On the day of the wedding Rasma's landlady and a friend escorted them to St Mary Redcliffe Church in a taxi. 'We were early and had to drive around the docks three times to kill time. The dock workers threw their hats around at the sight.'

The wedding was low-key. There were no bridesmaids, music or bells and it was raining. Rasma's mother attended but Arvids was unable to contact his family who were still in Eastern Europe.

The ceremony and reception were a fusion of English and Latvian customs. Their Latvian priest, who wished to marry them as Latvians, placed the rings on their left hands and then on their right hands. Afterwards at the home of Rasma's landlady, they ate a meal of roast pork and cut a three tier cake. At midnight Rasma replaced her wedding veil with a headscarf while Arvids donned a hat.

Despite the simplicity of the day, the couple look back on it with fondness. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2002 with a blessing at the same church. Rasma says, 'this was more like a wedding because friends and family were there and we had a big meal at a hotel afterwards.' They have grown very close, especially as Rasma has become visually impaired and Arvids is losing his hearing: 'We are like two parts of the same body.'