that on board, designed a couple of tartans. And then we put it out for a vote as well, to our customers, and then they ended up picking the end score of what their favorite one was, and
We moved forward with that. That’s incredible. And And it’s a slightly lighter weight kilt. Because typically the customers that were coming in and asking for cream or ivory colors, they were maybe going abroad. Absolutely. I’d, I’d say about 80% of them are going abroad. So we’ve made this tartan in a slightly lighter weight.
Perfect. It’s not a full eight-yard kilt either. It’s not a five-yard kilt too. They’re your two most common weights, that you would, that you would make a kilt in. We did it in the middle. We’ve made it a seven. Because you want Photographers and videographers, they want kilts looking good and they want a good swing in them when you’re getting the guys walking and you want the structure as well, don’t you, of the kilt?
You don’t want n- you don’t want anything looking flimsy. No. So we wanted to keep the, a good weight in the kilt that you still had that same effect of an eight yard. But we didn’t want to do it as light as a five yard. Of course. Five yard kilts are still really beautiful from the back, but
We wanted it to be proper wedding attire. So we did it in the middle. We made it a seven. Which is perfect. It’s perfect. Perfect for a destination wedding. And it’s just, it’s a beautiful, beautiful kilt. I do love it. So I’m not surprised- It is gorgeous… That it’s your- It photographs amazing
Your best seller. Some of the customer photographs we’ve had back of Italy, Greece like these blue skies or blue oceans. Or if they’re on a beach, ivory sands, it does look fantastic. I think there’s a thing in that. Like, if I was you guys, like I would be doing, I’d be doing like, so our kilts have have been in like New York, or our kilts have been here, our kilts have been there.
Or and just say where across the world your kilts actually have been because it’s not that necessarily everybody’s getting married in Scotland and they’re keeping their kilts in Scotland. They are- Not at all… Having destination weddings. Everywhere. Everywhere. And a lot of couples are finding it a little bit cheaper to go abroad as well now, and they want to
Kind of make a week out of it with their loved ones too. They don’t want it to be just one day and it be over with. So they go everywhere. And then that migrates into honeymoon as well, so they’re getting married there they’re having their honeymoon there. It just, it makes sense, isn’t it?
Absolutely. That you’re killing two birds with one stone, but, So how many kilt ranges does Kilts 4 U stock in your hire range? That’s a really good question. I was gonna say, like have I just put you on
The spot saying, “Oh, you’ve got lots.” it’s, You’ve got lots… It’s over 30. I think it’s about 32 or 33. 32 or 33 tartans. Which is huge. And we do eight different jackets sets. And they’re all exclusive to you 16 of them are exclusive to us. Amazing. So we’ve patterned and we own 16 of those tartans.
Amazing. Sally’s designed all of them. She’s really good at that. I know it. Honestly, she’s great. She’s brilliant at that. But yes, we also do eight jacket and waistcoat sets- Nice… As well. And we do from six months old, which a lot of people don’t know about too- ’cause loads of couples are having children before they’re getting married- Absolutely
And they want their wee ones in the photos matching exactly. Absolutely. So whether the outfit’s light green, whether it’s- ivory sands whether it’s blue or black, we do everything to match, from a little, a little six-month-old baby right up to a 60 chest. Wow. Really? So our range is, is really, really vast.
No, that’s good. To cover for everyone. And I suppose, and I suppose that’s what people don’t really appreciate is that you’re not just going in and it’s like one ki- kilt fits all. It’s just not like that at all. It’s a bit like a- No… A wedding dress, I suppose. That you go in and you get your size, I suppose, and then it has to get altered so that it fits perfectly.
But certainly from the bespoke side of what you were saying with Frank’s Goldroom, I love, love, love, love that girls are getting this really beautiful dress which is costing Thousands of pounds A lot of money Why are the boys not getting it now? So, so to see the fact that they are, I’m just like, “This is great.”
