A FUND of £25 million to support the wedding sector and its supply chain is to open to applications this week.

The support package, to begin on Thursday, includes an extra £10m that had been added to the £15m originally announced last month, in recognition of the ongoing challenges facing the industry.

It was launched by Kate Forbes as she announced her own engagement.

She posted on Twitter: "Having launched the Wedding Fund today, I should declare an interest as a brave man asked me to marry him on a snowy local walk over the last few days and I said yes. No plans yet for a wedding - there’s plenty of Budget work to manage first. Some rare happy news!"

One-off grants of up to £25,000 will be offered to eligible businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19, including venues, photographers, caterers and suppliers.

Forbes said: “This £25m fund will ensure one-off grants of up to £25,000 reach eligible business as quickly as possible and there is no equivalent fund in other parts of the UK.

“The pandemic has had a severe impact on Scotland’s wedding sector, and we know that the current restrictions, while entirely necessary in our fight against Covid-19, continue to take their toll on the sector.

"I’d encourage all those who think they are eligible to find out more about applying – we want to help as many businesses survive this pandemic as we can.”