06 January,2009 08:47 AM IST | | Agencies
But Margaret and John Beauvoisin can lay claim to such a feat after renewing their commitment to each other every year since 1948.
The only year they didn't renew their vows was the year after they got married, because John was stationed in Bermuda with the Royal Navy.
Sixty years after they first wed, and now both in their 80s, there was still magic in the air as they tied the knot for their diamond wedding at the Sacred Heart Church in Waterlooville.
Each year they have taken their rings off to be blessed before putting them back on again. And both said they got a lump in their throat as they exchanged rings for the 60th time.
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It was certainly a family affair on December 27, as no fewer than 10 of the couple's 11 children together with most of their 23 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren were there to see it.
'It reinforces our promise to love and care for one another,' said Margaret, 81, of Cunningham Road, Waterlooville.
The couple met at a dance in St Patrick's Hall in Southsea.
'It was by accident really,' said Margaret. 'He was sitting in my chair and I went to sit next to him.
'Then he got up and I thought he was asking me to dance. He hadn't really intended to ask me it turns out, but we spent the rest of the night dancing and he saw me home.'
The moment they said farewell still brings a chuckle. Margaret laughed: 'I asked what his name was, and he said Oswald. I said "Do people really call you that?" He said his middle name was John, so I said "I'm going to call you that".'
In the 1940s Margaret was the first female engineering student to attend Portsmouth Municipal College.
Home life eventually took over, however, and the couple went on to have 11 children Odet, now 59, Catherine, 56, Christopher, 54, Peter, 53, Mary, 51, Bernard, 50, Gerard, 49, Hilda, 47, Laurence, 46, Anna, 42, and Dominic, 41.
Later in life John worked for the Post Office and Margaret was a Labour councillor for Stakes Ward, and remains an active member of the party.
She also taught maths at South Downs College for many years until she retired at 67.
On the secret to a happy marriage, Margaret said: 'He loves me and looks after me. We have remained faithful and love our family.'
