The Invercargill man followed her advice and — 60 years, four children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren later — Kevin and Judith Rickerby celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary this Easter.
"We had a good and happy life," Mr Rickerby said.
Mrs Rickerby (nee Beckett) agreed. "I think the secret to keeping a long-lasting relationship is communicating. That’s a big thing. We talk about everything and we never ever made a big purchase without talking about it.
"Any decision, actually, we both need to agree."
The best friends met about two years before their wedding on a "blind date" organised by friends.
At the time, both were living in Christchurch and Mr Rickerby took his future wife for a drive with those friends and offered to teach her how to drive.
"We sort of chatted as I drove around town and then we went back to her place, we sat outside in the yard and just had a really nice conversation," he said.
They started to date officially and about a year later, Mr Rickerby asked his girlfriend to marry him. They were engaged for about a year before tying the knot in Christchurch on April 19, 1965.
The ceremony was at the former Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and was followed by a reception at his family’s place.
"It was beautiful. One of my favourite days," Mrs Rickerby said.
"The family all came, friends and relatives. It was about 100 people or more. It was a really nice celebration."
The wedding almost did not happen. Months before the ceremony, both travelled to Invercargill, where Mrs Rickerby’s family lived. While they were there, Mr Rickerby got a job working at the port in Bluff and told his boss he would need to have a week off at Easter for his wedding. However, when it got closer to the time, his manager said he would not be able to take the time off.
"He said I couldn’t because I was not here long enough to have a holiday — and I told him: ‘you’ve just got to let me go’."
"I had to talk to the union representative who came down and said he would need to get me those days off as I arranged this when I got the job. That was a difficult one."
Another hiccup for the couple came after the wedding. They were supposed to go on their honeymoon to Blenheim, but her parents had other plans.
"We were told about the day before the wedding that her parents had decided that they would shift out on Easter Tuesday, the day after our wedding, and we had to go back and get all our stuff," he said.
"We haven’t had our honeymoon yet," his wife noted.
