Outdoor Wedding

My fiance and I would like an outdoor wedding, but he read somewhere that it's illegal to get married outdoors in England.  Is that true?  If so, does anyone know a good place in Scotland for an outdoor wedding?

Weddings in England and Wales have to take place inside an officially approved structure, so outdoor weddings there are a no go unless you want to have a register office wedding and then have a separate outdoor ceremony.

Don't know much about Scotland myself, but I'm sure someone can give you some suggestions on pretty outdoor wedding sites

edited to add- you can put in your postcode here to search for approved wedding premises in England and Wales-
http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/marriages/theceremony/mvsearch.asp

I found this quote on the following link: http://www.weddingguide.co.uk/articles/legal/englandwales.asp


"Marriages can only take place in authorised premises where the marriage can be legally solemnised. Venues include register offices, premises that have been approved by the local authority (for example, stately homes, castles and hotels), churches or chapels of the Church of England and Church in Wales, and other churches that have been registered by the registrar general for marriage including naval, air force and military chapels."

So, I would say yes and no. If the venue is a legally authorised premise, and it appears from above that some are outdoors, then you can marry outdoors. But, to just pick a spot, like someone's garden, I would think it would not be allowed. There must be someplace, like a registry office, that you can call and ask. Check the above site out. You might find more info there. Good luck!

The others are right. Even before the law was changed a few years back to allow weddings somewhere other than a church or registry office, my friend wanted to get married on Hampstead Heath and was told by the council she could if she was "a Jew or a Quaker."      Anyhow there are loads of websites on Scottish weddings you should be able to find a list of approved venues easily enough.

So do you have to be Christian or specifically Church of England to get married in these venues?  My fiance and I are of eastern philosophies and we don't want a traditional wedding... can we not get married in these set places if we have nontraditional religions?

The approved venues are for civil weddings (in which there can be absolutely no religious content whatsoever)- I'm not sure about religious weddings.

So do you have to be Christian or specifically Church of England to get married in these venues?  My fiance and I are of eastern philosophies and we don't want a traditional wedding... can we not get married in these set places if we have nontraditional religions?

The website I posted below gives you details on different religious ceremonies.

Scotland might be a good choice if you want something outdoors.  We decided that a wedding in Scotland would give us more of what we wanted (though we aren't going for an outdoor ceremony...I'd be too worried about the weather).  In Scotland, if it's a religious ceremony it can pretty much be held anywhere.  You can google and find lots of sites about planning a wedding in Scotland.  Maybe type in your religion(s) and wedding and Scotland and see what results you get. 

I've heard of some couples in England and Wales having a sort of "for show" wedding where they say their vows in a place that is pretty (but not licensed to perform marriages) and with someone close to them "officiating"...then go to the registry office to make it legal.  That idea didn't particularly appeal to us, though, so we're Scotland-bound.

Scotland might be a good choice if you want something outdoors. 

I went to an outdoor wedding in Scotland a couple of summers ago. It was great! Hot and sunny and perfect! They had the wedding on the grounds of a beautiful old hotel. Really nice!

I went to an outdoor wedding in Scotland a couple of summers ago. It was great! Hot and sunny and perfect! They had the wedding on the grounds of a beautiful old hotel. Really nice!

Yes -- I think it might be possible to do outdoors if it's on the grounds of an approved civil premises (even in England).  We had our wedding at a small 'country house style' hotel here in Leeds, but I think they said we could have done it outdoors on the grounds -- had we wanted that.  We didn't opt for it though -- fickle English weather & all...

If so, does anyone know a good place in Scotland for an outdoor wedding?

Here's the link to the hotel where I went to an outdoor wedding in Scotland:
http://www.collearnhousehotel.co.uk/