All my family got married in church. It felt the natural thing

The couple had been going out for 10 years when Michael popped the question.

Kate, 32, had always assumed they would marry in church.

Kate, a children’s mental health worker, said: “For us it was the perfect setting.

“Michael is a Catholic and a religious ceremony was important to us.

“All my family has married in church and it was the natural thing for us to do.

“The minister, the Rev James Jack, went to great lengths to make sure everyone felt welcome and included.

“We also felt attached to the church having got engaged in the gardens.”

Michael, 35, from County Mayo, Ireland, said: “Duddingston Kirk suited us perfectly.

“I knew we would always have a religious ceremony.

The couple met on an online dating site in 2010 and held their ceremony in the ballroom of Oxenfoord Castle near Pathhead, Midlothian.

Civil servant Kirsty from Haddington, East Lothian, said: “We are both atheists and did not want a church wedding.

“It was important that we chose our own vows in the friendly atmosphere of a home. We had been to eight weddings the previous year and knew we wanted a ceremony in a friendly location. “Oxenfoord is a family home which suited us perfectly. “We considered a civil ceremony but I had been to one at a registrar’s office before and wanted something different.”

Legal worker Tam, 35, said: “A religious wedding “Duddingston Kirk is a place of worship where marriages have been conducted since the 12th Century.

“It’s steeped in its history of reverence and service to others. That added to the day and we knew it had cared for its congregation over the centuries.

“The Rev Jack’s warmth engaged everyone.”

Sir Walter Scott was ordained as an elder of the church in 1806 and is reputed to have worked on his novel The Heart of Midlothian in the manse garden. would not have been right. We didn’t want anything too stuffy or uptight.

“It was important for us that everyone felt comfortable.

“People wore their Sunday best but at the same time, felt relaxed and comfortable. “It was the perfect day.” Do they agree with the Kirk marketing itself at wedding fairs?

Tam said: “There is nothing wrong with that. Each to their own.”

When Kate and Michael got engaged in the grounds of Duddingston Kirk by Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, it seemed only logical they would marry in the church. Tam and Kirsty were determined to marry in the sumptuous surroundings of a country house in a...