When Margaret and Barry Sharman tied the knot in Enderby on July 20, 1968, it was the beginning of a "wonderful" life together, and nearly 57 years later the Penticton couple still has fond memories of that special day. 

But until recently, memories of their wedding were all the Sharmans had. Like many young couples getting married, money was tight for the Sharmans, such that they couldn't afford to pay their wedding photographer for their nuptial photos. 

One memory illustrates their financial situation at the time. Enderby is home to many Ukrainians, and so the wedding featured a Ukrainian tradition: Margaret recalls kicking off one of her shoes, and the shoe went around and was filled with money from the guests.

"That was the only money we had for our honeymoon," she said. 

With all their money spent on the wedding reception and their shoe money accounted for, the Sharmans had to go without their wedding photos.

̨ÍåMMÂãÁÄÊÒ 57 years later, shortly before Christmas 2024, Margaret got a call from Sandy Farnyuk, a friend since Grade 2 who was a bridesmaid at her wedding. 

"She said to me, 'Margie, do you have your professional wedding pictures?' I said that we had no money to go pick them up, which made me feel really bad."

What Farnyuk told her next amounted to the best Christmas gift Margaret has ever received. 

"She said, 'well, I'm looking at them.'"

Farnyuk is the president of the Enderby and District Museum Society and has long been heavily involved in the museum. She received an intriguing call from Jessie Ann Gamble of the Armstrong Spallumcheen Museum and Art Gallery.

Gamble had found an envelope at the Armstrong museum with photos from W.E. Saby Photography in Armstrong.

"(Gamble) was looking at them and she called Sandy and said 'Sandy, you have to look at these pictures because one of the girls in this picture, the bridesmaid, looks like you,'" Margaret said. 

Sure enough, the envelope contained three photos from the Sharmans' 1968 wedding, one of the bride, another of the bride and groom, and a third of the wedding party all together.

"I had never seen them," Margaret said, adding it was "a bit of a Christmas miracle."

She was touched in particular by the photo of the wedding party, as it contained her sister, who passed away last year. 

"When Sandy sent me a copy of the picture in a text, I had a big cry. I was so emotional."

The wedding photos are mysterious for two reasons. Margaret doesn't know how they made their way to the Armstrong museum, nor can she remember who the photographer was, and she's unable to place the name W.E. Saby. 

What she does know is that she's eternally grateful to the unknown photographer for keeping the photos.

"He's just an angel for taking the time to keep them and not dispose of them," she said. "Every time I think about it I cry. If he was alive, I would thank him very much."

The Sharmans received copies of the photos three days before Christmas. Margaret says she's in the process of getting them professionally framed — and while 56 and a half years was a long time to wait for them, they now have an interesting backstory. 

For Margaret and Barry, now 77 and 78 respectively, the photos reinforced fond memories of their wedding at the Enderby Drill Hall. Most of all, they punctuate an early chapter in a "lucky and blessed" life that has brought them "wonderful" children and grandchildren, and fun times on the golf course in their senior years.

For anyone passing through Margaret's former hometown of Enderby, she suggests stopping in at the museum.

"It is the best little museum."