WHEN Barbara Speed and John Harrison were saying their wedding vows on October 9, 1965, they didn't consider the importance of another wedding 10 miles away that day.

But why would they? They had never met Marion Catherall and Brian Roberts.

In a twist of fate, however, 34 years later the daughter of Barbara and John, Wendy, married the son of Marion and Brian, Paul.

It was only since the coincidental meeting of Wendy and Paul at their workplace in 1991 that other notable and 'spooky' similarities have arisen.

The Chronicle published wedding photographs and reports from both marriages on the same page and in the same edition - October 15, 1965.

And both couples chose to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversaries in Nice, France.

And all this before Wendy and Paul had even met. In fact, it was the Christmas of 1991 before both sets of parents met for the first time.

'I spotted that my parents and Paul's parents had the same wedding date, I think in 1992, when I was buying anniversary cards for them,' said Wendy. 'Soon after that we discovered about Nice and later again about the wedding reports.'

John said: 'The two weddings on the same day isn't a common occurrence, but I don't know if it's unique.'

Wendy added: 'But when you throw in the trip to Nice and pictures in the Chronicle , it's a bit spooky.'

Although both couples don't recall any chance meetings in the city, they do remember the weather.

'There was a terrible storm,' said Brian. 'In fact, someone was killed. There was floods and everything.'

Wendy and Paul work at the Corus steelworks in Shotton and met during a break.

Wendy said: 'We met in 91 and started seeing each other. We got married, eventually, in 1999 - after I proposed to him!'

She said: 'It was early on in the relationship that our parents first met, I think at the Christmas of 1991.'

The year after, Wendy discovered her parents and future in-laws shared wedding anniversaries, and soon the rest of the story fell into place.

Wendy and Paul, who both went to the Elfed school, married at St Matthew's Church in Buckley, and both still work at Corus.

Marion said: 'When you find out about all the coincidences, it is a bit weird really.'