THE Queen is now celebrating 70 years on the throne, but she had only reigned for ten years when Alan and Anne Bougourd were married.
The couple, from St Lawrence, are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.
They marked the occasion at a special lunch with family and friends earlier this week – exactly 60 years to the day since they were married.
Mr and Mrs Bougourd first met at a dance at West Park Pavilion on 15 October 1959 and got engaged a year later. They married at St Andrew’s Church on 17 May 1962.
Mr Bougourd, now 84, recalled that the date fell on a Thursday that year, and it was standard practice at the time for shops and businesses to close at lunchtime on Thursdays, which made it easier for guests to attend the ceremony.
They held a reception afterwards at the Savoy Hotel in Rouge Bouillon and departed that evening to Scotland for their honeymoon.
Mrs Bougourd, who is 83, remembers that newlywed couples used to have their photo taken at the foot of the stairs of a plane at Jersey Airport – even if it wasn’t the aircraft they were travelling on.
When asked the secret to a long and successful marriage, she said: ‘It really is a matter of give and take, and working hard together.’
.
