Washington (state) to Devon

I'm a Washington native as well.....welcome.

Wow, thanks for all the replies!! 

I understand what you're saying that in most cases it is better to apply for the spouse visa after marrying in the US, however in our situation though we thought the Fiance visa might work out better because for a couple of reasons. My fiancee has a very small family (only really her and her mother- and her mother is thinking of moving here too at some point through an ancestry visa), so it would really only be 3 people tops who would want to attend the wedding from the US, and these people have expressed a lot of interest in visiting here anyway.

On the other hand I have a very large family here in the UK, and also my fiancee has family and close friends here in the UK, including people who can't fly due to age and health reasons. We have thought about both options, but we think marrying in the UK would ultimately be the better option for us.
 
jfkimberly- don't worry, we have looked into the ancestry visa before, but as KFdancer said, because it is a grandparent, unfortunately this doesn't seem to be an option, it's a shame though!

JP in the States, full-blown extravaganza in the UK? Definitely.

If you guys do decide that you want the legal paperwork for marriage to be done in the UK - do NOT book ANYTHING until you have your visa in hand and all the dates agreed with the registry office.  We've seen far too many members be disappointed and some have even had their families in the UK for the wedding when the applicant was still stuck in the USA!

Thanks for the tip, I have read about people making this mistake on other forums/blogs, sounds like a disaster, so we would wait to have the visa for sure!