And- Absolutely great… With us brides, we’re not gonna wear that dress again, but- Well, listen, I wore mine-… Round the house Hoovering-… For months after my wedding. I was like, my mum and dad had paid a fortune. I
Hope after, Lesley, not before it. No, no, no. Oh my gosh, that’s so funny After it. No, no, it’s after. But I just thought, “I’m never gonna get to wear this ever again.” So the Hoover came out and I was like, “I’m just gonna put my dress on.” And you love your dress for that day, and w- we don’t really get the opport- No
Unless you’re not you’re gonna renew your vows after your wedding. But like a kilt outfit, the men are gonna get the wear out of that again. Time and time again. And whether they’re wearing their- Time and time again… Whether they’re wearing their kilt with maybe just a really cool jumper and some slouchy- Absolutely
Socks and nice boots, whatever- Absolutely… Because they’re going to somewhere that’s maybe not a full dress kilt affair. So yes, they’re so versatile as well. And even in some shoots that we’ve done with you as well as- like we’ve had kilts that we’ve maybe the front apron of the tartan- Yes
Is maybe like old Scotland or one of our own designs. And then at the back we’ll maybe do each pleat different in a tartan and a jacket cloth. Yes. Or maybe just all the jacket cloth that- So that’s what Ted got done. That is what Ted got done. And it’s incredible. It’s incredible. He had a beautiful
Harris tweed jacket and waistcoat. It’s stunning. And he put the jacket cloth through the pleats of the back of his kilt. He did, and it looks spectacular. And he could wear that casually. If he had a jumper in the color that’ll tie in beautifully. Absolutely. Absolutely gorgeous. Honestly, he loves it.
He just, he loves it. So I, like, to me kilts are very sustainable because you can wear them again and again and again. Absolutely. And they’re flexible in their sizing too. So when anyone’s coming in for their wedding outfit, obviously it’s purely the first initial design is for their wedding.
But after that you can get so much use out of your kilt. You can wear it casually. You can wear it to charity balls. You can wear it to anything you want. Yes. Going to the rugby. Going to the rugby. Going to the rugby. Going to the rugby. So obviously- With the business and what you guys are, are doing in it.
Like, what’s next for Kilts 4 U? Like, is there any plans for new designs or… ‘Cause you guys just skyrocket and everything. You never let the grass grow under your feet. We do like to stay very current. We do like to stay quite contemporary, but, all of our designs are more modern than more traditional.
But you’ve broken into womenswear as well, haven’t you, with the mini kilts? Yes. The- Which is great… The licensed official Scotland national team tartan, that was huge for womenswear. We’d never seen a we’d never seen anything like that with with ladieswear. We sold loads of ladies’ kilts.
Loads of ladies’ kilts. And I think that was because we didn’t we’d started to do it in our own designs and we’ve started to do a wee bit more ladieswear. Do a lot, we’d do more ladieswear products. Yes. And then, when we got the license for that tartan, I think at that point people knew that we did ladieswear.
So I think that’s why it really took off. But- the kilts are beautiful. I actually had a friend in last week, and she bought one. She’s, going away with her husband, and I saw her in it and I just went, “Oh, Rebecca, I need to get one of them for myself.” The tartan is gorgeous.
It’s really, really lovely. So- I just wanted to make myself one. No, absol absolutely. Absolutely. But you also tailor a lot of your kilts to, like, I’m sure I’ve seen, like, teddy bears. You do teddy bears and throws and what was the other thing that I’d seen? Was it a whiskey decant?
Like, a wee- Hip flasks… Hip flask. That’s the word. We do wee teddies, scarves handbags- It’s so cute. Love it… Hip flasks. We seem to be having dogs in every week now ’cause someone’s wanting some us to make something bespoke to their dog for their day. Oh, please tell me you’re doing doggy stuff ’cause I’ll, I’ll be in there all day long getting Maya stuff.
We’ll do really cute little collars or what’s really popular, if there is a dog that comes in that’s maybe got An actual little jacket. We’ll take the cloth off of the old jacket and replace it with tartan. I love that. Or replace it with something that’s quite tux-like or- See, I wouldn’t even have thought about that.
That’s brilliant. No, it’s really, really cute. I love that. I love that. Really cute. And then the dog’s matching them with their their whole wedding. ‘Cause they’ll do that because they want their dog to be a part of their day, whether it’s running down the aisle with their rings or- No, it’s so cute, isn’t it?
