KATE Forbes has announced her engagement, moments after support for the wedding industry was announced.

The Scottish Finance Minister said she has not started planning her wedding yet because she has work to do before presenting her second Scottish Budget to Holyrood.

She said: "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!"

In December, Forbes announced wide-ranging support for business, including £15 million for those depending on weddings.

Nicola Sturgeon told the coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh that funding, which will open for applications on Thursday, will now be worth £25 million in grants of up to £25,000.

READ MORE: Fewer firms go bust in pandemic than in 2019 as Covid funds boost business

“We know that businesses involved in weddings employ thousands of people across the country and of course they play a really big role in making sure that couples enjoy the wedding day of their dreams, so it’s really important that we support the sector now so that it is able to operate again once restrictions start to ease,” the First Minister said.

“So I hope this support will provide some welcome help and reassurance to a sector that has found things particularly tough.”

READ MORE: Kate Forbes pledges that Scottish budget will focus on the recovery from Covid

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.”