Evening News ad led to love for a pair with lots in common

IT was love at first sight, but it appears a pair of Edinburgh newlyweds had more in common than they thought.

Joiner Nigel Scott and travel agent Elizabeth Nicol were so smitten with each other they started discussing marriage on their first date.

While they'd never met officially before, the couple quickly realised they had attended the same school for years and even lived on the same street.

Despite these connections it took a lonely hearts column to get the pair together, and they have now been happily married for three months.

Nigel, 36, saw a lonely hearts listing in the Evening News's Perfect Partners section marked Life Is A Rollercoaster, left a voicemail on the mailbox number and waited. He soon received a text from the woman behind the ad, 35-year-old travel agent Elizabeth - now Elizabeth Nicol-Scott - and it quickly became clear they had lots in common.

Elizabeth said: "We realised that we were a year apart at The Royal High School but didn't even know each other.

"Then we figured out that I worked right across the road from his old flat in Leith.

"I liked the sound of his voice on the voicemail. He sounded really straightforward and laid-back, so we decided to meet.

"I met him in Orchard Brae close to my house and we took a walk into town together and had a drink in the Standing Order on George Street, and we just hit it off.

"By the end of the first date we were already talking about marriage.

"The following day I was sitting at work and a big bouquet of flowers arrived for me. The whole office was astounded - and they knew this was going to be something big."

The couple dated for around 18 months and Elizabeth was convinced Nigel would pop the question on New Year's Day 2009, but an engagement ring was nowhere to be seen.

Nigel said: "I had told her I was going to propose early in 2009 but I wanted to keep some element of surprise. I knew she was the one for me.

"I couldn't believe how much we had in common, and how close we had been to each other all those years.

"I eventually proposed to her on Valentine's Day, on the exact spot where I first laid eyes on her."

Like the day they met, they had a drink in the Standing Order, and went home via Orchard Brae. Nigel got down on one knee and, in the full view of pedestrians and passing traffic, asked for her hand in marriage.

The pair wed on 24 July at Blackhall St Columba's Church, three years to the day since they met and just yards from their special spot at Orchard Brae.

"The wedding day was perfect," said Elizabeth."We decided not to live together until we married so it's taken a bit of getting used to, sharing a bed.

"I put in my ad that I was looking for someone for life, not just a few dates, and timewasters need not apply. I'm happy to say I've found a keeper."