MAGGI and Bob Lucas are firm believers in fate today after a string of coincidences finally brought the Ipswich couple together.After more than 50 years of their paths criss-crossing Mr and Mrs Lucas have finally tied the knot.

MAGGI and Bob Lucas are firm believers in fate today after a string of coincidences finally brought the Ipswich couple together.

After more than 50 years of their paths criss-crossing Mr and Mrs Lucas have finally tied the knot.

Despite growing up across the road from one another, attending the same schools and always having feelings for one another it took half a century for Cupid's arrow to finally reach its target.

Over the years there have been many staggering coincidences in their lives and they now believe their union was kismet.

They include:

Both being married before and tying the knot on the same day - August 23, 1975 at 3pm;

Both marrying at St Marys' churches - the then Maggi Budinger in Whitton and Mr Lucas in East Bergholt;

Both using the same Ipswich photography studio to capture their wedding days;

Both having three children;

Mrs Lucas working with her new husband's mum, Monica at WS Cowells;

Both attending the same sports club in Leiston;

And meeting on one occasion at Ipswich Divorced and Separated Club.

However, it wasn't until 2002 that they finally became a couple, when Maggi called to arrange a disco for a party and her now brother-in-law picked up the phone.

He brought his brother Bob along and the couple soon hit it off.

Mrs Lucas, 51, of Shenstone Drive, said: “We knew instantly this was it.

“I definitely think it was meant to be. Everyone that knows us says there is something about us.

“Whatever had happened, whether there had been the party or not, I think we would have got together.

“I think we feel we are meant to be together and we agree very easily on things.”

The couple were married at the Belstead Brook Hotel on Friday, August 18, in front of 84 guests.

Mrs Lucas said: “I couldn't stop smiling. It was definitely the happiest day of my life.”

Mr Lucas, 52, a vehicle body builder for Ipswich buses said he now believes in fate.

The couple both grew up in Whitton with Mrs Lucas living in Spenser Road and her husband in Chaucer Road.

They attended Whitton infants and junior schools and Thurleston High School but Mr Lucas was in the year above his wife.

Do you have a happy story to share? Write to: Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail: eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Charles and Camilla: The heir to the throne and the Duchess of Cornwall finally married in 2005 after a courtship lasting more than 30 years.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor: The couple remarried in 1975 - 16 months after getting divorced.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall: Bogart's marriage to Bacall was his fourth marriage and is said to have been his only happy one. They met while filming To Have and Have Not and were married in 1945.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Lennon split with his first wife Cynthia and began a love affair with Yoko Ono. He stuck by her despite derision from the press and married in 1969.

Marie and Pierre Curie: Marie moved to France in 1891, unable to continue studying in Poland because universities did not admit women. She caught the eye of laboratory director Pierre and he proposed to her on several occasions. They eventually married in 1895.