The pair wed on October 17, 1959, at what was then the MacKenzie Street Methodist Church on the corner with Lily Street.

It was the same church they grew up attending, Mrs Wilkinson, née Worner, said.

"We knew each other from very young and we ended up getting married in our early 20s," she said.

"It was always us, no-one else."

The wedding reception was held in the Sunday school hall and catered by the ladies of the church.

"It wasn't the wedding breakfast that you would have these days. It was cold meats, trifles, fruit salads and all that sort of thing," Mrs Wilkinson said.

"It wasn't these big fancy meals. You expected that.

"It was lovely."

The couple honeymooned in Sydney and then forged a life together in Bendigo, having two children and a number of grandchildren.

Twenty-five of Mr and Mrs Wilkinson's nearest and dearest friends and family gathered last Saturday at Bendigo's café Sim'R in the lead-up to the couple's diamond anniversary.

"It was beautiful," Mrs Wilkinson said.

"Our children had gone to a lot of trouble to make huge boards with photographs going right back, as well as memorabilia."

They included Mrs Wilkinson's wedding dress - a white satin empire line design with a godet at the back, completed with a train bearing handmade roses.

"I had a bouquet of lily of the valley when we married," she said.

"Our daughter brought lily of the valley for me to carry last Saturday, which was lovely of her to remember and replicate."

"So there were lots of memories, lots of laughs and a few tears."

Mrs Wilkinson said she and her husband had been blessed with a wonderful daughter and son.

"And both their spouses are so wonderful to us as well. So we have no worries, no complaints and we love them all dearly," she said.

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