Ann and Steve Armstrong, from Paddington, first locked eyes in school and love began to blossom. Originally from Salford, the couple, aged 17 at the time, decided to marry and said their vows at Salford Register Office. Ann, 67, was pregnant at the time and was told by her mum to wear a blue dress for the wedding – far from the beautiful white gown she had always dreamed of.
This, along with the absence of a three-tier wedding cake, made for a story Ann would tell her children, friends and family for decades on of the fairytale wedding she had dreamt of but never had. Ann and Steve on their wedding day (Image: Supplied) Little did she know last year, as she boarded a cruise with husband Steve, 67, and their friends, that her dream day was somewhere in sight. Telling the Warrington Guardian of the couple's unmatched love story, family friend Kelly Richardson said: “They were 17 when they first married and rara, as we call her, has always spoken about the fact she had to wear ‘that bloody blue dress’.
“She has always wanted to wear the big white wedding dress. She only had a square cake at their wedding all those years ago and she always said how she wanted a three-tier cake as well. “She has spoken about it for so long and they are so in love, they are best friends, it’s like a fairytale.
Ann and Steve on their wedding day (Image: Supplied) “Last year, they were on a cruise with friends and Steve got down on one knee and proposed again, because he wanted to giv.