Getting married in Gretna Green!

Juicy_Tube

aussielle wrote:

We got married in the original blacksmiths shop in Gretna. We aranged everything ourselves, and it didn't cost as much as we thought.

Everything went well, we had a wonderful day, made all the more special being able to write our own vows.

We stayed in a lovely small family run hotel and bought our flowers from a local nursery, we also had a piper for the ceremony and a harpist to play whilst we were all eating.

If you decide to organise everything yourself and want a hand/recommendations or ph numbers etc just holler

My brother is getting married at Anvil Hall in April. There are 60 of us going, all making a long weekend break out of it, some in hotels, others renting guest houses. All meeting for drinks on the Friday night together, the night before the big day. Only one pub I believe in Gretna! Then having lunch together on the day after the wedding.

I know my brother and his fiancee went for a weekend and checked out places so maybe that's an idea for you to do beforehand?!

I will report back to you mid-April on any thoughts etc, so feel free to PM and remind me in case we lose the thread down the boards.

I am in London. How would you recommend getting there? Flying(where?), train or is it as easy to drive? Want the quickest and easiest route, not necessarily the cheapest for once!!;) Will be short on time.


Thanks all in advance.

Aussielle has been invaluable with her tips on this for me to pass on.:D

JTx

Scottie_2

Flying to Gretna is a non-starter, the nearest Airports are at Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, all about 60 to 80 miles away! There used to be flights to Carlisle airport but as far as I am aware they no longer operate.

The M6 is a nightmare on a Friday evening with usually long delays at Birmingham and at the Thelwell viaduct in Cheshire. :eek:

That leaves good old rail, the London to Glasgow service stops at Carlisle where you can join the local train to Gretna, the alternative is a 10 mile taxi ride.

Scottie

Juicy_Tube

Ok, folks,
Just returned from my brother's wedding at Gretna. Wow! Had a fantastic time, much better than i anticipated. He got married at Anvil Hall (beautiful), then reception at Gretna Chase Hotel(food was excellent). Had a fantabulous weekend, weather was very hot(although was snowing today when we left!!). If anyone wishes to find out more then get in touch..

Have to say myself and everyone else had a thoroughly great time, nothing but compliments about the whole event, for about £2500.

Wish I'd thought thought of it..

Juicy_Tube

mini wrote:

I think Anvil hall is the place which looked nice online not so good when you are there, unless they have renovated it since we were there.
There seems to be al ot of companies wanting to book your wedding for you, not do much else & charge you a fee for not very much, the original anvil is special & I got alittle silver one to bring home

You are being so well organised I'd say to book your honeymoon then sort out your wedding, people at Gretna are used to last minute things, we had about 5 weeks until our wedding, we were using our planned holiday (with our kids too)into a honeymoon so had to fit wedding in before that, everyone in Gretna thought that was planning a long way ahead.

I am so excited for you, do come back & post if you think we can help

mini

Anvil Hall was great. We all said how lovely it was, quite church like actually, but simpler obviously..

casey

Hello , We got married at Gretna back in 1996 and it was fantastic.We stayed at the Garden house hotel too and they were super.I had my hair and make-up done there,infact they do the whole package,cake and everything if you want them too.They have fantastic gardens done in a Japanese water garden style,which make for lovely photo's.Good luck.

oueyouey

Mini/Casey

I hope you don't mind but could you give me an indication on the costs that were involved in your wedding. Doesn't have to be exact, a banding will do.

It's just because i've been engaged for nearly 3 years now and don't seem any closer to getting married, as most most of the savings have gone on the house. So i've had plenty of time to think about the type of wedding i want. Whenever i put a budget together of how much a wedding will cost it seems so high and it seems that your spending your hard earned money on other people and weddings are meant to be about the couple at the end of the day. I know this sounds really selfish. Was thinking of saving up the money for the amount an "average" wedding would cost then have a small ceremony in Gretna and the spend the rest of the money on travelling around the world. Just wondering if anyone else had done anything similiar

chardonnay_2

thanks for the links. we are engaged to be married but haven't set a date yet. we are planning to only invite close friends only and hadn't considered gretna, but i will have a look at the links. cheers

Becles

To get married here: http://www.gretnagreen.com/ it costs £130 for hire of a room. There are private rooms with an anvil in, or you can get married in the original blacksmiths forge. This is much nicer IMO than the private rooms, but you may get the odd tourist passing by the room, although they will not be allowed in. You can have extras such a piper for £50 and their own photography.

The costs for a registrar plus paperwork on a Saturday was £212, or £145 for a weekday. If you want a religious service, it's £48 for the paperwork from the registry office and £85 for a minister. In a civil ceremony, the registrar brings all the paperwork, but in a religious ceremony the bride or groom (nobody else!) must pick up the paperwork in person the week before the wedding. Something to bear in mind, as you'll need to arrive early to collect it or make a special trip up. You also have to take the paperwork back after the wedding, but you can just post it through the registry office door if they are closed.

The Garden House Hotel is fabulous. http://www.gardenhouse.co.uk/ The owner gave us a guided tour. The bedrooms are large, so plenty of room for getting dressed in. I liked the little touches, like having a high hook in the bridal suite to hang your dress on, so it doesn't crease! The spa looks very nice, and I'm looking forward to some pampering as they do lots of treatments. Rooms are £90 for a double, £130 for the bridal suite and they also do family rooms.

The meals for a reception ranged from £18.95 to £25 per head for 3-4 courses, depending on your requirements. They also did finger or fork buffets which were cheaper. They have a very extensive wine list, so you can tailor your drinks to suit your budget.

Garden House will also arrange lots of other things, like photographer, transport, flowers, cake etc. If you want to do it yourself, there are a couple of nice looking shops in Gretna, although I haven't arranged any of this yet. If you get the wedding guide from the registry office, it has loads of contact info for various wedding suppliers.

We're booked to get married on April 15th next year, and I can't wait :j

mightymo_2

Congratulations!

This has really got me thinking too... me and my partner can't decide where to get married, so we keep putting it off!


Hmmmmmmmm

mini

I don't mind at all, I think your idea sounds great I spent as much as i wanted on my bridemaids (our daughters) flowers & my dress & photographer, saved money with everything else, booked all hotel rooms for people with us to get a discount, I have receipts somewhere...

meal for 13, approx £250, best meal ever, best thing about gretna is they expect people to have a budget!

family room for 2 nights approx £200 including breakfast for 4

suit hire for mr mini, £75

3 bouquets in varying sizes & buttonholes £150

our dresses, shoes, tiara, hair bits etc £500
meal out whilst we were there, possibly arond £80

photographer approx £150 for excellent photos in album!

I recall saying it cost around £2000 but I'm not sure if that included our holiday/honeymoon which was around £1000.

I'll post again if I remember anything else!

mini

oueyouey wrote:

Mini/Casey

I hope you don't mind but could you give me an indication on the costs that were involved in your wedding. Doesn't have to be exact, a banding will do.

It's just because i've been engaged for nearly 3 years now and don't seem any closer to getting married, as most most of the savings have gone on the house. So i've had plenty of time to think about the type of wedding i want. Whenever i put a budget together of how much a wedding will cost it seems so high and it seems that your spending your hard earned money on other people and weddings are meant to be about the couple at the end of the day. I know this sounds really selfish. Was thinking of saving up the money for the amount an "average" wedding would cost then have a small ceremony in Gretna and the spend the rest of the money on travelling around the world. Just wondering if anyone else had done anything similiar