Three sisters and a brother in the Louden family married three brothers and a sister in the Rawson family.
That included Don and Daphne (nee Rawson) Louden, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in Oamaru yesterday.
"Not one of us regretted it," Mr Louden (82) said.
And to add another twist, Mrs Louden's parents were bridesmaid and best man at the wedding of Mr Louden's parents in England.
The two families - Mr Louden came from a family of five and Mrs Louden (78) from a family of 11 - are close-knit.
Mr Louden was originally from Christchurch, while his future bride was born at Windsor, North Otago.
He moved to Duntroon to work with her brother, who was a bee-keeper.
They started courting when she was 15 and were married at Columba Church, Oamaru, on December 10, 1949.
The service was followed by a reception at the Strand tearooms and the couple honeymooned in Invercargill.
They spent nearly 32 years living at Ngapara, where Mr Louden worked as a miller at the flour mill.
He did night-shift, starting at 3pm and finishing at 3am and never saw his young children from Sunday night until the following Saturday.
"She brought the kiddies up," he said of his wife.
The couple agreed the key to a long and happy marriage was never taking arguments to bed.
"We've had our arguments but we've always made up before we went to bed," he said.
The couple enjoyed getting away with their caravan and "keep on the move".
When their youngest child was 4, they did 4830km in a 1946 Chevrolet car exploring the North Island "and everything was in the car or on it".
"Everything had to go in its right place or you couldn't get the last thing in," Mr Louden recalled.
After leaving Ngapara, the couple lived in their holiday home in Kakanui before shifting to Oamaru.
"We've enjoyed life and we intend to enjoy more of it," Mr Louden said.
They have four children, eight grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
