Copyright dailyrecord
Outlander fans are desperately awaiting season eight of the hit Starz series, which is slated for release in early 2026, with the cast teasing the last outing . In the meantime, many are already re-visiting the show as they wait out the Droughtlander while other viewers come to the epic fantasy series for the first time. Season one was filled with many key moments, but episode seven’s The Wedding remains a fan-favourite to this day as Jamie (played by Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) were bound together forever. The instalment saw Claire forced to marry Jamie for protection after she failed to go back through time, with the 20th century time traveller slowly starting to fall in love with the 18th century Highlander. The episode marked a turning point in Outlander and the start of Jamie and Claire’s epic love story, however, non-book readers might be unaware that the TV show made several big changes from Diana Gabaldon’s source material when bringing the wedding to life. Outlander’s executive producer Ronald D. Moore previously revealed how Jamie’s ring for Claire went through several creative iterations before the programme-makers settled on a key fashioned into a wedding band. Moore said on the Official Outlander Podcast: “In the book, the ring was just a ring like any other. It had no deeper meaning. It was just a ring. But for this episode and for dramatic purposes, the ring felt like it should have meaning and shouldn’t just be a ring.” Costume designer Terry DresbachDresbach, who was also on the podcast episode, said: “This is what Ron pitched to me: a nail. He pitched to me a nail for the ring and I’m like, ‘What are you insane? You can’t have a nail.’” She added: “So I started designing nail rings. Really, really terrible.” Moore explained he wanted an item that could be taken to the blacksmith and fashioned into a ring, with Dresbach later coming up with the idea for a key to symbolise Claire unlocking Jamie’s heart. “Then at least he was giving her something that was special and it is the key to my heart reference, so it addressed what [Moore] was looking for, which is something terribly sentimental and beautiful, and I knew we could do more with a key,” Dresbach said. Dreshbach admitted there were “millions of rings” and “millions of designs” when she was trying to create the right one for Claire, saying she loved the piece she ultimately created for the show. Another big change from the Outlander novel to the TV show for the wedding episode was where Claire and Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) tied the knot. The programme-makers also wanted to create a big difference between Frank and Claire’s nuptials and her ceremony with Jamie. “In the book, the church [Jamie and Claire] get married in is the same church Frank and Claire get married in. Now, clearly in our version of events Claire and Frank get married in an impromptu way because I wanted a contrast between her wedding now and her wedding in the 20th century,” Moore explained. Additionally, the show also saw Frank and Claire visit Castle Leoch in the 20th century, before she lived there when she went through the stones, so the creatives felt they needed to have a different venue for the two weddings. “In our version, it would have felt repetitive. In the book, it was special because it was the only time it had happened. We decided not to do that because it had already happened earlier on in our show,” Moore said. One final big difference between the books and the TV show was Claire’s wedding dress, which was gold or brown in the novels and brought from the inn keeper’s wife. Dresbach revealed that after the nail ring debate, Moore wanted the wedding dress in the show to have come from a local prostitute. In response, Dresbach told him: “Are you f***king crazy? First you’re going to give me a nail and now you’re going to give me a dress of a w****?” Moore admitted he “went away and thought about it” and came up with a solution: the dress came from an aristocrat who gave it to the brothel in lieu of payment. Dresbach said she was happier with this version of how Claire’s wedding dress and said it “actually worked” and she could “buy the story”. Outlander: Blood of My Blood is streaming on Starz in the USA and on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK Outlander season 8 will air on Starz and MGM+ via Prime Video in early 2026
