WIFE begins at 35! A cash-strapped bride and groom who didn't have enough money for the wedding they wanted when tying the knot in 1972 have finally had their dream day.

Mum-of-three, Christine Hodkinson and hubby Dave, both 59, of Buxton Road, Macclesfield, renewed their marriage vows in a packed St Peter's Church, Windmill Street, on Saturday (May 19) - the venue they couldn't afford first time round.

This time the couple pulled out all the stops for a day in which Cinders did get to go to the ball following a disappointing Macclesfield Register Office ceremony and pub reception in the early Seventies.

A newly blushing bride Christine said: "After regretting not being able to afford a decent 'do' all those years ago, it was amazing to finally have it the way we wanted.

"Last Christmas Eve Dave told friends of ours that we were getting remarried and that was the first I knew about it - but it's the best thing we've done."

Former landlady Christine finally got her wish of a church wedding, which she stylishly arrived at in a Rolls Royce.

It was a far cry from hitching a lift with her uncle Stan in his old Ford Zodiac which he bumped three times trying to park at Park Green. It was her uncle who gave her away then, but this time it was the younger generation of her family, grandchildren Victoria and Joshua Hodkinson, nine and 11, who took her down the aisle.

Factory worker Christine said: "Little Joshua looked exactly like my dad did when he was younger, and he wouldn't give me away because of a silly argument at the time, so it's only right that Joshua did the job."

Looking a million dollars in a £175 royal blue gown with flowered tiara - 14 times the price of the original white embroidery anglais dress and hat - Christine might have upped her look, but not where she shops as both outfits came from Lucille's on Chestergate, Macclesfield.

The happy couple went from a shoe-string reception at the now closed Plough Inn on Station Street, where they had to wait for it to open at 5.30pm after the afternoon ceremony - to the regality of the Masonic Hall on Riseley Street.

The honeymoon builder Dave has taken his new-but-old-bride on a no-expense spared trip to Almeria in Spain - which makes up for the wet Welsh week in Rhyl in 1972.

Daughter Sarah Hodkinson, 33, said: "Mum looked beautiful, and dad looked so smart."