Walk down aisle - at Harvey Nicks

Published on Wednesday 28 June 2006 01:14

Key quote "We have the outdoor terrace on the Forth Floor, which is very popular, and there are two bars which makes the area more flexible for receptions." - store's manager Gordon Drummond

Story in full SHOPAHOLICS and fashionistas will be able to tie the knot surrounded by designer labels when Harvey Nichols becomes the first store in Scotland to gain a civil marriage licence.

The exclusive retailer, which opened its only Scottish outlet in Edinburgh four years ago, has applied to hold wedding ceremonies for up to 80 guests.

Managers say the store's view over the city centre and its luxury food hall could make it the wedding venue of choice for Scotland's richest and most glamorous couples.

It will be the latest in a series of unusual civil wedding venues, following on from golf courses, the Wallace Monument and the Falkirk Wheel.

The shop's Forth Floor restaurant can be converted into a private reception area, with food and drink supplied directly by kitchen staff, whose typical evening menu includes venison, sea bass and chicken with sauted foie gras.

If it gets the go-ahead, it will be the only branch of Harvey Nichols with a wedding licence. Gordon Drummond, the store's manager, said: "We are doing this because of the number of couples who have asked us if they can get married here.

"We have the outdoor terrace on the Forth Floor, which is very popular, and there are two bars which makes the area more flexible for receptions.

"We also have the right clothes for a modern wedding and a personal shopping service for fittings and customised outfits. A lot of couples are moving away from the traditional white gown and morning suit, and labels such as Amanda Wakeley, Prada and Gucci - all of which we sell in the store - are becoming popular at weddings."

He said the cost of a Harvey Nichols wedding was "negotiable", adding: "We already host private functions, and the cost of those varies sharply according to what people want, so it would really depend on the requirements of the couple."

Ros Nash, the features editor of Scottish Wedding Directory magazine, said: "At this time of year, you can end up going from one wedding to another and they all seem to blur into one. Couples nowadays want something different and distinctive, something that makes their big day something to remember.

"I think a Harvey Nichols wedding would appeal to women who like to shop, or people that are into designer clothes, or even couples that have met in the shop. You hear of folk who first set eyes on each other at the vegetable counter in the supermarket, so I suppose there is no reason Harvey Nichols is any different."

She said she was unaware of any other shop offering a civil wedding, despite an expanding range of unusual venues. "We did hear of a couple getting married at the Falkirk Wheel, so a department store isn't the wackiest choice of venue," she said.

Among the other approved venues in Scotland are Kirkintilloch Miners Welfare Club and Pizza Express in Stirling.

A spokeswoman for the chief registrar at City of Edinburgh Council said: "We will consider the application from Harvey Nichols the same as any other - there aren't any obvious reasons why it couldn't be granted.

"All venues are checked to make sure they comply with safety requirements and so on."

The first civil marriage conducted under new legislation allowing weddings outside churches and register offices was on 5 August, 2002, at the Busta House Hotel, in Shetland.

Since then, a range of places have been approved, including the Callanish standing stones on Lewis, Jedburgh Castle Jail in the Borders and Rob Roy's birthplace at Monachyle Mhor in the Trossachs. Boats have proved popular, with weddings taking place on the Napoleonic frigate Unicorn, docked in Dundee, and the Royal Scot at Loch Ness.