Roses are red, violets are blue, and this Grantham couple, are diamonds too
Sixty years on, 81-year-old Greta Darman still remembers the wedding bouquet her husband, florist David, created especially for her.
“It had gardenias, orchids and freesias,” said Greta. “It was beautiful.”
Not only can David, now 80, count himself as among one of the few grooms to be responsible for creating the wedding flowers, but the couple also enjoyed the rare treat of being reunited with their best man and two bridesmaids at a party to mark their diamond wedding.
The celebration at the Eden House Hotel also saw David use a pack of cards to make another romantic gesture to his wife. “As I told her, she is my queen of diamonds,” he explained, to which Greta replied: “He is my one and only.”
The pair first met on the dance floor when they were aged just 15. From then on they continued to dance together at social clubs in and around Grantham, including BMARC and Aveling Barford, where Greta worked after finishing school. They were engaged by the time David was called away with the army, seeing service as a cook with hospital units in Korea and Japan.
After his return, David and Greta were married at St Wulfram’s Church, on what they remember was a sunny Bank Holiday Monday on May 21, 1956.
The couple have two sons, Peter and David, and a seven-year-old granddaughter, Violet.
Flowers have continued to play a major part throughout their lives, with David’s success as an apprentice seedsman and florist leading to him open two Grantham shops, both called David’s Flowers, in Castlegate and Welby Street.
He then set up a floristry wholesale business in Nottingham, and since retiring has enjoyed working on his own garden at their Braemar Close home, as well as becoming chair of several local flower societies.
Furthermore, David and Greta have continued to enjoy waltzing together ever since that first meeting, and have even helped to teach others how to dance.
Before retiring, Greta worked alongside her husband in the floristry businesses, and the couple believe this is part of the secret behind their long and happy marriage.
“We do everything together, and get through anything together,” said David.