A Diamond Wedding celebration
My parents first met at the age of 16, when my dad gate-crashed a party where my mum happened to be…
Well, there’s a story behind that:
It was Christmas 1962, Bethnal Green, in London’s East End, and after sinking a few jars of ale with a bunch of mates in York Hall, my dad didn’t want the night to end. One of the lads he was with mentioned he had heard there was a party going on in Priam House, on the Minerva Estate, so off they trotted to find it.
No invite, No problem!
However, the intelligence proved to be a bit dodgy; it turned out to be a kids party, where my mum just happened to be. She was only there on account of having just helped the birthday girl’s mother with her hair that day.
Opps, not exactly the kind of party the boys were looking for. But hey ho, some clouds have silver linings…
Fuelled with the best ice breaker known to man (alcohol), my dad gallantly offered to walk my mum home. Well, she’d had a few sherry’s too, so the beer goggles were in full swing – both ways.
Turns out, the walk home wasn’t too far after all, mum lived in Helen’s House, a housing block just around the corner on the same estate, and even more bizarre, it turns out, my dad lived in Nester House, also on the same estate. Handy that!
Oh well, the boys missed out on the party, but the result was an introduction to a relationship that’s now surpassed six decades.
Everyone in the above photo have that brief serendipitous meeting to blame – either for either their existence or existing relationship.
They got married three years later in a shotgun wedding (shhhhh don’t tell anyone), stopping for the obligatory photo on the steps of Bethnal Green registry office with members of family and friends. Mum was the eldest in her family, whilst dad was the youngest in his.
Who’d have guessed that it was going to last all this time…
The celebrations took place in their new home town of Barton on Sea (I say ‘new’, a they moved there to “retire” a third of a century ago). A large table was booked at Pebble Beach restaurant for the occasion.
We also hired out all of the rooms at the venue for the night, which included the penthouse suite, which had gorgeous views over the Solent towards the Isle of Wight.
The weather was amazing, which allowed us to exploit the private terrace and watch the lovely March sunset.
It turned out to be a marvellous night, with no formality, but plenty of fun.
My sister drew the short straw and arranged for the Diamond celebratory letter from the King.. which arrived well in time, and was proudly placed at the centre of the table, along with other photos and memories from that 1965 occasion.
The celebration really could not have been any better.
By sheer coincidence, I had chosen to wear a pair of my grandads cufflinks for the occasion, so at least he was there in spirit. Unbeknown to me my dad was also wearing his watch.
