Scotland is famous for its beautiful landscapes, rich culture, history and of course its magnificent castles. For couples dreaming of a fairytale celebration, a castle wedding offers the most romantic setting. Venues with grand baronial halls, sprawling estate grounds and diverse scenery - from rugged hills to freshwater lochs and jagged coastlines.
To celebrate the launch of my new collection of illustrated castle wedding invitations, I’ve rounded up 9 of the best castle wedding venues in Scotland. Whether you’re planning a coastal celebration, an exclusive-use weekend or want a historic venue close to Edinburgh, here are some of the most romantic, charming and unique venues to celebrate your wedding.
Best Castle Wedding Venues in Scotland: By the Sea
Scotland’s rugged coastline creates an atmospheric backdrop for your wedding with soft, sandy beaches framed by towering cliff tops and dramatic rock formations. A venue by the Scottish coast offers seclusion and privacy for intimate celebrations, can create a ‘destination’ like feel for your guests and provides the perfect backdrop for beautiful wedding photos.
Culzean Castle
Perched on a dramatic cliff on the Ayrshire cliffs on the west coast of Scotland and overlooking the Firth of Clyde, Culzean Castle is one of Scotland’s most iconic coastal wedding venues. Managed by the National Trust for Scotland, Culzean Castle is a masterpiece of Georgian gothic architecture, designed by the renowned architect Robert Adam.
Unique features include the grand oval staircase and a round drawing room designed specifically for panoramic, 180-degree views over the sea. On-site accommodation includes charming self-catering cottages and history buffs can enjoy the armoury in the entrance hall, hidden cannons and hidden sea caves that were used for smuggling in the 18th century.
Ceremonies can take place inside or outside on the clifftops. The vast country park, with its decorative follies, colourful gardens, and sandy beaches are the perfect setting for wedding photos too. Culzean Country Park is home to a variety of wildlife including red and fallow deer, while the coastal cliffs attract otters, ravens, peregrine falcons, red squirrels and pheasants.
Glenapp Castle
Glenapp Castle is a 5-star Relais & Châteaux hotel located around a mile away from the Ayrshire coast. It boasts a castle penthouse / 4-bedroom apartment with its own private chef and 24-hour butler service. The building is a classic 1870s Scottish baronial-style mansion, complete with turrets and towers and is surrounded by 110 acres of private woodland and gardens.
The venue caters for intimate weddings and large-scale affairs, has a range of luxury suites to accommodate wedding guests and an impressive menu derived from locally sourced ingredients.
One of the most intriguing things is Glenapp Castle’s private boat offering Hebridean Sea Safaris with a professional crew and marine biologist allowing guests to admire sea life, birds or go ashore to visit an ancient monastery, archaeological site, hidden castle garden, or whisky distillery. Committed to making the guest experience truly unique, the venue offers a plethora of distinct experiences, including fishing, golf, falconry, whisky tasting and wellness.
Best Castle Wedding Venues in Scotland: Exclusive Use
Hiring a castle wedding venue for exclusive-use offers a highly intimate and personalised experience, allowing couples to take over historic, grand properties for their sole use. This approach eliminates the presence of strangers or other wedding parties, ensuring complete privacy and undivided staff attention.
Cluny Castle
Rarely open to the public and offering exclusive-use over a two or three day wedding weekend, Cluny Castle is the perfect venue for an experiential celebration. Plus, just a handful of dates are available each year, making it even more exclusive!
Nestled in the stunning Aberdeenshire countryside, the venue is ‘romantic and remote’ with a diverse range of indoor and outdoor spaces for your ceremony, reception and late-night revelry. Including its very own private chapel, which is an intimate, romantic, and historic space featuring soaring ceilings, intricate dark oak woodwork, and beautiful stained-glass windows.
Cluny Castle is a prime example of 14th-century Scottish baronial architecture, featuring a massive tower, turrets and a dramatic, imposing, yet welcoming atmosphere. The on-site accommodation includes a beautiful honeymoon suite and luxury bedrooms and your guests will also be impressed to know the venue was used as a filming location for The Queen.
Achnagairn Castle
Situated in the Scottish Highlands, just outside Inverness, Achnagairn Castle has become one of the Highlands’ most sought-after wedding venues. It boasts a breath-taking vaulted ballroom with an arched ceiling, stone fireplace and its own Minstrel’s gallery and an impressive accommodation offering. Each bedroom has a unique theme such as the ‘happily ever after’ bridal suite and the cosy ‘nookery’, and in addition to the on-site bedrooms there are nearby Mini Manors to accommodate more guests.
The venue strives to help guests ‘escape the ordinary’ and encourages couples to make the celebration their own, with two and three day celebrations. Guests can enjoy activities on the lawns such as croquet, archery and clay pigeon shooting.
The estate is home to an award-winning Table Manors restaurant, providing high-end culinary experiences and for weddings, the venue has hand picked a panel of the finest local caterers.
