It was a whirlwind romance for Michael and Sandra Wigston who eloped to Gretna Green rather than pay thousands for an elaborate wedding.
Sandra (32), a health care support worker at a GP surgery, and Michael (35), who works for Langwith Builders, celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on Tuesday – and say they couldn’t be happier.
Sandra said: “My husband’s family wanted us to have a big, elaborate wedding and things were getting out of control so we decided to elope to Gretna Green.
“We got two witnesses from the corner shop, one man getting his pension and a lady working on the tills.
“It was literally a ten minute ceremony and we had one photo taken by the gentleman who was collecting his pension.
“We could have spent thousands getting married and still been in debt. It cost us about £100, including bed and breakfast the night before.
“We are more than happy and content with our lives.
“It’s not how much you spend on your marriage, it’s what you make of it, how you work at it.”
Sandra says she and Michael are still very much in love.
“We are like teenagers,” she said.
They met in Holbeach when Sandra was 16 and Michael was 19 and he proposed after a fortnight.
Now living in Whaplode, they have a daughter Chloe (11) and they take her to Scotland on holiday once a year and show her where they got married.
On their wedding night, they came home to Lincolnshire and had a meal with Sandra’s parents, Jenny and Terry, and spent their anniversary night with them too.