Two Edinburgh men have become the first gay couple to be blessed by a Church of Scotland minister.

Robert Wicksted and Alex Valentine exchanged rings in a 15-minute ceremony at the Phoenix bar in Broughton Street, Edinburgh and closed with a version of Barbara Streisand's ‘Evergreen’, sung by the landlords daughter.

"When we first started talking about doing this, we didn’t think about gay rights or having a moral impact on society. But this is a commitment we both have for each other,” Wicksted, a former Royal Scots serviceman, told The Scotsman.

"I think it is a sign society is changing its views on same-sex relationships, and hopefully other churches will follow suit. It has been a very enjoyable day and everything has gone really well.

"We are not doing this just for publicity - hopefully I’ll leave the gay community with something positive to build on, in making gay weddings more accepted."

The service was led by the Rev Iain Whyte, from the Edinburgh Community Mental Health Chaplaincy, who pointed out the ceremony did not mean the couple were married. He told the paper that he would not have blessed the union if he did not agree with it.

"It was not easy carrying out a ceremony in a pub, but it is where people are and this is real life. I look forward to the day when we have legal recognition of same-sex relationships."

Wicksted later revealed that the day had fulfilled one of his last wishes.

"I'm terminally ill and know I haven't got long left and that's why this is so important to us, but the main reason is that we love each other," he told The Herald.

“We both wanted to get married and make a commitment to each other.

"I hope this wedding helps pave the way forward for the church so they accept gay weddings for what they are – an act of love and commitment.

"If two people love each other and are committed to each other that's all that should matter and the Church needs to recognise that.