The Wedding Venue

When we originally decided on a Scottish wedding we had researched having it in Gretna Green. Gretna Green is a "traditional" Scottish wedding town. It lies just north of the border with England and apparently when English Parliament raised the legal age to marry back in the 1800s many young lovers would elope to Scotland where the laws were much looser. Gretna Green reaped the benefits and became known for these weddings. Scottish law at the time allowed virtually anyone to perform the ceremony, so the local blacksmith shortly became the go-to guy for tying the knot.

Neat story, but when I started asking around on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum (a travel forum) I was quickly informed that if a Scottish Las Vegas wedding was what we wanted then Greta Green was the right place to go.


A Scottish Las Vegas wedding was NOT what we wanted.

Our travel agent and friend Lisa was able to find the perfect non-Vegas venue for us: Ballochneck Country House. Located about 20 minutes away from Stirling (which is where we will be staying most of the time) this old Scottish manor is the perfect setting for a small wedding such as ours (eleven total guests including us).

The setting is just wonderful and promises to be very romantic. Not only will we have the wedding ceremony there, but also the wedding dinner, and Lesley and I will be staying in one of their guest rooms for two nights as a honeymoon. It's just a few minutes drive from Ballochneck to the Trossachs National Park, so I think I may try to convince Les to go take a ride with me (and weather permitting find a nice walk) the day after the wedding.


Be sure to check out their website linked above for better pics if you are curious, but here's one I thought fun. I downloaded a picture from the Google Earth satellite view of the manor/estate/country house (click it for a bigger pic):


Here's the menu that Fiona (the owner with her husband Donnie) will be preparing for the evening's dinner:

Garden Pea and Mint Soup

Paella Stuffed Tomato

Fillet of Aberdeen Angus Beef rolled in Black Pepper, Red Wine and Red Currant Gravy, with Dauphinois Potatoes and Vegetables

(and wine wine wine wine wine)

Light Raspberry Sponge with Cream Fraiche and Berry Compote

Coffee and Tablet

I don't know what half of that is, but my mouth is watering as I write this. :)

The ceremony is at 2:30 local time. I spoke with Fiona this morning and found out that British Daylight Savings Time ends the morning of our wedding so that could have been a real nightmare if we had missed that! It ends a week later here in the US so we get to go through it twice this year. Go figure.

Immediately following the ceremony we will have have champagne and canapes while we relax and take all the pictures our cameras can hold (the cost of a local photographer would have been prohibitive so we're playing the odds that with digital cameras in the hands of nine other folks that we'll get some shots worthy of an album and framing). Dinner will follow at 5:30ish (and my mouth is watering again).

I know nothing ever goes without a hitch, but in such a wonderful setting... who cares! Besides, it's the little hiccups that make for some of the fondest memories. Or so I keep telling myself. :)