In an extraordinary turn of events, Aileen and Bill Turnbull, an Australian couple, have recently been reunited with the long-lost footage of their wedding, which was filmed in Scotland 57 years ago.

The couple tied the knot in Aberdeen in 1967 and later moved to Australia, but they never had the opportunity to keep a copy of their wedding film. The footage resurfaced when Terry Cheyne, a local from Aberdeen, decided to transfer some old cine films onto DVD that he had filmed years prior. While reviewing the content, he unexpectedly discovered wedding footage he didn’t recognize. Intrigued, he shared a still image from it on social media, which caught the attention of the Turnbulls, who now reside in Brisbane.

Reflecting on the moment she saw the footage again—something she had only viewed once before—Mrs. Turnbull exclaimed, “It was absolutely amazing. I was scrolling through Facebook when I came across this wedding photograph. I turned to my husband and said, ‘There’s our wedding photograph!’”

The couple’s wedding took place at Mastrick Church in Aberdeen, using a borrowed camera from one of Bill’s colleagues. Although they had borrowed a projector to watch the film, they returned it without realizing the footage was still inside. After that, the couple lost track of the film entirely. They emigrated to Australia in 1981 and have since become grandparents.

Fast forward to April of this year, when Terry decided to digitize his old film reels. “When I recovered my films, I kept them in my loft for a long time,” he shared. “Deciding to transfer them onto DVD, I stumbled across a mysterious film that didn’t match anything I recognized. It clearly showcased a wedding at Mastrick Church.”

After Mrs. Turnbull discovered the photo on Facebook, she reached out to Terry. It soon became clear that Sandy, Terry’s uncle, was the very person who had lent the projector to the Turnbulls all those years ago. Mrs. Turnbull recalled, “We’d returned the projector, but we had no idea the film was still inside. We only found out recently!”

Once they connected, Terry sent the couple a link to the footage, and it triggered a wave of cherished memories for them. “It was surreal for me to see my parents not just in photographs but actually moving and walking,” Mrs. Turnbull described. The footage also included her husband’s grandparents. “I watched it again today, and I could still recognize everybody. To see these beloved faces again was just incredible.”

She noted the emotional weight of revisiting the footage, as many of the loved ones captured in the film have since passed away. “We have our wedding album, but most of the people in it are no longer with us. So seeing the film was surreal.”

According to Mrs. Turnbull, this rediscovery of their wedding video was likely quite unusual for the time. “Terry sent me the link to see the footage, and it really felt surreal to relive that moment,” she reflected.

For Terry Cheyne, the experience has been equally rewarding. He expressed his happiness that this story concluded on a heartwarming note, celebrating the Turnbulls’ special reunion with their long-lost memories.