Joy and Trevor Collinson, from Ascot, got married at Holy Trinity Church in Bracknell on January 6, 1965, and commemorated 50 years of marriage with their surprise gathering at the Stirrups Country House Hotel in Maiden’s Green on Saturday.

Their wedding was featured on the front of the Bracknell News 50 years ago, after Mrs Collinson and her two bridesmaids, Cora Turner and Jenny Wilcoxson, had all been former Binfield Carnival queens.

Mrs Collinson, 70, originally from London Road in Bracknell, said: “I cannot believe 50 years have gone by so quickly, life is very short.

“I never thought I would be in the paper, especially so long after we were on the front page. Trevor is still so full of life and we have just cared for and looked after one another. There’s no secret to our marriage, it’s as simple as that.” Throughout her working life, Joy ran Marilyn’s, a women’s clothes shop in High Street, Bracknell, while also working in the Bracknell branch of the Co-operative supermarket. She is a volunteer with Thames Hospice.

Trevor trained and worked as an electrician before setting up his own air freight and haulage company, Flightway Limited. They are both now retired and have no children.

Originally told they would be going to the Waterside Inn in Bray for an intimate meal, they were greeted by more than 50 friends and family at the hotel where they all enjoyed a slap-up three-course meal.

Holding back tears, Mr and Mrs Collinson were also presented with a cake celebrating their anniversary.

Mr Collinson, 72, said: “What a wonderful surprise and what a wonderful 50 years we have had together.

“My secret to marriage is that men should choose a good wife, and I have got the best of the lot. She has always cared for me and everyone else. It has just been amazing – it will be fantastic to see ourselves in the paper again.” Stan Turner, who was Mr Collinson’s best man at the wedding, said it was a “special day for a special couple”.

He said: “I was Trevor’s best man and it has been fantastic knowing the pair of them for this long. They are a really special couple who are really special to a lot of people. We could have filled this hotel 20 times over with the amount of people that could’ve come.”