Eloping in Scotland is becoming more and more popular, and now that I’ve done it myself, here’s my guide to eloping in Scotland – 2024/25! I’ll cover places, photographers, time of the year to do it, accommodation and general elopement comments. I’m not trying to sell any service to you, only here to help you based on my experience.
Where to Start – Planning a Scottish Elopement
Since there is no need for a venue, it might seem overwhelming to decide where to start. A few basic things you should know are what time of year you’d like to elope, a rough idea of the area where (Glencoe, Isle of Skye, further up north), and what your budget is. Once you know that, I’d say the first decision to make is who will be your photographer.
1. Choose Your Elopement Photographer
Here’s why you should start with the photographer – their availability might dictate the date you choose. Elopements are getting more and more popular and I’d highly recommend choosing a photographer who specialises in them. This type of photographer can recommend places to elope, help you plan the day and know the best locations for photos!
We hired The Kitcheners and could not have been happier with their service, communication and the final product. Truly outstanding work, and to our surprise, they were also the most flexible AND affordable. I still can’t wrap my mind around that. The Kitcheners offered us a package of a 2-hour photoshoot since we knew we were only having a short ceremony and did not want to be photographed getting ready. They were also flexible with the time of day we chose for the ceremony and said it could be changed the night before if the weather forecast looked dreadful for that specific time (it’s Scotland, after all).
That was not the case with all photographers. One couple came back explaining that their rate was £3000 (basically our budget for the whole elopement), and they would charge that whether we hired them for the full day or just a couple of hours. They sent me a massive email saying they only work with a select amount of couples over the year who are excited they get to work with the photographers. I’m sorry, I thought my elopement was about me, not you.
2. Choose Your Elopement Location
We knew we wanted to elope to Glencoe, but that only narrows it down so much. If you live in Scotland, I would highly recommend noting down a few places and visiting them in person to see what they’re like. By doing this, we saw which places were more crowded, the parking situation, and the amount of privacy we could expect on the day. We ended up choosing the Glencoe Viewpoint as it has massive fields and provided us with lots of privacy.
If you’re not local, most elopement photographers have blogs about various locations, their pros and cons.
3. Choose Your Elopement Date
Scotland is known as a wet and cold country. If you decide to elope here – expect some rain. But that’s what makes those images so special! Our photographer said that in his experience, May is the driest month, while August is the wettest one. So even if you decide to elope in summer, that does not guarantee dry weather. We eloped on the 20th of May and ended up having a sunny day. Some people prefer to elope in winter or autumn to avoid tourist crowds and midges. I think eloping the week before the May bank holiday, on a Monday, really served us well in terms of tourists. Everyone travelled the week after we did.
4. Book Your Accommodation
One thing we were shocked by was accommodation prices in the Glencoe area. Two nights and two separate rooms in Glencoe would’ve cost us a whopping £1500. There was no way we could afford that. What we ended up doing instead was booking a hotel in Fort William. It’s a town just 30 minutes up north from Glencoe. Hotels are much more affordable, and there’s a range of Air BnBs as well. However, as a small yet touristy town, it books up fast. If you’re eloping in the busy season of May onwards, book at least 6 months in advance.
5. Elopement Outfit Time
Now for the fun part – pick what you’ll wear on your special day! We looked through hundreds of elopement photos to understand what looks best on those type of photographs. I was also determined not to spend hundreds of pounds on a dress I was very likely going to ruin while walking around potentially muddy hills. I found a wedding dress from a salon and then searched it on Vinted. The dress ended up being a little too small, but even with alteration costs, it ended up saving me hundreds of pounds and being cheaper than my husband’s suit. In terms of footwear, definitely avoid heels. Always assume that it’s going to rain in Scotland. With that in mind, I went with ankle boots and I loved the whole look!
6. Elopement Hair and Makeup
I think a lot of brides choose to do their own hair and makeup when they’re eloping. I did not want that kind of stress on the day. I also wanted to have someone who knows what makeup looks good in photos and lasts well through wind and tears. If you are eloping in Glencoe or further up north, I cannot recommend Andrea Maxwell enough. She did both my hair and makeup and I felt like a princess. It lasted great and she was a delight to spend my elopement morning with. She also didn’t charge me an arm and a leg for her service like Glasgow-based artists do.
7. Choose Your Celebrant
Your celebrant has to be registered to marry people. We were lucky enough to know a pastor who is a dear friend of ours and asked him to marry us. If you don’t know anyone, here’s a list of humanist celebrants!
8. Choose Your Witnesses
For the ceremony to be legal, you will need two witnesses. Most photographers are more than willing to serve the purpose. Otherwise, you could invite your closest friends or family. We ended up inviting our parents to be our witnesses.
9. Legal Stuff
Now for the not-so-fun part. You need to apply for a marriage license 1-3 months before your elopement date. To be able to do this, you’ll need to know where you’re eloping to, who your celebrant will be and who your witnesses will be as well. It’s a fairly straightforward process from there. We then had to drive up a week before the ceremony to pick up the forms in person.
10. Other tips
One major tip I heard before I started planning, and this goes for wedding planning in general, is to have a separate email address. Have an account where you’ll have elopement-only emails to help you stay organised and on track. Another great tool to stay on track is a good ol’ spreadsheet. We kept a spreadsheet with all the suppliers we had contacted, what we had paid and what was due on what dates.
Final Thoughts on Eloping to Scotland
Now that it’s been a few weeks, I wouldn’t change a thing about the day and how we did it. I’m happy with the location we chose, and the hair and makeup artist, we’re absolutely ecstatic about our photographs – everything was beautiful! If you have any questions about budgets, where and how we managed to save money aside from the things I’ve already mentioned – let me know in the comments or reach out to me on social media. I hope this guide to eloping in Scotland – 2024/25 was helpful, but let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.