- Published
Hayden and Savannah had never set foot in Scotland before they decided it was the perfect place to get married last May.
uncertain
it → set → Scotland
The couple, from Pennsylvania in the US, wanted a destination wedding that would take their family and friends on an adventure with them.
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that → want → them
They considered locations across Europe, before deciding on Scotland after Savannah saw photographs of a castle wedding online.
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Savannah → consider → wedding
"I think it was on Pinterest," she said.
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she → think → Pinterest
"Somebody got married in a castle and I was like 'Oh, I have to do that'.
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I → marry → that
"
The pair are far from alone in seeing Scotland as the ultimate romantic destination.
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pair → see → destination
Nearly a quarter of all marriages registered in Scotland last year involved couples who did not live in the country.
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who → register → country
Figures from National Records of Scotland show that 6,596 of the 27,191 weddings recorded in 2025 involved neither partner being a Scottish resident.
But what is it about the country that persuades these couples to travel hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to get married here?
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that → show → miles
The Gretna Green tradition
Nowhere attracts more visiting couples than Gretna Green.
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Nowhere → attract → Green
Of the 6,596 marriages involving non-Scottish residents last year, 3,492 took place in the Dumfries and Galloway town, meaning it alone accounted for more than half of Scotland's destination weddings.
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it → involve → weddings
The town's association with romance dates back to 1754, when changes to marriage laws in England prompted young runaway couples to cross the border into Scotland, where they could marry without needing parental consent.
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they → date → consent
More than 250 years later, it remains one of the world's best-known wedding destinations.
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it → remain → destinations
It was this reputation that appealed to Patryk and Angelika, both 27, who travelled from north-west England to tie the knot there.
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who → appeal → knot
The couple said Scotland had long been woven into their relationship.
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Scotland → say → relationship
They first met when they were 15, when Patryk's parents moved to England from Poland, and one of the first things they bonded over was the 1996 movie Loch Ness.
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they → meet → things
Years later, that shared childhood favourite took on new significance when Patryk proposed on its shores.
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Patryk → share → shores
Their connection to Scotland first started on a road trip in 2021, and they have regularly returned to explore the Highlands and celebrate their anniversaries in Edinburgh.
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they → start → Edinburgh
This year alone, they have travelled north of the border every two months.
So Scotland felt like the natural place to say "I do", they said.
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they → travel → place
Both Angelika and Patryk are history lovers and said they were drawn to the centuries-old tradition of a Gretna wedding.
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they → say → wedding
"It meant something to us being part of that heritage."
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It → mean → heritage
Angelika said.
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Angelika → say → ?
Patryk said that his favourite memory was watching his bride walk down the aisle to the sound of Flower of Scotland played on the bagpipes.
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bride → say → bagpipes
"That sort of music just creates such a whimsical and romantic atmosphere that really can't be recreated in many countries outside of Scotland," Angelika said.
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Angelika → create → Scotland
Those moments left a lasting impression on their families who had travelled from Poland.
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who → leave → Poland
"They hadn't really experienced anything like that before," she said.
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she → experience → that
The appeal was not just Gretna's history, Angelika said.
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Angelika → say → ?
Less than an hour after getting marries, the couple found themselves surrounded by dramatic scenery for their wedding photographs.
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themselves → get → photographs
"There's not a lot of places in the world where you can do that," she said.
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she → be → that
Although neither bride nor groom is Scottish, both say they feel a deep connection to the country.
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they → say → country
"It's not home, but it feels like a home away from home," Angelika said.
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Angelika → feel → home
Islands and Highlands
Chihon, from Chile, and Anna Maria, from Moldova, came to Scotland to study, but the country quickly became the backdrop to their love story.
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country → come → story
The couple first met in 2018 through a dance society at the University of Edinburgh, when Anna Maria was on an Erasmus exchange and Chihon was completing his postgraduate studies.
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Chihon → meet → studies
They they spent years as friends, and it was not until Anna Maria returned to Edinburgh in 2024 that their relationship became something more.
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relationship → spend → 2024
And their romance blossomed in the same place their friendship had years earlier.
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friendship → blossom → place
"Everything happened again on the dance floor," Anna Maria said.
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Maria → happen → floor
Just four months after getting engaged, the pair walked down the aisle on the Isle of Arran.
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pair → engage → Arran
The couple said they "fell in love" with the island at first sight, due to it having the "complete scenery of Scotland".
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it → say → Scotland
"You feel that you're in a magical place", said Chihon.
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Chihon → feel → place
The couple said Scotland felt like the natural choice.
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Scotland → say → choice
"We're from two different continents," Chihon said.
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Chihon → say → continents
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
