A CHANCE meeting at a family wedding led to more than 60-years of marriage for one Malvern couple.

Audrey and Joseph Baylis, from Aston Drive, in Malvern, will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary with family and friends next Thursday.

After meeting at a wedding as children, the couple ended up tying the knot themselves many years later on February 23, 1957.

"My mother's brother was marrying Joe's mother, that was how it all started," remembered Mrs Baylis, who is originally from Halesowen, near Birmingham.

"We were about 21 when we got together, then we went to the cinema together and that was it."

The couple – who are now both aged 83 – were married at Halesowen Church, on a day which saw heavy snow fall across the region.

"The sun did shine in the morning, by dinner time the rain – I have never seen anything like it," recalled Mrs Baylis.

"Mid-afternoon, it snowed and my dress – it has a long train – one of the guests carried me to the car so it wouldn't get dirty.

"It was snowing very, very hard. But it was a lovely day."

They moved to Malvern 51-years-ago and went on to have two children, Carl and Julie, and three grandchildren.

During their working lives, Mr Baylis was a builder, while Mrs Baylis was a tailoress, working in Birmingham.

To celebrate their anniversary, they will enjoy a party at Worcestershire Golf Club with family and friends.