Before & After : Wedding Day

In two weeks my parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  People often wonder how couples like my parents "make it".   I think it's because they're from a time when you didn't just get divorced. You worked through your problems together and stuck it out until the bad times turned good again.  And honestly, if the foundation is good, the good times will always come back around.

I often wonder if my parents feel disappointed that all of their kids divorced their first spouses.  We all made much better choices the second time around, but still.  I think they're disappointed for us, not in us.  And happy that we found happiness in different partners. At least, I hope so.  Now that I have that good foundation, I'm hoping The Hubs and I can make it to our 50th.  Of course, I'll be 79 and The Hubs will be 86, but maybe we'll both still be around to celebrate together.  My parents are role-models for sure, and I wouldn't mind if The Hubs and I end up just like them.

As we near this momentous date for my parents, I thought it appropriate to do a little before & after on their wedding photo.  As far as we all know, this is the ONLY photo we have left.  There was a fire on the farm property before I was born, that burned down their cabin with all of their memorabilia including all their wedding photos.  This picture was apparently in my Aunt Wanda's collection and so was saved the same fiery fate as the rest.  So, if you're family, and you know of another photo, give a shout out.  We'd love to see it!

The photo itself is in pretty good shape. Some typical dust and scratches.  The biggest concern is the horizontal banding in the photo and the high volume of noise or graininess in the picture overall.  And of course, it could use some color adjusting to get rid of the pink tinge the photo has.  I'm not sure if this is age, or just how the picture turned out, or both.

And here's the after.  On the bottom left I believe that's my mother's bouquet and wedding purse on top of a family bible. I absolutely adore her little pill-box hat and the fur trim on her jacket.  I would have loved to see what the dress looked like under the jacket, but I believe it went up in flames with all the wedding photos.

I'm excited about how this photo turned out.  It cleaned up to be almost like it was taken that very first day almost 50 years ago..

Seriously.. Thoughts?