A COUPLE are celebrating their life-long romance which started with a Christmas wedding 60 years ago.

Theresa and Robert Dance first set eyes on each other at a dance hall in Woking, as Bob was out enjoying his 21st birthday and finishing three years in the army.

From their January meeting, it did not take long for the duo to make it official, setting a wedding date for December 27.

Theresa said: “I always said to my mother I would never get married, but if I did it would have to be quick

“He was just the right one, it was just something.”

Despite tying the knot during the wintery months, the couple did not have Christmas snow on their big day but lovely sunny weather in Chertsey, Surrey.

But Theresa’s uncle Fred, a chef, added a festive touch with a three-tiered Christmas-themed creation for the wedding cake.

Theresa added: “Being Catholic, we were going to get married at Easter but in the Catholic church you can’t get married in Lent so somebody suggested why don’t you make it a Christmas wedding, so that is how we made it a Christmas wedding.”

The couple honeymooned in Andover, where they later moved to live, while they also settled in Bournemouth, running a hotel for five years, Amesbury and Ludgershall where they currently call home.

Despite being told they could not have children when they first married, three months later Theresa was surprised to find she was pregnant, and their first daughter Catherine was born on their one-year wedding anniversary, December 27.

The plumbing and heating engineer, and book binder went on to have another daughter Bernadette, and two grandchildren, Sarah and Jack.

The pair laugh over fond memories of their family life together from Bob ruining the mahogany table in an attempt to iron and how Theresa restored order to the home after her absence.

To celebrate their diamond year they hosted an open house for friends and family to visit on Thursday, to follow a quiet Christmas spent at home.