Great-grandmother tries on wedding dress 65 years on - and looks just as stunning
Can you still fit into your wedding dress? It’s probably not the reality for most women.
But 85-year-old Renee Heath can – and she looks as stunning now as she did then.
The grandmother-of-five prides herself on keeping the beautiful gown safe for the last 65 years and even put on the treasured item as she and her husband Eric marked their milestone wedding anniversary.
While Eric’s suit is no longer at home, he does still have the tie he wore and the dried carnation that was in his buttonhole.
The couple, from Dalelands Estate, Market Drayton, have lived all their married life in the town and Renee is well known for her voluntary work with the Barnardos charity.
They were married in St Swithun’s Church in Cheswardine in August 1957.
The pair met three years earlier, when Eric’s friend and neighbour was dating Renee’s sister.
“He was dating a girl from Cheswardine and introduced me to her sister, Renee,” said Eric, 86.
They enjoyed nights out together and both couples went on to marry.
The couple have two children, Michael and Larraine, and five grandchildren as well as great grandchildren.
Eric was a construction worker whose work saw him work on sites including motorways, factories, homes and also the barrack blocks at Tern Hill army camp on the edge of the town.
“We were working at the barracks when it was bombed by the IRA,” he said.
“It was sad to see the buildings we had constructed destroyed.”
Renee spent 25 years working at Palethorpes meat factory in Market Drayton. She was also heavily involved with Barnados, volunteering with the charity for 45 years.
Her hobbies include gardening while Eric enjoys art and snooker. He still plays snooker in the Constitutional Club in the town.
“There are ups and down in any marriage but if you learn to give and take it makes a big difference,” he said.
The couple suffered a fire at their home last year and sadly some of the furniture they still had that they had been given as wedding presents was destroyed
They enjoyed a quiet celebration with family to mark their 65th – also known as the blue sapphire anniversary.
