A Burnham-On-Sea couple have tied the knot in a spur-of-the-moment wedding at Scotland’s legendary Gretna Green.
Gary and Rebecca Jones (nee Tipton) told their family and friends they were going away for a quiet week’s holiday in Cornwall, but instead they travelled north and exchanged their vows in the romantic Scottish border village.
Gary told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Having decided we’d get married, we wanted to do something very special and Gretna Green had to be location.”
“We’d told everyone we were going away to Cornwall on holiday, but changed the plans and had a wonderful wedding instead!”
Without family and friends at the ceremony, the couple turned to a traffic warden and a police officer to be their official witnesses.
Rebecca added: “It was a very romantic wedding in a wonderful location – definitely a very memorable day!”
Gretna Green is famous for being the site of thousands of runaway weddings over the years. It was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh.
Gretna’s runaway marriages started in 1753 when an Act of Parliament was passed in England, which stated that if both parties to a marriage were not at least 21 years old, then consent to the marriage had to be given by the parents. However, this Act did not apply in Scotland, where it was possible for boys to get married at 14 and girls at 12 years old with or without parental consent.
Pictured are Gary and Rebecca Jones at their surprise wedding in Gretna Green
