Australian Couple Finally Gets Lost Wedding Video After 57 Years, Thanks To Facebook

An Australian couple has found their long-lost wedding video after 57 years, all thanks to social media. Aileen and Bill Turnbull exchanged vows in Scotland in 1967. Shortly after their wedding, they borrowed a projector to watch the precious footage of their special day but accidentally left the film in the machine and never saw it again. While browsing Facebook, Aileen stumbled upon a post featuring a picture from their wedding, shared by Terry Cheyne, whose uncle lent them the projector years ago. Aileen described the experience as “surreal,” as she felt emotional seeing her parents and Bill’s grandparents in motion again.

Cheyne, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, has a vast collection of old films. While transferring these films to DVD in April, he stumbled upon a wedding video featuring two people he didn’t know. Curious about the couple’s identity, he shared a screenshot in a local Facebook group but couldn’t find them for six months. Just when he was about to give up, the photo was shared in another group, which caught the attention of Aileen, who lives in Brisbane, Australia.

In a conversation with BBC Scotland, Aileen Turnbull said, “It was absolutely amazing, I couldn’t believe it. I was looking through Facebook and up came this wedding photograph. My husband was sitting here, I turned to him and I said ‘There’s our wedding photograph.’ I messaged Terry and it just grew from there. His uncle was the guy we’d borrowed the projector from to see the film after the wedding, he worked with my husband. We gave back the projector and unbeknownst to us that film was still in the projector.”

“It just seems strange for me to see my mother and my father, not just in a photograph but actually moving and walking. And my husband, he saw his grandmother and his grandfather, who was 100 when he died. I watched it again today, I could still recognise everybody. To look back and see these people was just absolutely amazing, I still can’t believe it really. I was just saying to my neighbours, we’ve got our wedding album, and the majority of people have passed away. So seeing the film was just surreal. A few of them are still with us,” Aileen Turnbull added.

Terry Cheyne explained he once served in the Royal Navy and had a collection of his own cine films. After returning home, he gave those films to his uncle, to keep them safe. When his uncle decided to move, Terry got his films back and stored them in his attic for many years. Earlier this year, he chose to transfer the films to DVD, but once he started watching them, he found one film was unfamiliar. It showed a wedding at Mastrick Church, but he didn’t recognize anyone in it. He then shared a photo on a Facebook page, which was later reposted in another group.

After six months, Aileen recognised herself in the photo and decided to contact Terry. He sent the link of the video to Aileen and Bill so they could watch it. She mentioned seeing the footage 57 years ago. Interestingly, Terry now hopes to meet the couple in person if they can visit Aberdeen for a holiday. He felt happy after helping the couple rediscover their long lost memories.