Anyone else feeling like trading in their car for a boat might be in order soon? The return of the seemingly endless bouts of rain which have decided to pay Dumfries and Galloway a visit lately aren't the only reasons to look at our sky at the moment!

These days, walk around the centre of practically any city and you could be forgiven for thinking that you had suddenly been transported to Scotland! In fact, walking the city centre of Glasgow in the middle of last week, there was a bright, colourful, homely piece worn as the latest fashion by almost everyone! Any ideas what we're on about?

Yep, you've probably guessed it! We're talking about the appearance of the latest fashion must-have: TARTAN!

It may be hard to believe that the end of October is nearly here again..........but with autumn fully upon us, here at Gretna Green, we thought we needed something colourful to counter the constant grey that seems to be outside our windows.

While most of us may not view Halloween as the perfect time for a wedding, for anyone not enticed by traditional themes, this time of year is perfect for throwing a celebration that is just as unique! Although we may not have any stories of our own Halloween-themed weddings to share with you, we thought we'd share a few of our favourites with you.....who knows, those visitors to the New Shop may just ghost over to the Blacksmiths anvil before too long!

Don't fret - even if you're like some of us and not the biggest fan of costumes or over-the-top decorations which seems to accompany Halloween nowadays, it's easy to weave holiday themes without the need for fancy dress.....

Ask almost anyone about Gretna Green and most people will answer with a remark about runaway weddings...but what do we actually know about the place? Since we've entered the month of mystery and intrigue (Halloween will be here before any of us realise!), we thought it would be interesting to compile a list of Gretna Green stories ... and reveal the truth behind them!

Believe it or not, it's that time of year.......again! Autumn is here and so are those all-too-familiar requests for Christmas wish lists.

We can hear you now - it's only October! But....as we all know...with our busy schedules, Christmas can creep upon us! It's never too early to start thinking about what to get for loved ones.......or perhaps a wee cheeky list of suggestions for yourself?

So what better way to shake off those blues from nights drawing in and cooling temperatures than curling up on the couch with a cosy blanket and look into the delicious hampers offered by Gretna Green?

As far as we are aware, tweets don't often lead to festivals.....but that's exactly the case here at Gretna Green!

As some of you might remember, earlier this year we came across a tweet by an American author, Valerie Bowman, whose novel Secrets of Runaway Bride featured our very own Famous Blacksmiths Shop sparking the idea of holding a romantic festival here at Gretna Green.

It's beginning to feel a lot......

More nippy? The arrival of the cooler temperatures and the turning of the trees has sent many of us scurrying for those warm, cosy jumpers!

Fear not - the arrival of two new styles of ladies cashmere cardigans at Gretna Green has the solution! Creating a perfect balance between style and comfort, and complementing the cooler weather perfectly, the new Berrydale Cashmere Jacket-style and Berrydale Cashmere Waterfall Drape cardigans offer the perfect incentive to change up your autumnal wardrobe!

As we're busy writing this, we're all reminiscing in the office about the weddings we've been to over the years; including some of our very own! One thing that's always a talking point are the different wedding traditions often seen here in Scotland, especially in Gretna Green (which in itself is one of the longest wedding traditions in the world). We often see some of these traditions on a daily basis...

1. Passing of the Quaich

For this tradition we're going back as far as the 16th century to when King James VI of Scotland presented a Quaich to Anne of Denmark on their wedding. Quaichs are traditionally a silver or pewter cup which comes with two handles and is known as the 'loving cup' or the 'cup of friendship'. At a Scottish wedding, the tradition is to fill the Quaich with whisky and you will often find it used at the start of the ceremony, as a way to welcome friends and family! A couple would also drink from the Quaich as a symbol of trust and unity.

Nowadays you may find couples making slight changes to the tradition. Perhaps your guests aren't partial to a dram, some brides nowadays are exchanging whisky for gin or bubbly (we'd still recommend the whisky, traditions and all that!) but whatever takes your fancy!

Do you tweet? We do, in fact we love it! A funny thing happened a few months back while we were happily responding to some mentions on Twitter... we came across a tweet from an American author named Valerie Bowman - Valerie was talking about her new book 'Secrets of a Runaway Bride' featuring our very own Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop! We were impressed! We do like a mention in a book now and then... (see Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice for example). So we were rather excited to hear that we featured in Ms Bowman's new book and knew that we had to talk to her to find out more...

Over the years we have welcomed people from all around the world to Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop, including a few famous faces (which always causes great excitement here).

Following the release of David Bowie's return to form with his critically-acclaimed new album, 'The Next Day' we've now learned that David Bowie visited Gretna Green in the 1990s!