Are "scrambles" ; still done at weddings (Scottish, maybe?)

Did bewilder me a bit at the time Nannarose

I was married in Staffordshire, it was given by a couple originally from Birmingham.

I have never even heard of a scramble, and am fascinated by these descriptions.
Cherrytree59 - we still do the 'wooden spoon' - traditionally handed over by the youngest child present - at family weddings This bewilders (and amuses) some guests, which makes me wonder if it might be a regional thing?

We had a scramble when I got married about 40 years ago, North East of Scotland. Dad threw out coppers as the car drew away from our house on the way to the church.

We'd have been the spik o' the toon if it hadn't happened, it was traditional and it was expected.

I managed to escape a blackening though

It used to happen in the North East and was called a "hoy oot" ( throw out) It happened when the bride left her home and all the children would gather outside her house. Last time I saw it was at a wedding on Holy Island, the groom threw the coins as they left the church but the children didn't know what to do until someone told them it was for them.

In 1971, my fiancé and I attended a wedding in Michigan, USA, where the male guests took turns to dance with the bride but only after they had pinned some dollars to her dress! We found this quite odd and vowed we wouldn’t follow that tradition at our wedding there a few weeks later. Just as well, since most of our guests were students!

Nowadays, couples here in the UK sometimes ask for money in lieu of presents. When I married again in 2015, olddudders and I suggested that our guests might prefer to donate to a charity of their choice as we wanted their presence on the day, not presents!

I definitely remember the custom when was a child in Scotland, I guess around the early 60s, always known as a Scatter.

It's one of those things I often think about as I out on the early morning dog walks, and I wonder if they'd be banned now on health and safety grounds.....

Married in Glasgow in 1974. The neighbour’s children would have been hugely disappointed if we hadn’t done it.

I had a scramble at my wedding in the central belt in 1985.
But, oh, the christening piece! My dear MIL from Coatbridge came to stay when we had our youngest daughter christened at the “on base” RAF church. She prepared the regulations two rich-tea, butter and 50p piece and off we went to church. Unfortunately, the first man she saw was in a concrete bunker with a gun. (the station areas at a heightened alert). She set off, undaunted across the grass waving the piece and yelling encouragement “in a foreign (to the boy) language”. Me chasing after her clutching my hat to my head. The young man on guard looked terrified, I was worried she’d get herself shot!
I don’t think the guard really ever understood what was going on but I persuaded him to just take the proffered “piece” but not to eat it.

In several of the villages in the Chew Valley the custom persists of children tyeing the church gates closed and not opening them until the best man throws coins to the waiting crowd. Don’t know how old this tradition is but villagers married seventy years ago remember it.

I'm in Northumberland and have been told these used to happen at the local village church - apparently the children used to wait in the small cafe next door!

I remember coppers being thrown from the car as the bride and groom left the church. This was in a small village, just south of Aberdeen, in the late fifties. We children hadn't been invited to the wedding but somehow word got round and we went along for the fun. I think that nowadays children's time is so full of other activities it's probably gone by the board. Also, would they bother to turn up for small change?!!

I remember the father of the bride tossing coins out of the wedding car window as it was leaving the bride’s house when I was a child in the North East of England, but I don’t remember what we called it. DH says it never happened in Yorkshire because they were too tight (his words, not mine ).

We learnt the hard way about a similar custom at Nigerian weddings. The couple are ‘sprayed’ with paper money, which means you put money into a basket that’s passed around. We’d been warned about this so when we saw the basket coming, we put in a generous amount of 1000 Naira notes, which were worth about £4 each then.

As the basket went by, I noticed notes were mainly of a very small denomination, such as N20 or N50, which seemed a bit odd but each to their own and I didn’t think any more of it. Five minutes later, though, the basket came round again. And again. And again and again and again! That’s why everyone put small notes in - we hadn’t been told about that bit of the tradition!

We eventually ran out of cash and decided to slip away at about 6:30pm.

West coast Scotland, Scramble was a wedding tradition

When my aunt got married 1967, before we all departed (I was flower girl ), I clearly remember clearly my gran saying to my grandfather 'you have got the scramble money in your pocket'?

As he was getting into the wedding car with his daughter (bride), he would have thrown the handful money (coppers) down and the neighbour's children would have all 'scrambled' to pick the coins up.

Neighbours always came out to wave the bride off .

I was married England, so no scramble.

Did a have a wooden spoon attached with a ribbon to a horseshoe.
Would interested to know if any other Gner received a wooden spoon at their wedding.

it is a lovely custom, and can be done quite safely, on the forecourt of the church, not from a moving vehicle.
it is a sign of sharing joy, probably also linked to ancient fertility ideas, as was the confetti.
is that still done. that is more of a litter problem, not having value.

They used to happen in Cumberland but were called "Shill oouts"[Shell out] your father threw silver coins out of the taxi window as you were setting out for the ceremony. The other way was the church gates were tied with rope by the local children after all the guests had entered the church, they then had to" shill oout" to get the ropes untied.
I have a very old newspaper cutting where my great grandad was fined because someone tripped up and the taxi he and his daughter was in caught their leg and damaged them. It did not stop the custom though.

When my son was married fifteen years ago, we had a scramble. I had been saving up silver coins for months.
However, when I was a child, it was copper coins and the same at my own wedding forty four years ago.
It was quite a dangerous business, with children running after the bridal car.

This has also brought back memories of the Christening piece. The christening piece is given to the first person you meet on the way to the church OF THE OPPOSITE SEX from the baby. Does anyone remember that?

When we married in Glasgow almost 52 years ago, a scramble was a common tradition, both outside the brides house and again when the bridal car left the church! I think it was also sometimes called a “scatter”. Haven’t been to a Scottish wedding for years, but I can’t imagine it still happens these days.

Don’t recognize that name, but in the North East the brides father would throw out a handful of coins to the children waiting to see the Bride leaving her home on the way to the ceremony.

Some 65 years ago, as a child, my father would sometimes throw a scramble. I live in Northern Ireland. My younger brother and I would be playing about in our little kitchen house. Mum, dad, my grandfather, my brother and I in that tiny room. Then dad would throw a scramble from what was in his pockets (checked previously I’m sure). Of course being older I knew to go for the silver first. On reflection I have no doubt that dad slipped my younger brother a few bob to make up the difference. I must ask him.

We had a scramble at our Scottish wedding fifty years ago. Everyone did. Doubt if it happens now. Health and safety issues.

Scrambles were common when I was a child in Glasgow. The groom threw coins from the window of the bridal car as it drew away from the church for the local children to fight for. It is a custom that has long been disbanded and doesn't need to be revived.

I’ve been to loads of Scottish weddings but have never seen that.

I did go to the wedding of a couple who became Mr & Mrs Rose. As they left the service in a car, they threw Cadbury’s Roses out of the windows but the funniest part was watching some decrepit old ladies cast aside their sticks and shove small children out of the way in order to garner some goodies for themselves!

i have a clear image of it in my mind, but then i do tend to live in the past.
am in england. maybe not experienced personally, but i know of it.
if not still done, it ought to be. by bride and/or groom.
or would it mean a fine for littering.....