Royal Wedding Couples | UKbride

Jean Stacey and Brian Sherlock married 50 years ago to the day that HRH Prince William and Kate Middleton will tie the knot... here, they offer their advice for achieving a long and happy marriage!

Brian Sherlock went to work in Haxey one day. The agricultural engineer knocked on the hatch to his office, only for it to be answered by the ‘new girl’ in the office. Half a century on, Brian and ‘the new girl’ are still together, 50 happy years, four children and seven grandchildren later.

Brian was born near Doncaster whilst Jean lived in Westwoodside before they moved to Haxey where Brian worked at A Burrell & Sons Agricultural Engineers.

“We always enjoyed each other’s company.” Says Jean. “There was no testing the water and living together like today, and after courting for two years we became engaged.”

Brian proposed to Jean at his sister’s wedding. The couple had discussed becoming engaged, and had chosen a ring together. They married at Haxey Church just down the road from the couple’s current home, at 2.30pm on April 29th 1961.

“It was a lovely day.” Says Jean. “It was sunny but with a bit of a breeze, a bit like life itself, really. The family all joined in with catering and rallied round to make the day special and we still have really happy memories of the day 50 years on.”

The couple didn’t realise they would be sharing their 50th wedding anniversary with William and Kate, and even joked that the couple didn’t ask if they could share their date.

Nonetheless, the couple are happy that the day will be memorable, and will celebrate with an open house so that grown-up children David, Deborah, Rose Marie and Richard, as well as their seven grandchildren aged nine to 21 can pop in.

Over the years, the couple says their happiest moment has been the birth of their first child, and that having children has been the highlight of their marriage. “Having each of the children has been special, but the first one is especially magical.” Says Jean.

Throughout their five decades the couple say that the illness of one of their children and a blood clot on Brian’s lung have been moments that the couple have had to pull together and support one another.

Fortunately, good times have been plentiful and bad times rare, and they are both looking forward to their wedding anniversary and to a holiday in the Dominican Republic to follow.

So to what do they attribute the success of their marriage and what tips can they offer William and Kate?

“We each have our own interests.” says Brian. “There are things we love doing together, shared interests, but we have our own interests too. "We garden together, and decorate together, but I enjoy wood turning and Jean has needlework.”

The couple also says that never raising voices or having heated arguments is important to the success of a marriage, and that staying calm is important.

“We decide who’s right when we have a problem and never shout or swear. It’s important to stay nice and calm, and to respect each other. Differences of opinion are inevitable in a marriage, especially a long one, but we never go to bed on an argument.”

When Welton couple Ben and April decided to marry in their village, little did they suspect they’d be sharing the day with a famous couple, and the celebrations that would be taking place across the UK!

Ben and April have lived in Lincolnshire all their lives and have settled as a couple in Lincoln with 14 month old daughter Darcie.

Joiner Ben has lived in Welton all his life, whilst April moved to the village from Sleaford. The couple met after a night out and were introduced my mutual friends.

“It wasn’t love at first sight, but he really grew on me quite quickly.” says April. “He’s a really warm, lovely person and he’s down to earth and chilled out, just like me. He’s a great person to share your life with!”

Ben’s proposal shortly after Darcie was born was a little unconventional to say the least — he’d been planning a grand romantic gesture for some time, but one day, when April was changing their daughter, he was overcome with love for his two young ladies and couldn’t help but pop the question there and then!

“It was really incredible, I saw April and Darcie together and just thought ‘this is where I want to be for the rest of my life.’” says Ben. “I was really surprised, but absolutely delighted!”?says April. “I said yes straight away!”

That was on 29th January 2010, and the couple’s wedding planning began in earnest.

“We definitely wanted to marry at St Mary’s in Welton.” says Ben. “My mum and dad married there, Darcie was christened there, and we’ll marry there too — it’s our family church!”

When Ben and April heard the royal couple were planning their wedding too, April’s step-father joked that they might pick the same date.

In fact, that was just what happened.

The couple will marry this month at the same time William and Kate tie the knot, and say they’re delighted to share the date with the couple.

“We think it’s really nice.” says April.

“Everyone else will be counting down to the day and they’ll be celebrating on the day, it’s lovely because it’s like everyone’s sharing our day too!”

So what tips does the couple have for William and Kate? Well one tip should be especially useful for the couple; “I think it’s important you don’t let family overshadow the day.” says Ben.

“It’s important to have plenty of time together on the day, and afterward, plenty of time together and apart. “
“A good sense of humour helps too.” says April.

“Relationships aren’t always easy but it’s important to be able to laugh and to rely on each other.”

Congratulations to both Jean & Brian, and April & Ben from all at UKbride!