So here's the thing.

Me & Mrs G have been invited to a wedding in the UK later this year. I'm American, so no problem, Mrs G is a Thai with US permanent residency, ie a green card holder. We're currently back in the US, no plans to return to Thailand until after Christmas.

So my question is, will we still have to jump through all the hoops I read about for Brits trying to take their GF/Wife to the UK on vacation? We have no ties to the country, neither of us are British and we don't live in Thailand.

If this would require a visit to a UK embassy or consulate that would mean either a trip to DC or San Francisco, both of which are a 3 day drive or couple of hours on a plane, both of which would be non starters

Not at all. A simple visit visa should suffice.

Pretty straight forward as long as you cover reason for visit, affordability and reasons to return (in this case living in the US).

Not going to give advice on how to get a visa beyond the link below that I got from Google!

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/usa-apply-for-a-uk-visa/apply-for-a-uk-visa-in-the-usa