A house with 1797 over the door.
The Strathaven Hotel began life as Wester Overton, a classical mansion house built for James Stewart of Overton and dated 1797 above the front door. It's Category B listed, it stands on the edge of the old market town of Strathaven in South Lanarkshire, and after a major refurbishment it's now a family-run country house hotel with 22 bedrooms. I married a couple here on a Thursday in May 2026.
The room I stood in
The ceremony room I stood in had the old house written all over it: a decorative plaster ceiling, a white fireplace with a mirror above it, wall lights against grey walls and a herringbone floor. The couple had wooden cross-back chairs tied with sage-green ribbon and a path of candles and petals down the aisle, and the signing table sat at the front by a window looking out onto the trees.
The hotel's capacity chart lists four places to marry: the Stone Lounge for up to 40, the Overton Suite for up to 90, the Strathaven Suite for up to 160, and a courtyard for up to 90. The Strathaven Suite is the ballroom, with floor-to-ceiling windows, its own bar and direct access to the gardens. I haven't married anyone in the ballroom or the courtyard yet, so if either is on your list, go and stand in it before you book.
Phones away
This couple asked their guests not to take photos during the ceremony and left it to their photographer. I asked everyone at the start, then invited them forward after the signing to get their own pictures. If you'd like the same, tell your celebrant, add a line to your invitations, and warn your photographer that there will be a rush once the schedule is signed.
They also shared a quaich, and the rings came up the aisle with help from a four-legged member of the family. If your dog has a job on the day, give the lead to someone who isn't in the wedding party, and have a plan for where the dog goes afterwards.
Getting there
Tell your guests two things. The hotel asks sat nav users to type ML10 6NY rather than its postal postcode, and the sign at the entrance to the drive says it leads to Beechwood Court, so nobody sails past it. The hotel is about five miles from junction 8 of the M74, and the nearest station is Hamilton, seven miles away, so anyone coming by train will want a taxi booked. Parking is free, and if you take the hotel on exclusive use, all 22 bedrooms and the grounds are yours for the day.
The legal bit, handled
A humanist wedding in Scotland is legally binding, and as a Humanist Society Scotland celebrant I look after every legal word of it: the declarations, the schedule, the witnesses. I write every ceremony from scratch, around your story and nobody else's. I'm a humanist wedding celebrant covering Lanarkshire as well as Glasgow: Strathaven, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Stonehouse and Lanark. My Glasgow wedding celebrant page has more on the area, and since the hotel offers midweek and winter weddings, my guide to weekday and off-season weddings is worth a read.
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More Glasgow and Lanarkshire venues I know inside out: Crossbasket Castle · Dalziel Park · The Tudor Hotel, Airdrie · The Busby Hotel · Dalmeny Park · Glazert Country House Hotel