Golden return for honeymooners

Tuesday 4th April 2006, 12:00AM BST.

A GROUP of couples who came to Jersey on their honeymoon 50 years ago returned to the Island to celebrate their golden wedding at the Merton Hotel over the weekend.

Fifty years ago they were among a large group of honeymooners photographed on the steps of the hotel.

At the time there were tax advantages to being married before 5 April, which was the start of the UK tax year.

This led to a rush of weddings, and Jersey was one of the top destinations for honeymooners.

On Saturday the returning couples were treated to a champagne reception courtesy of the Seymour family, who own the hotel.

Two years ago the marketing manager of the Seymour Group, Robert Mackenzie, found the picture and sent it off to a variety of media organisations to see if they could find any of the couples.

As a result, a number contacted him and six couples decided to return to Jersey to recapture their memories of 1956.

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