A BRIDE made sure her late father accompanied her down the aisle - by attaching his ashes to her bouquet.

Audrey Colvil was determined that Martin Whiteside, who died in a hillwalking accident, would not miss her big day so she attached a sachet of his ashes to her flowers.

A photograph of Mr Whiteside, who was from the Highlands, was also placed in the church for the marriage to Stuart Colvil.

Mrs Colvil, who met her husband through a flatmates' advertisement published in The Herald, told yesterday how her father died in 2003 while on a solo walking expedition in the West Highlands. A search was launched when the 40-year-old failed to return home. Two days later, his body was found, on Knoydart peninsula.

Mrs Colvil said: "I started thinking about who was going to walk me down the aisle and various people were suggested. I decided I wanted to walk down the aisle with Stuart, but I wanted my dad to be there too.

"I asked the florists if they could attach something to my flowers that would be easily removable, because I was going to throw my bouquet, and they put the ashes into a little sachet that was tied to the handle."

She added that her 51-year-old mother, Linda, had been happy for her late husband to play an important part in the wedding ceremony.

Mrs Colvil said: "We've always dealt with what happened with humour and, now it is more than 10 years since his death, we all feel we can start to move on.

"Seeing his photo as we walked down the aisle made me cry, but it felt right having him at my wedding."