BENDIGO couple Beryl and Keith Humbert know their 70th wedding anniversary is something to be celebrated.
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"There's been ups and downs, but it's been pretty good all the way through," Mr Humbert, 93, said.
The couple met in the late 1940s after Mrs Humbert's father bought a farm in Calivil, north of Bendigo, which previously belonged to Mr Humbert's family.
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"I saw her on the farm and we used to go to the Calivil dances so that's probably where it started," Mr Humbert said.
After a year-long engagement, the couple were married at St Andrew's Uniting Church in Bendigo on April 18, 1951.
But while your wedding is meant to be a happy day, it wasn't so for the Humberts after Mrs Humbert's father died only a few weeks before the ceremony.
"There was a catch to it because our wedding was all arranged, our honeymoon and all, if we backed out of it altogether, we would have lost all of our money," Mrs Humbert, 93, said.
"So we postponed our wedding until April 18 and my brother had to take over and give me away."
Heavy rain in the lead up to the wedding also prevented many guests from attending the ceremony.
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"They couldn't get along the roads," Mrs Humbert said. "So even though it was postponed, the roads were still bad. So nothing went right!"
Despite that challenging day, the couple have had a long and happy marriage, with nine children, 22 grandchildren, and 32 great-grandchildren.
They worked on the farm in Calivil for more than 40 years, growing wheat, and producing sheep and cattle.
"We milked one cow for the house," Mrs Humbert said. "It was good but it wasn't so good when you had to go somewhere and had to come home to milk the cow."
The Humberts handed over the farm to their son and moved to their new home in Bendigo in 1996.
Mrs Humbert said the tip to such a long marriage was simple - know who you're marrying before you tie the knot.
"I think some of them get married and then they think afterwards, and it doesn't last," she said.
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