Why thousands of couples are choosing Scotland to say 'I do'

ByMolly Henry

BBC Scotland

Hayden and Savannah had ne'er acceptable ft successful Scotland earlier they decided it was the cleanable spot to get joined past May.

The couple, from Pennsylvania successful the US, wanted a destination wedding that would instrumentality their household and friends connected an escapade with them.

They considered locations crossed Europe, earlier deciding connected Scotland aft Savannah saw photographs of a castle wedding online.

"I deliberation it was connected Pinterest," she said. "Somebody got joined successful a castle and I was similar 'Oh, I person to bash that'."

The brace are acold from unsocial successful seeing Scotland arsenic the eventual romanticist destination.

Nearly a 4th of each marriages registered successful Scotland past twelvemonth progressive couples who did not unrecorded successful the country.

Figures from National Records of Scotland amusement that 6,596 of the 27,191 weddings recorded successful 2025 progressive neither spouse being a Scottish resident.

But what is it astir the state that persuades these couples to question hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to get joined here?

Nowhere attracts much visiting couples than Gretna Green.

Of the 6,596 marriages involving non-Scottish residents past year, 3,492 took spot successful the Dumfries and Galloway town, meaning it unsocial accounted for much than fractional of Scotland's destination weddings.

The town's relation with romance dates backmost to 1754, erstwhile changes to matrimony laws successful England prompted young runaway couples to transverse the borderline into Scotland, wherever they could wed without needing parental consent.

More than 250 years later, it remains 1 of the world's best-known wedding destinations.

It was this estimation that appealed to Patryk and Angelika, some 27, who travelled from north-west England to necktie the knot there.

The mates said Scotland had agelong been woven into their relationship.

They archetypal met erstwhile they were 15, erstwhile Patryk's parents moved to England from Poland, and 1 of the archetypal things they bonded implicit was the 1996 movie Loch Ness.

Years later, that shared puerility favourite took connected caller value erstwhile Patryk projected connected its shores.

Their transportation to Scotland archetypal started connected a roadworthy travel successful 2021, and they person regularly returned to research the Highlands and observe their anniversaries successful Edinburgh.

This twelvemonth alone, they person travelled northbound of the borderline each 2 months.

So Scotland felt similar the earthy spot to accidental "I do", they said.

Both Angelika and Patryk are past lovers and said they were drawn to the centuries-old contented of a Gretna wedding.

"It meant thing to america being portion of that heritage." Angelika said.

Patryk said that his favourite representation was watching his bride locomotion down the aisle to the dependable of Flower of Scotland played connected the bagpipes.

"That benignant of euphony conscionable creates specified a whimsical and romanticist ambiance that truly can't beryllium recreated successful galore countries extracurricular of Scotland," Angelika said.

Those moments near a lasting content connected their families who had travelled from Poland.

"They hadn't truly experienced thing similar that before," she said.

The entreaty was not conscionable Gretna's history, Angelika said.

Less than an hr aft getting marries, the mates recovered themselves surrounded by melodramatic scenery for their wedding photographs.

"There's not a batch of places successful the satellite wherever you tin bash that," she said.

Although neither bride nor groom is Scottish, some accidental they consciousness a heavy transportation to the country.

"It's not home, but it feels similar a location distant from home," Angelika said.

Chihon, from Chile, and Anna Maria, from Moldova, came to Scotland to study, but the state rapidly became the backdrop to their emotion story.

The mates archetypal met successful 2018 done a creation nine astatine the University of Edinburgh, erstwhile Anna Maria was connected an Erasmus speech and Chihon was completing his postgraduate studies.

They they spent years arsenic friends, and it was not until Anna Maria returned to Edinburgh successful 2024 that their narration became thing more.

And their romance blossomed successful the aforesaid spot their relationship had years earlier.

"Everything happened again connected the creation floor," Anna Maria said.

Just 4 months aft getting engaged, the brace walked down the aisle connected the Isle of Arran.

The mates said they "fell successful love" with the land astatine archetypal sight, owed to it having the "complete scenery of Scotland".

"You consciousness that you're successful a magical place", said Chihon. "It's precise unique."

The mates said Scotland felt similar the earthy choice.

"We're from 2 antithetic continents," Chihon said. "Scotland is wherever we met and wherever we built our beingness together."

Their wedding brought unneurotic household and friends from crossed the world, with parts of the ceremonial translated unrecorded into Spanish and Russian for relatives travelling from Chile and Moldova.

Chihon said friends from each implicit the satellite joined the mates for their celebrations.

The highlights of the nighttime included a accepted ceilidh and a last radical karaoke singalong of Sunshine connected Leith, led by their Scottish wedding guests.

While immoderate of their planetary guests were unfamiliar with Scottish wedding traditions, that did small to dampen their enthusiasm.

"We had radical saying, 'We person nary thought what's going on, but we're going to articulation in'," Chihon said.

He said Scotland would ever clasp a peculiar spot successful their lives.

"Like Robbie Burns said, 'my heart's successful the Highlands wherever I go'," helium said.

"I deliberation Scotland volition beryllium with america forever. I couldn't beryllium much grateful. It was already peculiar to maine before, but present that I'm joined to the pistillate of my dreams, it's similar I beryllium everything to Scotland."

The aforesaid acquisition was echoed by Hayden and Savannah.

Despite arriving successful Scotland conscionable 2 days earlier their wedding, the mates said the country's wedding manufacture made readying from overseas remarkably straightforward.

They chose a castle adjacent Edinburgh, and were drawn not lone by the scenery but besides by the consciousness of past they felt was harder to find backmost home.

"Scotland has this operation of this beauteous countryside quality and history," Savannah said.

"You don't get a batch of the humanities venues similar you bash here, successful the United States."

The mates besides wove Scottish traditions into their ceremony, taking portion successful a Celtic handfasting ritual, utilizing pieces of cloth provided by some of their grandmothers.

They said an important portion of their determination was the accidental to stock the acquisition with loved ones.

"We wanted to spell determination that would instrumentality our full household connected an escapade with us," Hayden said.

Many of their guests turned the wedding into a longer holiday, extending their stays to research Scotland and adjacent joining the mates connected their honeymoon successful the Highlands afterwards.

Looking back, the newlyweds accidental Scotland exceeded each expectation.

Savannah said: "Scotland is similar thing we've ever seen before. We were conscionable blown distant by however beauteous everything was."