Loads of people just want their pets to go with them. Their pooches. Absolutely. Absolutely. You touched on there about, suits and obviously ’cause you don’t just do kilts. No, we do suits too. I know. You’re doing everything. We do suits too. We were playing, we were trialing certain things over the past year, and we’ve landed on a really fantastic supplier.
So we did see that tux were becoming much more popular. Absolutely. Especially after Romy and Stuart’s wedding too. I know, and it’s a nice alternative though if you didn’t want to wear the kilt. Of course, they’re very, very smart. They’re beautiful… So when we’re, when we’re gonna launch something, Lesley, we wanna do it properly, so
We want, a really good supplier for hiring. And we want, something really fabulous for- Absolutely… For the bespoke too. So, we finally, we finally hit the nail on the thumb with, with both of them. So we’re running with both of these suppliers now. The tux to hire is a gorgeous slim line suit.
Really, really nice fit on them. A very modern fit as well. Quite, quite a neat tailored fit- to hire. And in terms of the bespoke side of it, that is just, it’s absolutely incredible. There’s so many different fits of jackets you can get. There’s so many- I know,
Different linings. We do about 10 bespoke in-house linings too- Wow… To offer for the suits that we sourced ourself and got made ourselves. From the buttons to the satin lapels, the choices really are, are endless. The different colors of velvet you can get now. There’s about 10 different, I th- didn’t know there was about 10 different ivories and 10 different creams, but there are.
Who knew? Who knew? So, it’s very, very vast and on- the bespoke side there’s loads of choice. So, we want to be able to offer a lot of different, parts of the jacket and we found the right, the right supplier to do that. Amazing. I also just wanted to touch on, so you’re the only company in Scotland who stocks Not only Rangers, but Celtic and just recently the Scotland
The new Scotland tartan. Wow. We’ve, it’s been incredible. It really has been incredible. And such a different line of work from weddings to thinking about football fans. The trajectory’s changed completely. So when you’re thinking about someone, a couple when they’re getting married you’re thinking about all of the extra details you can offer them or you’d be focused on something really quite personal if they’ve brought in a brooch that they want put on their sporran.
But in terms of football fans, you’re just thinking about they want something as light as possible. Absolutely. And they want all of the football details to match, whether it’s a kilt pin or a- belt buckle or a- sgian-dubh. So they’ve, they’ve, they’ve been absolutely amazing to work with.
Everyone at Rangers, Celtic, and Scotland are so professional. They’ve all got the best teams, and they’ve, they’re very much the same way that we work, that we are always thinking of that football fan or that couple of getting married, and they think that way too. They’re thinking of what is the best situation for the fan?
What is the the best outcome of the kilt that we can- we can get for them? They do a lot of choices to give them a vote in the say of what, the way they want things to be done. It’s important because they’re gonna be wearing it, aren’t they? So you got to. Sure. So- it’s, they’ve, they’ve been great to work with.
That’s incredible. They’ve been absolutely fantastic. And when Scotland first initially approached us, they h- they already had their tartan. And then, qualified for the, for the World Cup and- I know. Did you watch the game? I didn’t actually, Lesley. I didn’t. Oh, Catalina. But I know I was, I was a wee bit tired on Saturday, so I didn’t, I didn’t catch the game during the night, but I did wake up and I did watch it.
You saw the, And i think my doom scrolling times went up about four hours this week-… ’cause all we’re watching is these reels and with my dad I’m like, “Oh, there’s an Atlantic Blue kilt. Oh, there’s another one. There’s another one.” We’ve got into this – So Boston seem to be absolutely loving the Scottish people are showing up.
They absolutely love the fans. You’re just seeing, like, all these guys on top of- boats and all sorts just going crazy. And they’re saying that they’re putting fairy liquid, they’re putting fairy liquid into- Fountains… The fountains. They’re like, “That, these people are crazy,” he said, “but they’re brilliant.”
He said their energy, their… I’m, I’m so excited. And all these Americans are all going, “We can’t let these Scots go. We can’t let these Scots go.” Did you see it? “They need to stay in Boston.” Oh, 100%.
