AisleDash

Say "elope" to anyone in the English-speaking western world, and they will almost certainly think of Gretna Green. Why is that, anyway?

Back in 1753, England passed a law stating that couples had to be at least 21 years old to marry without parental consent. If you were passionately in love and only 19, you were out of luck. Unless, that is, you could make a run north to Scotland, where at the time boys could marry at 14 and girls at 12 without parental consent. Scotland also didn't required the banns to be read, nor a marriage license. Heck, it didn't even require a clergyman. To those law-bound English to the south, Scotland was a marriage free-for-all!

So the couples would flee north, and get married in the first place they came to, Gretna Green, very often getting married in one of the two blacksmith shops, by the blacksmith. Even today, Gretna Green is one of the most popular marriage destinations in the world, with thousands of couples getting married "over the anvil". We're betting that back in 1753, there weren't any Gretna Green wedding planners...