USA to Scotland Business Class-Wedding Fall 2008

Greetings
If you are planning on getting married Scotland, you need to do a bit of planning because - if one or both of you are not EU citizens - you will need to get a special marriage visa before entering the UK to get married, even though you don't need one for a normal vacation.

You also need to figure out where/when the wedding will be, arrange an officiant, and do the paperwork to get it recognized in the US. The Scottish system - sep. from the rest of the UK - is a bit different so it might help at least find a consultant in Scotland who can instruct you on what needs to be done. I suspect it would be difficult to arrange a religious service as you need to be part of a congregation, but a civil service would probably not be a problem.

As far as minimizing price - avoid getting married between late June and early September. Ticket prices to Scotland go sky-high during those months, especially August - because of the summer festivals. BA generally also manages to have a strike at some point in July or August. Direct flights can often be cheaper and less hassle because shorter flight times mean less plane fuel used and you are only paying one airport tax (at $40-50, not a cheap addition to an airfare).

Both Continental and Delta fly direct to Edinburgh from NY (Delta switches from Atlanta to NY-JFK in the fall) and Continental also flies to Glasgow. Continental has what they call business-first, as it's a smaller plane, and that might be a better deal than a regular business class seat. Also, at usually just over 6 hours, the Continental flights might be OK to rough it in cattle class and save your money for splurging in the UK - remember things cost 2x as much here, so you might want to save $ for the hotel etc