You’re so good. My American accent is terrible, but I’ve been, honestly enjoyed just watching all- of the videos and all the reel all over Instagram recently. It’s brilliant, isn’t it? And I just love all, like, near enough, when I’m looking at all the, all of these videos so many people are in kilts.
And that is just made me- How proud does that make you?… So happy. I feel so proud to be Scottish after, but- And also running a a kilt company for 20 years, like that’s- Well, that’s what the World Cup’s about… No small feat. It’s bringing different countries together to have fun together and have a laugh together- Absolutely.
And just share the love of football in terms of that. So us going along all, all in kilts is, is even better. I’m sure all of the Americans love that, too. So if somebody’s gonna-… Gonna get a bespoke kilt, what is the timeline? Like how, how, how should they, when should they look to book that?
Is it, like, a year before their wedding just to give you time and- Truly, I think coming in around about a year and a half before your wedding- I think is the perfect time because when you’re coming in for your first initial appointment- ‘Cause people don’t really appreciate that, do they? They don’t appreciate that there’s got, that there’s a time lapse- No
That they’ve got to- If you’re hiring, Lesley a year’s an, a more than, more than enough amount of time. However, quite a lot of couples that come in, once they realize what they can do- they might end up buying a bespoke. Of course. They might end up making their own tartan.
Yes. And you need a little bit more time for that. Yep. So even if you’re even if you don’t want to book- You don’t know what color you want, you don’t have a theme, you might not even have a venue. I would, same for the girls the girls will start looking at maybe what silhouette of dress that they want.
Absolutely. And I think the guys should come in too and just get the ball rolling of what they think that they want because if you go down the route of making your own tartan, you do need about a year and a half for that. The tartan takes about maybe 15, 16 weeks to get made.
And that’s just production time. Absolutely. You might have a couple appointments before that just designing what you want because, especially with designing your own tartan you need to decide on your pattern. Yep. You need to decide on the structure. Yep. You need to decide of your colorings.
And that takes some time, so- Of course… A year and a half before I think is the perfect amount of time. Amazing. Amazing. And final tip on anybody that’s looking to get married in a kilt, like, what would you, what would be your top tip to give them? I would definitely have a trial run before your day.
If you’re not Getting the fitting service, or maybe someone’s dad or grandpa they’ve worn kilts their whole life. They’re the, they’re the men that keep the guys straight on the day. If you don’t have anything like that, try your outfit on a couple of days before your wedding if you’re hiring it.
We would get that out to you within that timeframe anyway, and just have a go at putting it on. ‘Cause there’s nothing worse than stressing about where your kilt’s sitting or where your sporran’s sitting, ’cause your kilt- But they don’t need to because they’re gonna hire you to go out and put them in service.
You can get a fitting service. Absolutely. But if you don’t if maybe they’re getting married abroad or something, I mean, the fitting service- Again, they can still hire you… Does go abroad. It does go abroad. Just have a run through of everything on your day. Everything in your morning.
Don’t leave anything not checked or to the last minute. Absolutely. It’s too important. Just have a run over of everything and then everything is absolutely perfect and you’re gonna have a really smooth morning. Incredible. Selina, it’s been an absolute pleasure having you in the studio today.
Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for coming along. That’s quite a lot of information that we’ve given people, so I hope they take everything on board of what you’ve said. But the timeline, obviously, it takes to get the kilt, and to start thinking about that process, for their special day.
So thank you so, so much for coming in. That was incredible. No, thank you for having me. Thank you. We’re retailers and we offer services, but- we’re wedding specialists as well, so- if you need to call us just to ask some questions and- And award-winning. We should say award-winning
We are, a full support for people there for the planning of their wedding. So even if you’re needing some recommendations of people in the local area or just any question at all, before you even know what you want, we are wedding specialists here to support you on the very beginning of your journey right up until the end.
Absolutely. So, please give us a call or- That’s incredible… An email, anything at all. We’re here to support everybody. Incredible. Thank you so, so much, Selina. Thank you, Lesley. Thank you.
Host: Lesley Traynor
Guest: Selina Carlton from Kilts 4 U
Length: 32 minutes
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