Flower delivery let a true love bloom

MORE than six decades ago Ian and Jacqueline Smith met when he was delivering flowers from his family's market garden on East Fettes Avenue to the florist on Shandwick Place where she worked.
Ian and Jacqueline Smith on their wedding day in 1958Ian and Jacqueline Smith on their wedding day in 1958
Ian and Jacqueline Smith on their wedding day in 1958

You could say that since they laid eyes on each other in 1953, life has been rosy for the couple.

And they celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary at a gathering with family and friends on Thursday, February 22.

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Shortly after their fated first meeting, the pair were betrothed.

But soon Ian signed up and spent the next three years in the army, travelling the world and seving in North Korea and Malaysia with his unit.

He was finally reunited with his fiancée in 1957 and he vowed never to be parted from her again.

They married in 1958 with a dapper Ian, then 22, pairing a smart morning coat with impeccably pressed pinstripe trousers.

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His 21-year-old new wife was radiant in a stunning silk dress with tulle underskirt topped with a short veil that would have undoubtedly turned heads.

They settled right here in Edinburgh, the city of both their births, never straying from the EH4 postcode so much did they love it.

Later eldest daughter Carol arrived in 1959 with little sister Gwen following four years later in 1963.

Their son Alan made his debut with them soon after in 1966 and the happy family was complete.

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Ian worked hard and honest as a landscaper for the Scottish Special Housing Association, drawing on his family background in horticulture by fulfilling one of the other loves of his life – gardening.

He has a keen interest in and a vast knowledge of plants, according to son Alan, and his garden is a sight to behold.

Pride of place in their backyard lies a monkey puzzle tree that Ian planted in honour of his wife.

Jacqueline brought up their three children in their happy home before working in childcare until she retired.

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They both share a love of travel and have traversed the globe over the years together, even visiting Australia an incredible 15 times along the way.

A neighbour of Ian’s from his childhood home in Comely Bank Road drew the pair Down Under but they love cruises and European travel too, and the holiday home the family shared in Aviemore remains a source of happy memories.

Ian is an avid bowler and gets on to the green as often as he can, weather permitting, as Jacqueline jokes she’s a bowling widow.

Their three children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren as well as friends, some of whom watched them get wed, gathered to celebrate 60 years of love, family and friendship at The Raeburn, a fitting venue for the pair whose first home was around the corner in Dean Park Street.