A KENDAL chapel has performed another town 'first', as a Christian and a Buddhist tied the knot under its roof.

Fiona Walker-Quilliam and Roger Quilliam held their interfaith wedding in Kendal's Unitarian Chapel, earlier this year

"I've been a Buddhist for a long time and my husband Roger is Christian so it was a combination of both at our wedding," Fiona told the Gazette.

The Kendalian couple, who met three years ago, were married by the chapel's Reverend Amanda Reynolds and Reverend Ashley Henderson from Kendal Parish Church gave a blessing.

Members of the Buddhist Group of Kendal Theravada, which Fiona, 57, belongs to, took part in the service by offering a reading from the Dalai Lama as well as chanting a Buddhist prayer.

"I have always liked it there," Fiona said, of the chapel. "It's a lovely little place. It's got a very special feel about it. It's old and characterful and welcoming and quiet - it's a sort of oasis of peace just off the market place."

It was important to the couple that both of their faiths played a part in their special day. As well as the readings, Fiona said that he chapel was decorated with Buddhist prayer flags and the couple's own poetry adorned home-made bunting.

Kendal's Unitarian Chapel made headlines in March, when it became the first place of worship in the town to wed a same-sex couple.

Unitarians do not ascribe to any singular religion but rather place emphasis on individual experiences and seek to 'share faith together in an atmosphere of freedom and mutual respect'.

Roger, 62, said that it was a 'brilliant' day and it had 'definitely' been important to the couple to have both of their belief systems represented.

The couple met while Roger was 'decluttering' his home. Fiona responded to an advert for some items he was selling and they began to spend time together.

"We arranged to meet up for coffee and we have been meeting up ever since," he said.

"Fiona came into my life and boosted me up," Roger said, recalling when he first started to see his now wife. "We have helped each other along the way.

And, despite their differing faiths, Fiona said that her husband is 'open' to her beliefs.

"Roger has always been pretty open to my Buddhism," she said. "Buddhism is more of an ethical code and philosophy rather than a religion so you could almost technically be Buddhist and Christian anyway because it's not sort of setting Buddha up as a god or anything.

"I think we are both just sort of interested in spirituality. As long as the values are right it doesn't matter too much what the creed is."