What kind of wedding is the right one for you?

Elaborate fairy-tale wedding, or how a wedding with only your closes family members and friends. Or maybe you just want to exchange your vows with no more than you and your two witnesses on a small beach, or in the highlands. Either way, you will need some planning for your wedding. 

First: Think about general location ideas: What locations are meaningful to you: The beach? A certain town? A certain country? If it's a certain beach - look around the area where you can have the reception after your ceremony. If it’s a certain town or city, there will be plenty of venues. 

Second: How many people do you want at your wedding? 5? 20? 80? 150? These numbers will give you an indicator on the type of venue you can choose. 

Third: Venue type: City centre hotel? Do you prefer a religious ceremony in your family church? Do you want to have your ceremony in a historic castle or in a private estate with lots of grounds for a big but private family wedding? Or can you imagine having a barn wedding? Or if you only have 10 people at your wedding - a luxurious holiday home at a stunning location might also be an option. 

Fourth: Type of ceremony: The four ceremony types in Scotland are religious ceremony, civil ceremony, humanist ceremony, interfaith ceremony. Religious ceremonies can take place in a place of worship, such as a church, but they can also take place at a wedding venue. Discuss with your celebrant if they are willing to have the ceremony outside their place of worship. A civil ceremony. Civil ceremonies can take place anywhere in Scotland. You don’t need a special licence for venues, or the beach, or the botanic gardens for example. All you need to do is let the celebrant know where you want the ceremony to take place. Humanist ceremonies can also take place anywhere in Scotland, such as hotels, or outdoors. The only stipulation is that they cannot take place in places of worship, such as a church. Please bear in mind there are wedding venues which used to be a church, but are no longer used for religious reasons. Therefore humanist ceremonies can take place in those venues. The same applies to Interfaith Wedding Ceremonies. 

Fifth: Setting a date. Think about who you want to be at your wedding. If you want your favourite auntie to be at your wedding, who is a primary school teacher, and lives 500 miles away, make sure your wedding does not take place on a weekday during term time, as she might not get the permission to take days off from her job. If you plan a winter wedding, please bear in mind that the weather might make it difficult for people to travel. If you plan a wedding on a remote island in Scotland, there might be ferry disruptions due to high winds.