A COUPLE enjoyed a double celebration when they tied the knot on the same day the bride's grandparents marked their diamond wedding anniversary.
University lecturer Helen Hope, 32, who lived on Conway Drive, Oswaldtwistle, before moving to Cheltenham, married Timothy Clarke at a ceremony in Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
Originally unbeknown to Helen, her grandparents, Alice and William Foulkes, of Thorneyholme Road, Accrington, were due to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on the same date.
To mark the big day, the bride took the unusual decision to make a wedding day speech herself and presented her grandparents with a telegram from the Queen to commemorate their marvellous milestone.
The couple met at Whalley Assembly Rooms in 1947 when Alice, now 84, worked in the family bakery, Smithson's, in Great Harwood, and William, now 85, was an engineer in the Merchant Navy. They had three children Alison, John and Janette.
Helen's mum Alison, who now lives in Haslingden Old Road, said: "It was pure coincidence that the wedding day fell on the same date as my parents' wedding anniversary. Helen didn't realise until I pointed it out to her.
"Everyone had a lovely day and my parents were really excited. We had a family party the day before the wedding and then Helen read the speech out on her own wedding day which was a really nice thing for her to do."
