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Original poster

Gretna Green - tacky or romantic?

29 replies

TwoBigNoisyBoys · 20/04/2025 16:10

I’ll start this by saying I’m not planning to get married, but this leads from a conversation I had at work. I have always thought of Gretna Green as being a lovely, romantic place to get married. I said as much at work and two people said they thought it was the height of tackiness…one even said to them it was on a par with Blackpool! (Mind you, I love a weeknd in Blackpool!) So, I guess I’m asking what you think, and what your experience is? All for the sake of nosiness 😁

OP posts:
mumofoneAlonebutokay · 20/04/2025 16:11

I wouldnt say it's tacky, but I'm not a fan

I'd think that a registry office in the centre of a city is more romantic

Ayeayeaye25 · 20/04/2025 16:12

Gretna itself is a bit of a dive and don’t imagine the wedding venue will be much.

SirChenjins · 20/04/2025 16:14

Have you ever been to Gretna?! It’s not romantic in the slightest but it obviously has a lot of history. I’m not sure it’s quite on a par with Blackpool but it’s certainly touristy in a slightly tacky sort of way.

winnieanddaisy · 20/04/2025 16:19

My mother got married at Gretna Green at the age of 69 . It was her second marriage as her first husband, my dad , had died 5 years earlier. My aunt and uncle went with them as witnesses and they stayed o few days to make a nice break of it . They had a lovely time and they had some good photos of the wedding .
I think it was perfect second wedding for an older couple , or even for a younger couple who can’t cope with fuss .

MartinBishopsbum · 20/04/2025 18:35

My first marriage was there, its not tacky, you do the registry bit and then get taken to the blacksmiths and get married over the anvil
Second time round we are going full on tacky with an Elvis wedding in Las Vegas

Pihrd · 20/04/2025 18:36

Gretna Green once saved my life.

But it’s quite rundown now. Still nice enough though.

feemcgee · 20/04/2025 18:37

It’s a nice wee town, we thought about getting married there, as I’m Scottish and DH is English. Seemed like a good halfway point, so we went for a look. The reality is that the place is full of coach parties ogling at the married couple. We decided not to, but each to their own.

ARichtGoodDram · 20/04/2025 18:43

It depends where in Gretna you go.

We've been to a few weddings there because we love not too far away and some have been absolutely gorgeous.

ClassicStripe · 20/04/2025 19:00

I looked at getting married there (don’t actually have anyone to be the groom so that might be a slight issue) then realised I would want my family at my fictional wedding so that seemed to take away the whole point of going there. Seems more like a place for elopement.

Popquorn · 20/04/2025 19:01

Neither is the right word for me - more of a cliched registry office.

Toddlerteaplease · 20/04/2025 19:03

Tacky!

PollyCreo · 20/04/2025 19:12

I thought it was somewhere young English couples could go to get married without their parents' permission?

Original poster
TwoBigNoisyBoys · 21/04/2025 12:18

Hmm, thanks for the replies. As I say it’s only me musing, but I haven’t been and was just wondering…

OP posts:
ImWearingPantaloons · 21/04/2025 12:22

Very tacky

Blinkyy · 21/04/2025 12:23

It doesn’t have a lot going for it (a big but not great outlet place nearby) -there is a hotel which does weddings with a garden set up for photos which is prob ok but long time since I e been there. Quite a lot of tourist tat in the old blacksmiths where they once held the weddings

Lounderflounder · 21/04/2025 12:55

Ayeayeaye25 · 20/04/2025 16:12

Gretna itself is a bit of a dive and don’t imagine the wedding venue will be much.

The wedding venue is lovely. Gretna itself isn't.

BethDuttonYeHaw · 21/04/2025 12:57

It’s nothing like Blackpool. But it’s not romantic either.

SuperSange · 21/04/2025 12:58

There are around half a dozen places to get married there; some are awful, a couple are beautiful.

maslab · 21/04/2025 13:01

60 years ago, charming. Now, tacky. Sorry!

minnienono · 21/04/2025 13:02

I’d say kitch rather than tacky. So fun and traditional for elopement rather than romantic per se

PowderRoom · 21/04/2025 13:06

It’s entirely subjective. For some people, how I got married (wearing jeans, two witnesses, off for tapas afterwards) would be the height of oddity. We enjoyed it. Similarly, other friends of ours got married in LA by an Elvis impersonator. Judging by the internet, there are people whose wedding parties work for months on choreographed dance routines or on serenading the reception with a rousing chorus from Les Mis. You do you.

Voyager54 · 21/04/2025 13:06

From experience it is very busy with bus tours in and out all day and as others have mentioned large outlet stores but it is still Scotland and Gretna Green!

LlynTegid · 21/04/2025 13:07

I would say dated more than anything. The notion of people 'eloping' to get married seems to be something from the last century. There are now places you can marry in England and Wales other than a church or a registry office.

Jennalong · 21/04/2025 13:08

At the actual Gretna Green complex = awful .
It has a restaurant that feels like you are sat in a large care home dining room , a whisky shop , and a large souvenir shop that sells everything with any liklihood of a link to Scotland for the mass market .
It's around 30 miles from where I live but I've never known anyone to marry there.
As Gretna is a symbolic place to marry it has quite a few places to and I would choose anywhere over there .

KIlliePieMyOhMy · 21/04/2025 13:08

It's a nice wee town with a massive shopping village - as in Cheshire Oaks attached.