Is there any benefit to eloping to Scotland?

[Softleftpowerstance]

As opposed to doing it in England?

DP and I are thinking of eloping and assumed it would be to Gretna Green. But having actually looked at the law and stuff it turns out you still have to do a chunk of paperwork in advance. As much as I like the history of Gretna the present day seems to be morphing into Disney a bit. The combination has made me wonder if it’s better to do it elsewhere. It will be a secret elopement so somewhere where it’s easy to a) arrange and b) sort witnesses is a high priority.

I don't live too far away from Gretna ( about 30 miles ) tbh their are numerous ' gretna centre's and as you say many of them are commercialised . You need to have a good look through the websites.

I hadn’t realised that - and I suppose it makes sense that the ones that do well on Google are the most commercialised.

We went to Gretna but actually married at the registration office. There was a bit of paperwork to do in advance (by post) but it wasn’t hard work at all. The wedding itself was just the cost of a normal registration office wedding rather than the much higher cost of the wedding venues around there.

The wedding was lovely and meaningful.

The benefit of marrying there was it was zero faff and ‘eloping’ meant we could do what we wanted.

We took our friends as witnesses but I think it would be easy to get a couple of people from the street.

Congratulations.

Ps. We had a look at the tourist attractions afterwards and didn’t regret not marrying at the anvil or wherever.

Thanks. Was it fairly easy to arrange the date you wanted or did it get booked up? (We’re not aiming for Valentine’s Day or anything like that).

Check out Anvil Hall in gretna itself.much less tacky, not a tourist in sight 😁
It was nice and easy and we avoideď family stress!

You don’t have to go in for an interview like you do in much of England - it’s by post so easier that way! My parents got married (after 40+ years ) there and it was lovely, the old blacksmiths is the traditional place where they bang the anvil and have pipers etc and, whilst quite gimmicky, made for a really good day. I think if you want something small and a bit quirky it’s a nice idea

The Hall looks lovely StandardLampski but I fear it’s still too weddingy for us!

Small and a bit quirky is definitely the brief!

You don’t have to go in for an interview like you do in much of England - it’s by post so easier that way!

You have to go for an interview south of the border?! I had no idea!

I got married in Scotland, but a fair distance from where I live. Initial contact with registrar by email, quick chat on the phone, then completed a form and sent it in the post with our birth certificates, then just turned up on the day.

Yep - we got married in London and had to go in for interview together with a bit with each of us in our own. We’re both British so no reason, the norm I think!

My parents were shopping at the blacksmiths in Gretna when someone randomly asked them if they would witness a wedding so you don’t even need witnesses OP.

My DF was very amused by the experience!

There's more to Scotland than just Gretna, and one advantage of tying the knot here is that you can do it anywhere you can persuade a celebrant to go. Humanist weddings are legal here, so you're not stuck with church, registrars office or a licensed wedding venue, and your ceremony can be as austere, gushy or romantic as you choose.

Yes I’m hoping we can pull off something like that Pink. Which actually is a major pro for Gretna, where it’s can’t be too unusual. If we tried that near our local registry office people would probably refuse to speak to us!

We lived relatively near Gretna when we were getting married so thought we should do it there. But, no wedding. Just got married in registry office and pulled two randoms from the street. There was a form to fill in a couple of weeks in advance but all in all it was maybe £100-£150? Couldn't have been any less as we literally only wanted to be formally married. Nowt else. They did show us around when we visited the touristy bit, the blacksmiths maybe? Nice enough but even the most basic package was too much fun for us..!

HirplesWithHaggis how does that work. Do you literally propose a site to a celebrant and see if they agree to it? Can it be outside? Do you find a celebrant through the local register office?

Sorry lots of questions!

Come to the NW coast of scotland and get married on my local beach....I'll witness it for you!!

I'd not bother with Gretna. You can elope to anywhere in Scotland to get married - there is no law on venues so you can get married on a beach, top of a munro, beautiful woodland - anywhere you like (though you should get the owners permission for private land). The person marrying you has the authorisation rather than the venue. If you're not religious, you might want to look at a Humanist Society Scotland celebrant as they offer very personal ceremonies and you have complete control over your ceremony.

Meant to add - to find a celebrant just use www.humanism.scot and go to Find a Celebrant!

soddingname sounds perfect. Although you’d want a thick coat - it will be a winter non-wedding.

You can get witnesses here on MN

www.humanism.scot/humanist-ceremonies/find/
Not all celebrants will do beach or a mountaintop, but you can probably find one to suit, especially if you can work around his/her available dates. Worth a go!

Thanks.

So it really is a world away from English law then!

The other thing about getting married in Scotland is that your mother's job will be recorded on the wedding certificate, unlike in England where it's too hard to change the forms or something.

Our house buying procedure is better too. Hope you find what you want.

I have a think coat!! I live here!!