Three decades of marriage is no mean feat in any industry, but when one half of the couple is one of the country’s most prominent and respected Seven nightly newsreaders and the other half is a high-flying business executive currently in her third term as Director of Commonwealth Games Australia, it’s all the more impressive.
For Mark and Jayne Ferguson, it seems like “just yesterday” that they exchanged vows in a small village in the Cotswolds in England.
“We got married in the very romantically named village of Lower Slaughter,” Mark tells Woman’s Day with a laugh.
“It sounds nasty, but it’s a beautiful village in the Cotswolds.
“And it was a beautiful, sunny Friday on June the 23rd, 1995. And the reason we chose the Cotswolds is it was where we sort of first got together all those years ago. So I thought it was a special place for us. It’s hard to believe [it’s been 30 years], but I think we’d both go back and do it all again if we could.”
INTERNATIONAL LOVE STORY
After initially meeting in Australia, the pair reconnected in England about a year later. While they moved back to Australia after around six months, where they stayed for several years, when Mark was offered a bureau job in London with Nine and Jayne was presented with the opportunity to launch a magazine in the same city, they packed their bags once more and headed back over the pond.
Having been together for “three or four years”, Mark proposed to Jayne on a trip to New York on Jayne’s 30th birthday.
“Because we were living in London, it was a hop, skip and a jump to go to New York,” Jayne says of the romantic proposal.
Their honeymoon was a gorgeous Italian affair – something they are recreating this month for the milestone, as they head back for the first time on their own in 30 years.
“For the honeymoon, all those years ago, we went to beautiful Positano on the Amalfi Coast, and we had about a week there, then we had a week on Capri,” Mark says.
“So this time, 30 years on, we’re going back. We’ll be away for about three weeks all up, and we’re going to have a bit of time up in Umbria, and then a bit of time in Rome, and then, yes, we’re going to retrace some of those honeymoon steps. We have almost a week on Capri staying at the very same hotel we stayed at all those years ago. So we’re very much looking forward to that.”
Adds Jayne, “We haven’t been back to Italy together in 30 years – not on our own.”
JOYS OF GETTING OLDER
With Jayne recently celebrating her 60th birthday and with Mark’s coming up next February, and their sons Jack, 27, Ted, 24, and Paddy, 20, not needing them as much these days, the couple agree it’s nice being able to make time for themselves.
“It’s actually a lovely time to be able to do those things together that you’ve been too busy to make that time [for] during everyday life,” Jayne says. “That’s one of the joys of getting a bit older, I guess – having a bit more free time.”
“With my work, it’s usually very difficult to get away in the middle of the year,” adds Mark.
“Usually my longer holidays are over Christmas and New Year, and the idea of going to Europe then is not all that appealing. So it’s very nice to, one, come up to such a special occasion, a special anniversary, but to be allowed to get a few weeks off in the middle of the year. So I’m very appreciative to the boss. We’re really looking forward to it – just the two of us in Europe over the summertime over there will be absolutely fantastic.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
