Valentine's Day: Two NI couples, Mari and Garry Jackson, and George and Evelyn Allison, share how their love has endured down the decades

But when the red roses have wilted and the chocolates are gone, how do couples sustain their relationship over years, and even decades, and what lessons in love do they have for others starting out on life together?

It is no surprise that Co Down couple Mari and Garry Jackson, who had their first date on Valentine’s Day some 33 years ago, believe laughter is a key ingredient in their relationship, after their initial get-together ended up turning into something of a rom-com.

Recalling that night, Mari, 63, said: “After a couple of drinks in the Priory Inn in Holywood we were walking down the road. It was a really awful night with gale force winds and the streets lights had gone out.

"I was wearing an off-white coloured trench coat. There had been cones around a big trench in the road because they were doing roadworks.

"One of the cones had blown over and I didn’t see the hole, so I fell straight into the trench and got covered in mud – in my aptly named trench coat. I couldn’t get out of it for laughing!"

But, former nurse Mari said Garry was the “perfect gentleman” rushing to her aid.

"He pulled me out of the the trench, then made me a cup of coffee in his house, sat me on the sofa with a wee blanket round me and sponged my coat clean.

"I was there about half an hour, then he walked me home and gave me a wee kiss at my gate."

And so determined was Garry to woo Mari, that the next day he turned up at her house with a single red rose!

Prior to their first date, Mari and Garry, 61, who was a well-known and popular barber in Holywood, would often bump into each other walking their dogs on the beach, where they would exchange hellos.

Garry said: “I thought she was a very good looking girl. She’s got beautiful eyes. I just thought yeah, she's really nice.”

When they started going out, Garry said he knew Mari was the girl for him and proposed just six weeks into their relationship whilst on a holiday to Malta, but Mari who had been married before and had a young daughter, initially said ‘no’.

However, a determined Garry persisted and the couple eventually exchanged their wedding vows a year and half later in Holywood.

Being in a relationship that endures is something many people aspire to – the romantic ideal of having someone to accompany you through life’s countless slings and arrows.

Indeed research shows there are very real benefits to being in a successful long-term relationship: couples who stay together are healthier, wealthier, happier.

But what is the recipe for an enduring and and successful union? How do some people do it? What does it actually take to make love last?

Mari and Garry, who moved to Spain’s sunny Costa Del Sol two years ago, said they believe the success of their relationship is down to being best friends, sharing lots of interests and taking care of one another.

“We have a lot in common,” said Mari.

"He’s just a big darlin’ and he’s been a brilliant father to my daughter Michelle, who is grown up now and married with two kids.

“We're very good to each other, we spoil each other. There’s always something to be celebrated.”

And unsurprisingly Valentine’s is a big occasion for this pair of long-time sweethearts.

“Because Valentine’s was our first date, Garry will push the boat out,” said Mari.

"He has probably got a nice meal booked somewhere and there’ll be flowers.”

Mari’s advice to other couples starting out on life together is this: “Always be very open and honest with each other.

"And stay best friends and laugh – laughter is so important.”

Garry said whenever he and Mari started going out all those years ago they were “inseparable”.

"We just got along very, very well together. We’d play Scrabble together. The two of us have got a lot in common. We both like our music, we like our dogs and we both like getting our teeth stuck into a project.”

Garry said he loves that Mari is “very much her own person.”

"She’s very strong…... I may even use the word feisty. I just liked her spirit. And she has a great sense of humour.”

So how does he think they’ve sustained their relationship over three decades?

“We both have very busy lives, but we always make time for a bit of craic.

"We like going to music festivals, walking along the beach and stopping off for a bite to eat. Life is good, we do enjoy ourselves.

“We weren't fortunate enough to have any more children, but that possibly meant we have a lot more time for each other. But we're very, very blessed to have two beautiful grandchildren, who we spoil to bits.”

Garry’s advice to other couples is to have “realistic expectations of each other”.

"And always try to have a bit of craic. Mari and I are both very optimistic people as well.

"We do like a challenge and we do like to take a risk when it comes to business and everything, but we are always involved in each other's lives. We enjoy each other’s company.

“And I would say to young couples, don’t be jealous. Jealousy is such a wasted emotion. You're not going to change anything by being jealous, you’re just going to hurt yourself.

"Don't be jealous of each other, even when it comes to each other's successes in life.

"Support each other, build each other up.”

Another couple whose relationship has stood the test of time are 83-year-olds, George and Evelyn Allison from Carrickfergus, who recently celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.

George spotted the then Evelyn Doherty at The Gala dancehall in Belfast in 1963.

The pair, who were both 23, got engaged three or four months into their courtship and married in the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in east Belfast on December 7, 1963.

The couple briefly lived in Germany when George worked for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), before returning home to live in Belfast.

George worked in Tomb Street Post Office for over 30 years before retiring for awhile.

Evelyn worked in a friend's greengrocers shop until they moved to Carrick in 1985. She was then a housewife and carer. George then went to work for G4S security company and retired properly just before his 80th birthday.

The couple have three children, Jeffrey, Philip and Lorna, six grandchildren and three great grandchildren, with a fourth due next month.

George said he believes “patience and humour” are the two elements that contribute towards a long relationship.

"There also has to be give and take. We do argue now and again – well, she argues with me now and again,” he laughs.

“But as long as you make up afterwards and say ‘sorry’.”

George said the couple used to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but not so much anymore, but he shows his love in other ways.

"I make her coffee constantly – I’m doing what I’m told!, he laughs.

Evelyn said when she met George she was attracted to his “pleasant outlook” on life, and she knew he was the one for her after a couple of months.

"He was quite talkative and he was charming."

On what makes a strong marriage Evelyn said: “It’s just about learning to live with different ideas, being flexible and looking after each other. We do most things together. We are very seldom apart.”

Evelyn’s advice to younger couples is: "Don’t expect it to be a bed of roses, lots of things crop up, but you have to learn to get over them and give and take.

“Love should be constant not just put on for one day, like Valentine’s Day.”