Best Castle Wedding Venues in Scotland: Edinburgh
Edinburgh is a fabulous location to get married. In addition to the obvious things like the history, stunning views and unique wedding venues, it is possible to get married anywhere in Edinburgh as the celebrant is licensed, not the venue. The city is compact and walkable and provides lots of activities and things for your guests to do if you are having a multi-day event.
You can embrace some Scottish traditions such as handfasting, a quaich ceremony or traditional ceilidh and the city boasts a wide choice of accommodation and dining options outside of your wedding day.
Edinburgh Castle
Steeped in Royal history, Edinburgh Castle is home to Saint Margaret’s Chapel - the oldest building in Edinburgh, perfect for intimate, religious ceremonies for up to 20-30 guests. Plus the Jacobite and Queen Anne Room for larger parties and grand banquets.
Edinburgh Castle offers panoramic views of the city, dramatic photo opportunities and is one of the most iconic, recognisable buildings in Scotland. Exclusive experiences such as private viewings of Scotland’s crown jewels can be arranged to add a unique element to your wedding.
Dalhousie Castle
Just 8 miles from Edinburgh and nestled within an 11-acre parkland estate, Dalhousie Castle is Scotland’s oldest inhabited castle, dating back to the 13th century. The perfect blend of history and modern elegance, Dalhousie Castle offers some of the finest Scottish cuisine around, a Dungeon restaurant, hidden bar behind a bookcase and an Aqueous Spa.
The surrounding parkland looks stunning during the autumn months and the grounds are bordered by the River Esk and feature wooded, hilly terrain. Guests can enjoy falconry, archery, and three scenic walking routes within the estate; or simply relax in the walled garden.
Carlowrie Castle
A luxury castle wedding venue with a 32-acre estate and also available for exclusive-use, Carlowrie Castle blends historical elegance with bold, contemporary art and luxury. It is the first castle in the world to achieve B Corp certification for sustainability and houses an impressive modern art collection. Unlike many traditional, antique-filled castles, Carlowrie Castle features a curated collection of modern art, including works by street artist Banksy.
The interior is lavish with 21 individually designed, luxurious bedrooms with underfloor heating, marble bathrooms, and handmade furniture. Plus versatile spaces such a fully glazed Orangery, a Marquee for outdoor celebrations, a Library Bar, Piano Room, and Marble Room.
Best Castle Venues With Large Grounds
One of the most attractive features of Scottish castle weddings is the pretty surrounding parkland and gardens. They not only provide perfect outdoor spaces for your celebrations and beautiful photo opportunities, but provide a space for your guests to explore in between wedding events.
Kinmount House
Frequently visited by Oscar Wilde in the 1890’s, Kinmount House is nestled within 2,000 acres of woodland, gardens and lakes, offering a tranquil escape for your wedding guests. Highlights include stunning Italian Gardens, a serene lake filled with hundreds of water lilies and an ornate Victorian bathing house - the venue truly is a wedding photographer’s dream!
Step inside and be dazzled by the exquisite Georgian staircase, a magnificent ballroom, Grand-Hall and stunning Orangery, drenched in lots of natural daylight and presenting views across the Solway Firth and Lake District Mountains. There is also a pavilion leading out onto a pretty terrace with plenty of outdoor seating - here children can play, you can host lawn games or simply relax in the sunshine. Other areas of the venue are more suited to intimate, rustic or boho weddings such as The Croft and the Boathouse.
Kinmount House’s luxury accommodation includes a mix of bedrooms, apartments and self-catering cottages which are perfect for whole families or guests travelling from afar.
If you are looking for a wedding venue that values sustainability, you might like to know that the estate has an anaerobic digester that produces enough electricity from agricultural waste to power approximately 900 homes, making it highly sustainable.
Newhall Estate
Situated at the foot of the Pentland Hills and with Edinburgh on its doorstep, Newhall Estate is surrounded by 1,000 acres of Scottish countryside, offering beautiful glen walks, waterfalls, caves, and the estate also has its very own private reservoir.
The venue likes to provide couples with choice and flexibility and has four ceremony spaces on-site, including the Sunroom and Granary and two outdoor spaces; plus the Coach House for evening celebrations. The Walled Garden is also the perfect spot for a relaxed drinks reception after the ceremony too.
I also love that the estate cultivates its own flowers, providing fresh, seasonal blooms for its events. Their partnership with local farms follows the motto “Grown, Not Flown,” emphasising the venue’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of importing flowers. By sourcing and using flowers grown locally, we support sustainable practices and celebrate the beauty of regional flora.
Newhall Estate’s accommodation includes bedrooms in the main house and a selection of charming cottages.
Whichever castle wedding venue in Scotland you have chosen, your wedding stationery should reflect the beauty and character of the venue. That’s exactly what inspired my new collection of illustrated castle wedding invitations, featuring detailed artwork of some of Scotland’s most romantic venues, including Edinburgh Castle, Cluny Castle, Achnagairn Castle, Glenapp Castle and Culzean Castle.
Each design captures the architectural charm and ambience of the venue, and the colours and florals can be personalised to suit your wedding styling. Please contact me to chat about wedding invitations and bespoke stationery for your special day.