Northamptonshire couple marry on 40th anniversary of the night they met

Ian Wood, 70, and Theresa Leadbetter, aged 58, from Whilton were wed at Northampton Guildhall, four decades to the day they first met at a Loughborough nightclub.

It came after Theresa proposed on February 29, over breakfast.

She said: “I said to him ‘do you know what day it is’ and he said, ‘it’s Monday’.

“I said ‘no, I mean it’s a leap day. Do you want to get married?’

“I wouldn’t exactly say he was moved to tears but he was emotional.

“For various reasons we hadn’t got married and the moment just passed.

“But I knew it would mean a lot to Ian.

“And I thought, why not?”

Theresa was picked up by a 1938 Rolls Royce on Thursday and taken to the Guildhall.

There was a small guest list of eight people and they walked out as a married couple to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ ‘Oh What a Night’, the song that was their first dance the night they met.

The small number of guests was because they had told so few people, a matter that was rectified by phone and in person the next day - to their immense surprise.

Theresa said they hadn’t had a honeymoon, however.

She said: “The next day, Ian took his mum shopping and I took the dog for a walk. We’ve just done normal things.

But she added: “I do feel a bit special, though.”