Jean Gordon, nee McTainsh, 71, Joanne Bowman, nee Still, 72, and Fiona Sykes, nee Christie, 71, did everything together.
They met in nursing classes at Dunedin Hospital in 1972, began flatting together the following year and got married to their husbands a couple of years later together as well.
Mrs Gordon said the three of them gravitated towards one another because they were all from out of town.
She was from Milton, Mrs Bowman was from Invercargill and Mrs Sykes was from the wider Dunedin area.
The all lived in the nurses’ home and spent a lot of time together, so later decided to flat as a group.
"You got to know people and then you found the ones you liked and then you went flatting with them, which is what we did."
Mrs Bowman met her husband Jim, 70, through his sister who flatted with them.
He worked with Mrs Sykes’ husband Marty, 75, and introduced him to Mrs Sykes.
The three couples had kept in touch over the years.
They went on holidays together and had celebrated their 25th and 40th anniversaries together as well.
The men kept in touch by playing golf together.
Mrs Gordon said they relied on their collective memory to remember things.
She recalled their children had bought them a bottle of Moet champagne for their 40th and they were drinking it at a lake where they only had access to plastic cups.
It reminded them of their flatting days.
Her husband, Dennis, 74, said getting married together was not a coincidence.
He said good communication had been the key to all three of their marriages.
Mr and Mrs Gordon were married on December 13, 1975, Mr and Mrs Bowman on January 17, 1976 and Mr and Mrs Sykes on February 28, 1976.
