Heres to 2013 at Gretna Green!

A successful 2012 brings new hope and exciting times to Gretna Green for 2013.

Happy New Year to all of you, we hope everyone has had a brilliant Christmas and New Year.

We had such a great time here at Gretna Green and our New Years Gala Dinner in our 4* Smiths Hotel was one of the best yet!

No matter how much we wish Christmas could last, many of us are starting back to work this week. Here at Gretna Green, we've been busy throughout the season but we're now looking back on some of the high points and successes we've seen here over the last year!

We have seen a lot of special dates this year, including Valentines Day, 21/11/12 and 12/12/12 (the two rare 'date' days). 12/12/12 for us was a truly lovely day. We were lucky enough to host 20 weddings in total here at the Famous Blacksmiths Shop & Smiths Hotel and we were even on TV(!) and radio a few times throughout the day - we're famous!

In terms of shopping here in Gretna Green, we've seen great success from the launch of our new website, highlighting the high quality range of products and brands that we sell in our shops. Our very own Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop was awarded the UK Shopping Attraction of the Year 2012, and we were also featured in The Guardian's Christmas Gift Guide online...

What a few of you may not have realised before reading this post is that the 4* boutique hotel, Smiths at Gretna Green, just a stones throw away from the Famous Blacksmiths Shop is also part of our business! If you have stayed with us for your wedding, we hope you enjoyed your stay!

Smiths Hotel has also seen great success in 2012, with three members of our hotel team winning awards in the Scottish Hotel of the Year awards 2012. Our General Manager Darren Lloyd won Business Manager of the Year, our lovely Wedding Manager Michelle Hall won Wedding Planner of the Year and our great head chef Stephen Myers was one of only four in Scotland to receive a 'Hotel Executive Chef Médaille d'Or' (fancy!). Smiths has also completely refurbished all 50 of its lovely rooms - even more of a reason to come and stay this year! We couldn't have achieved this without our brilliant staff who always go above and beyond to make sure you have a fantastic stay with us!

So after a great year for Great Britain and Gretna Green we are very hopeful and excited for this new year and we have so much to look forward to. Along with our annual Wedding Fayre here at Smiths Hotel on the 27th January, we have a number of events planned throughout the year for our visitors.

2013 will also see the creation of several new luxury holiday cottages right here in Gretna Green... Stay tuned to our Facebook pages for more info. We are hoping to have these up and running within the next few months and will keep you updated on when you will be able to book your stay with us!

As you can see, we are always thinking ahead and focused on building on our current success. "Our intention is to carry on developing the experience for visitors to Gretna Green while retaining the charm of this historic village." For now, you can keep up to date with all our activities and current developments through our blog and on our Facebook (Gretna Green Famous Blacksmiths Shop & Smiths Hotel) Twitter (@GretnaGreen1754 & @smithshotel) and Linkedin page.

Again, we would like to wish you all the best for 2013 and we hope to see you with us this year!