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Booking a Wedding at Gretna Green

12 replies

GretnaGreenMachine · 21/02/2022 21:47

We're getting "married" at home in the field attached to our house (second marriages). We've invited over a hundred people and booked bands, a humanist celebrant, food etc. So the big wedding is all sorted. But obviously it's not legally binding (I live in England).

In the mean time, we were all going to get actual married at the local registry office with just 2 witnesses. It's come time to submit the paperwork for the registrar and we're having a change of heart.

Instead, we fancy stealing away to Gretna and having a mini break + wedding. It's a 3 hour drive and we're in England.

I'm sure I'll be told it's a stink hole and a conveyor belt - naturally I don't care about these things because I have my lawn wedding planned for shortly afterwards.

What I want to know is... how far in advance do we need to book a Gretna wedding? Weekday is fine. And I know the registrars need 29 days notice. But, if I wanted to get married at the end of May, could I book a venue this week and that would fly or am I going to be told there's no room at the inn? I'm not sure how over subscribed Gretna is.

I've emailed an enquiry to the place we want to book through. In the meantime, I'm hoping for some anecdotal evidence that 3 months notice is not too short notice to grab a slot at Gretna.

Experiences are gratefully received.

Please don't just insult my wedding or tell me to get married somewhere else. Thanks! 😚

OP posts:
wishingitwasfriday · 21/02/2022 21:49

My friend got married at Gretna and they booked it all within 6 weeks of the wedding. Whilst it was a little bit of a conveyor belt, so was my other friends wedding in Greece!
Seriously, we had a lovely time and it was nice and relaxed. The sun shone all day and they had some lovely photos taken.

HettiO · 02/03/2022 09:32

Hi, we booked our wedding about 6 weeks in advance for Gretna and have had no problem getting everything sorted. They do some really affordable packages where they take care of everything for you which massively appealed to us and they were able to offer us a few different dates to pick from. We're due to get married in 2 weeks and so far it hasn't felt at all like a conveyor belt - everything is very slick as that's what they're used to doing but also everything can be personalised to suit your needs. Hoping it all feels equally good when we get there too :)

etulosba · 02/03/2022 09:53

Why Gretna? Any register office in Scotland will do.

There are some lovely ones that won’t give you the conveyor belt experience.

Ekerty72 · 02/03/2022 10:04

I got married in Gretna! Didn't visit beforehand, took a punt. And it was stunning. The venue (Blacksmiths cottage) was beautiful and cosy. We had a drink afterwards in the hotel (also lush venue) and we all got to sit together and celebrate which was ace, instead of a large gathering where you perhaps don't get to chat to everyone. Then a meal in Smith's afterwards which I thought was close to Michelin star quality. Brilliant choice, it's a lovely place:-)

GretnaGreenMachine · 02/03/2022 13:45

@etulosba

Why Gretna? Any register office in Scotland will do.

There are some lovely ones that won’t give you the conveyor belt experience.

Said the person who clearly didn't read my entire post.

It's Gretna Green because it's Gretna Green.
Why go anywhere to do anything? Why leave the house? Why get married at all.

I'm getting married at Gretna Green, and it works for me. 😝

We booked! It was easy. Got our first choice of date and a lovely hotel near Carlisle. (Didn't fancy staying in Gretna Hall)

We're having an Iron Bru and a battered Mars Bar for our wedding breakfast. 🤷🏻‍♀️😅

OP posts:
etulosba · 02/03/2022 14:19

Said the person who clearly didn't read my entire post.

Said the person who read your entire post and has read the entire post again

Why Gretna?

SilverGlassHare · 02/03/2022 14:26

We booked started arranging ours about a 2 months in advance but we wanted a specific date. I think there was something about only being able to do some of it with a month's notice... We did it at the register office and it wasn't like a conveyor belt at all, it was really nice. The registrar was lovely to us - we were the only couple there. They found us a pair of randoms who'd come in to do some paperwork to be our witnesses. We stayed in the Lakes, it snowed and it was lovely!

SilverGlassHare · 02/03/2022 14:28

Gretna Green is traditionally the first place over the border that underage people from England could stop to get married. Not actually underage, just that in Scotland the age you could get married without parental consent was lower than in England so people would elope to Gretna to get married - it used to be quite a thing.

GretnaGreenMachine · 02/03/2022 14:35

There's just something fun and romantic about it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I'm from England.

OP posts:
FelicityPike · 02/03/2022 14:36

Totally unrelated to your question…..but why won’t your humanist wedding be legally binding?

GretnaGreenMachine · 02/03/2022 14:37

@FelicityPike they just aren't in England. It's a crying shame!!

OP posts:
FelicityPike · 02/03/2022 14:56

[quote GretnaGreenMachine]@FelicityPike they just aren't in England. It's a crying shame!! [/quote]
Absolutely!
I’ve been to loads of gorgeous weddings in loads of different settings (I’m Scottish).
That’s a shame.

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