A woman who uncovered footage of her grandparents’ 1955 wedding has described the emotional moment she finally got to show her grandma the video for the first time, more than 70 years after the ceremony took place.
While Chelsea Alberti, 35, has long heard about the wedding of her grandma Shirley Alberti and her late grandfather, Alfred, back in 1955, she had always wanted to see it for herself. Chelsea, of Buffalo, New York, told Newsweek that her 91-year-old grandma is her “hero and inspiration” and she would have given anything to learn more about her wedding. Shirley was just 20 years old and Alfred was 25 when they tied the knot, and they enjoyed 45 glorious years of marriage before Alfred sadly passed away.
Although many family videos were transferred to DVD format in the past, it was thought that they were now lost as a result of several house moves. Chelsea was “very upset” about the thought of never seeing her precious childhood videos and family memories again.
That was, until her sister and brother-in-law discovered a treasure trove of memories hidden away in the basement.
“My sister’s old laptop was the only thing that we could find to watch DVDs on,” Chelsea said. “We were going through family videos of us as kids and then we came across nana’s wedding. I could not believe we had this on film. We were all in shock and skimmed through it fairly quickly and we had to have her come over to watch it.
“To our surprise, she hadn’t seen it. There was no sound and we asked nana who was filming, and she thought maybe her brother.”
As Shirley, who has four great grandchildren, watched the footage of her 1955 wedding, she was suddenly transported back to that time. She regaled details of the scorching hot day, pointed out the guests and remembered how pretty her dress was.
Indeed, as they watched the footage of the newlyweds opening gifts, Shirley pointed out some of the items that she still had in her home. Chelsea told Newsweek that she felt “so shocked” to see objects that she had seen in her nana’s home all these decades later.
“It was like a movie to see the wedding. All the cars, the neighborhood, small trees, inside the garage, and the backyard, it’s all the same house I know now. I am blessed and grateful to be able to have such a cherished memory to hold on to,” Chelsea said.
“It was so heartwarming seeing nana’s reaction and shock. Also, the video quality was surprisingly great, it must have been a good camera. There was pretty good lighting and it was stable.”
Shirley could not help but choke up at one point, telling her granddaughters that she and Alfred “were very lucky.”
The family still do not know how the video ended up in the basement, but they are delighted to have come across it. Chelsea shared footage of her grandma watching the wedding video on Instagram (@chel.say) and it has melted plenty of hearts online, generating over 228,000 views and 11,900 likes at the time of writing.
Chelsea has always had a close bond with her grandma, but watching the wedding video together is a moment she will never forget. Of course, she had heard about the wedding before, but seeing her grandma’s reaction to the footage was so much more meaningful.
“She is such a lively and personable woman, and everyone is shocked when they see her age,” Chelsea said. “She still lives in her own house and is usually gardening or raking the leaves still at 91. I am grateful for every year we have with her as I can talk to her for hours about anything.”
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