A GOLDEN Greenock couple have said ‘I do’ all over again – 50 years after tying the knot.

Andrew and Catherine Cleary were surprised by family and friends when they threw a special party in their honour - with a registrar on hand to renew their vows.

Catherine had no idea this was going to happen and thought the bash, which was held in their garden, was to mark her 72nd birthday.

The Greenock grandmother was overcome by the ceremony, saying: “I wasn’t expecting this at all.

“It was lovely, a beautiful service.

“I am over the moon.”

Andrew, 71, added: “It was a big surprise.

“I wanted to go to Florida to renew our vows but Catherine doesn’t like a lot of fuss.

“This was a nice surprise.”

The Greenock pair met at the Palladium dance hall and dated for five years before marrying in Cartsburn Augustine Church on June 24 1966. 

Good friends James Marshall and Catherine McGovern were best man and bridesmaid.

After the wedding, the new Mr & Mrs Cleary worked hard through the years, with Andrew serving in the shipyards, with Inverclyde Council and Walkers sugar house.

Catherine also worked at the sugar house, plus Drummonds and Tesco.

The couple, who have lived in Castle Road for more than 30 years, were blessed with two children Lisa, who is 48, and married to David, 51, and Andrew, 46, who is married to Jacqueline, 48.

They have two grandchildren Dale, 24, and Rebecca, who is 16.

Lisa had been planning the celebration for months and said it was difficult to keep secret.

She said: “I wanted to do something special.

“They didn’t have a big wedding, it was the church then back to my nanna’s — they didn’t even have a cake.

“We decided to have the celebration in the garden and it was lovely.”

The family pushed the boat out, arranging a gazebo, gold balloons, fancy table decorations and a beautiful anniversary cake, courtesy of Louise Thompson and Siobhan Orr, and invited the Tele along too.

During the moving ceremony, assistant registrar Janey Lafferty praised the couple in their family’s own words. 

She said: “Andrew and Lisa have told me that your love for each other and them has given them the best childhood they could have wished for, from magical Christmases to all those fabulous caravan holidays down the coast and they say if they could be as half as wonderful as you, their lives will be complete.”

Well wishers toasted the lovebirds with bubbly and their grandson Dale and daughter Lisa acted as witnesses when they signed the register.

Catherine said: “We have a brilliant family. They’re always there when we need them.”