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After intensive searching online, in bookstores, and with local authorities, John and I realized that if you don't wish to be married in a church, on the beach, or at a winery, your choices of public venues in the Bay Area were almost exclusively limited to hotels.

You can imagine our frustration in picking a location when you consider that any location means a great deal of travel for one side of the family or another, and budget constaints and/or practicality of travel are real issues for both families. Add that to the facts that we chose to be married outside the church, a beach wedding would burn me alive, and neither John nor I really care for wine or wineries, and you have very few attractive choices remaining! As for the option of a hotel, it just seemed far too corporate and impersonal for what we had in mind.

So, we started thinking about venues outside the local (California) area and I mentioned a hair-brained idea of a Medieval garden or something with similar substantial history. John is a member of the Clan Blair Society, and he remembered that the Blair Estate (the home of the Blair Cheiftans and their heirs for the last 900 years) was one of the places that the semi-annual Scottish tour stopped to visit.

On the off chance, we emailed the owners of the medieval estate -- and to our surprise, they *are* licenced to hold civil ceremonies, and they are more than happy to have us there this coming September! Honestly, I couldn't think of a single better place to be married, and as it turns out, we can be married and have a two-week Scottish/Irish honeymoon for less money than it would cost us to be married at any venue in our home state.

I think the better question would be "why NOT Scotland?"