Small wedding possibly Gretna Green plans: checklist advice!

gorgeous_gwen

I am trying to plana wedding on a shoestring budgrt and one of the ideas we have talked about is going to Gretna Green.

We're thinking of something very simple and low key, just us and the kids. What I am after from you ladies is a "basics" list of what I need to arrange/sort out. Particularly if anyone has gotten married there themselves.

So far I have:
*travel there and back
*accommodation for a night
*venue room hire
*registrar or minister fees
*other official costs (paperwork)
*small photography package
*food and drinks
*wedding rings
*outfits
*possibly hairdresser/beautician

Anything else I need to consider?

Brighton_belle

I'm delighted for you OP, having followed a few of your threads over the last year or so..after 9 years together, OH proposed out of the blue 10 weeks ago and we got married last week - happiest day of our lives...a very simple small wedding.
I think you have everything covered for a small wedding.
Are there are Gretna Green packages online? I don't know the costs for marriages in Scotland.
In England, you will have to to register your intent to marry (in the district in which you live, regardless of where you want to marry) which is £67.
In England, the registrar is much cheaper if you marry in a registry office rather than anywhere else, by quite a few hundred pounds.

Good luck with your plans.

gorgeous_gwen

Aw thanks Brighton Belle Things are very good; in fact better now than they have ever been.

There are loads of packages, though from my research it might well be that booking everything separately could save some pennies. So exploring all avenues.

I know there are various forms to fill in, I don't know the cost of registering our intent to marry offhand, but need 15 (IIRC) clear days before the intended date for all that to be completed. Interestingly it is a fair chunk cheaper "up there" to be married by a minister rather than a registrar; I had assumed we'd go for the registrar just because we're not particularly religious but I gather the ministers are more than happy to conduct such a ceremony plus it would save us a good few pounds.

We are trying to cost it all up to get a feel for what overall price we're looking at. Like you, we're going for something simple, but will be more meaningful to us because of it.

Thanks!

susannthe3cs

Im doing Gretna, If your trying to save money have a minister not a registrar for your ceremony...I didnt know this at the time but there is a huge price difference £100 for minister and £70 costs for M10 forms vs £334 for registrar

There are reasonable packages on there too for small private weddings if you want any little extras book them seperate not through the buro my piper was £85 if booked thru the buro i have booked him directly cost is £40 xx

Shelanne

Hi Gwen,

Congratulations! We got married in Gretna Green in August and it was Brilliant, absolutely fab, can't recommend it highly enough.

We were married at the World Famous Blacksmiths shop and a reception Smiths. Smiths maybe isn't the cheapest but it was fantastic. We had a package but it wasn't a bad deal, I think. Defo check out Smiths website and talk to them rather than just assume they are more expensive.

We had a minister called Sandie Jamieson who was really good (£110). Our photographer was part of the deal, but the packages he has on his website seem competitively priced and we were very happy with the album and pictures, google colin carpenter photography. We had our hair and make up done in Hype in Gretna which was a bit cheaper than having someone come to the hotel or the hotel beauty salon. Also as quite nice to get away for a bit.

They do alot of weddings in Gretna (duh obviously) so they do really do them well, everything ran so smoothly and nothing was too much trouble.

Enjoy your planning and your big day!

elliebobs

Hi from me too; I'm getting married near Gretna in January 2013. We're using the Gretna Wedding Bureau and although they are prob a bit more expensive than booking directly we've got a good enough deal and they sort everything out which is handy when we both work FT and live nearly 2 hours away. We also got accommodation at a reduced rate for all our guests.
As above, Gretna is so geared up to weddings that no one bats an eyelid or gets stressed up there as it really is a way of life for them.
We're having a registrar as neither of us are in anyway religious so I just wouldn't feel right about having a minister just to save a few pounds but each to their own.

OP: you haven't mentioned flowers in your budget??? is this something you've overlooked or are you not bothering???