In Scottish wedding tradition, blackening is the ritual of covering the engaged couple in messy substances before their marriage.
Friends or relatives may use items such as treacle, flour, soot, feathers, or other sticky materials. The couple can then be paraded through their community, often in or on a vehicle. The custom is especially associated with parts of Scotland, including the northeast.
Blackening is generally described as a form of playful humiliation intended to prepare the couple for married life. It is also linked with ideas of protection from bad luck and proving the couple’s ability to endure embarrassment together.
It should not be confused with handfasting, which is a symbolic joining of hands, or with ordinary wedding-day pranks. Practices vary considerably by locality and family.