You might have seen last week that we visited Gretna Green with the kids to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary and I thought I’d tell you a little bit more about Gretna Green because it’s a really nice place to visit for the day.
We woke up on the day we were due to visit Gretna Green and I’m not going to lie, I was gutted to open our curtains and see the rain coming down hard! We considered not going but we ended up going because nothing else that we had planned for the weekend was indoors, which wasn’t particularly very clever for a November weekend away, was it?
We got married at the Old Blacksmiths Shop so that was our first port of call except now you have to pay to get in as there’s a little museum to walk through before you get to the Old Blacksmiths Shop. It costs £3.50 for adults and is free for children and I probably wouldn’t have wanted to pay much more as it wasn’t too interesting for the kids to be honest and it’s not somewhere you could spend too long.
We enjoyed looking around the museum and teaching the kids about the history of Gretna Green. It’s only small but they have some lovely exhibits in there to bring the history to life and Master Frugal especially enjoyed learning about it….
There was actually a wedding taking place while we were in the museum and being able to watch the wedding from the side was fascinating Miss Frugal. It’s odd being able to get so close to a real wedding and I remember part way through our own ceremony, an American lady interrupted to ask if it was real!
I was dying for the ceremony to end as I just wanted to get in the Old Blacksmiths room with the kids to tell them all about our ceremony. One of the lovely ladies came and took a photo that we wanted taking of all four us stood in the same place as the two of us did in one of our favourite wedding photos….
The rain meant that we couldn’t get outside too much to recreate the other photos that we’d been planning and it also meant that a visit to the new maze was off the cards too. I was a bit gutted as I’d been looking forward to it for ages but I cheered myself up with a wander around the gift shop. 😉
There’s quite a few little shops around the courtyard outside the Old Blacksmiths Shop but we were dripping wet just walking outside from the gift shop to the toilet so we gave it up as a bad job. One day we’ll go back for a wander around though – maybe when we’ve been married for 20 years!
On our way back to where we were staying we stopped off at the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village and picked up some great bargains – if you’re in the area then it’s definitely worth a visit. I bought some Hotter shoes in their outlet store reduced from £60 to £15, Miss Frugal bought some Body Shop perfumes for next to nothing and Master Frugal persuaded his dad to buy him a Celtic football kit reduced to £12 for the full kit!
Despite the weather, it was lovely to share some of our history with the kids and I have a great photo to go next to our wedding photo.
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Jess @ Catch A Single Thought says
I have to be honest and say I'd never considered Gretna Green as somewhere to go for a weekend break but it sounds like an interesting place to visit.
Charly Dove says
Oh my goodness, what a great day out Cass. I don't think I've been to Gretna Green before, really must get over to have a look. It must have been brilliant to revisit it again, what a treat for the kids too 🙂
globalmouse says
That is so lovely to take the kids back to where you were married, it sounds like they loved it – what a cool place to have got married!!
jenniferhowze156 says
I had no idea that Gretna Green had a marriage anvil! Perhaps a metaphor for marriage itself? 😉 Thanks for sharing the story!
Samantha Fernley says
I am fascinated with Gretna Green and would love to get married there, how romantic and a brilliant bit of history.
@emvanstone says
Oh wow, what a special trip!! Gretna Green looks amazing. xx
Mari says
Such a shame about the rain but what a fabulous idea to take the kids to the place you got married. Looks like you all had a lot of fun.
Kara says
Such a shame the weather was not playing ball but how lovely that the kids got to see where you were married
soniathorpe says
What lovely little place, So nice to take the kids to where you married x
loumessugo says
What fun to take your kids back to the place you got married, must have been very emotional.
Sue Woollatt says
We married in Gretna, too! The actual marriage took place in the registry office which shared a building (and waiting room!) with the dentist's surgery. Then we went over to the Smithy and had our photo taken standing over the anvil. This was in Dec '88. It was grey and freezing weatherwise but we have very fond memories of the place. 🙂
Sarah Bailey says
What an interesting sounding place to visit – I didn't know there was so much there to be honest. x
Jen says
I love that photo of the four of you where you got married. It is ace as are you all
Mums do travel says
How great to take the kids to the place where you married! It sounds like a very interesting trip.
Nayna Kanabar says
I have heard about this place bur never been there,It sounds like a good stopover on the way to scotland.
oana79 says
Oh, such a lovely way to explain to the kids about times before they were in the picture :-). That Outlet Village sounds like a great place to visit too :-)!xx
JuggleMum, Nadine Hill says
We passed by Gretna Green last weekend en route to Glasgow and got caught in the awful rain so I'm glad you didn't let it put you off your plans! We love the outlet village for shopping too and always try to stop by when we can!
chefconnie says
Just found this blog. Very intelligent way of thinking about money. Great work. I have to get back to reading more of the blog. Cheers!