They got married 56 years ago. Until now, they’d never seen their wedding photos

“She was stunning.”

Barry Sharman remembers watching his bride walk down the aisle in Enderby, B.C., in a wedding dress made by her mother on a warm, sunny July afternoon in 1968. 

“I was just so happy that she picked me.”

Until recently, he had never had the chance to physically look back on how his wife looked that day because as newlyweds, they couldn’t afford to pay for the pictures.

But on Christmas Eve 2024, the couple — happily married for more than 56 years — saw their wedding photos for the first time. 

It all came to be when Margaret Sharman’s longtime friend Sandra Farynuk sent her a text asking if she had her original wedding photos. 

“I said, ‘No, Sandy,'” Margaret, who now lives in Penticton, told CBC’s Radio West host Sarah Penton.

“I said we were never, ever able to pick them up because we didn’t have any money. She says, ‘Well, I’m looking at them.'” 

Farynuk, who still lives in Enderby, happens to be the president of the local museum. While working one day, the museum administrator showed her a photo that had been sent over from the Armstrong Museum and asked if one of the women pictured was Farynuk.

According to Farynuk, someone had purchased the photos, as well as others never picked up from the original photographer at a garage sale. They took the images to the museum, where someone identified Farynuk as one of the bridesmaids. 

“I can’t believe it. I hadn’t seen it before,” she said. “Everybody looks so beautiful in a wedding picture.”

It was indeed Farynuk at the wedding of her friend, Margaret, whom she had known since the second grade and remains friends with to this day.

Farynuk had the pictures redone and sent them to the Sharmans, and they arrived on Christmas Eve. 

“It was heartwarming for me to be able to do this,” Farynuk said.

There were three images: one of the whole wedding party, one of the newlyweds and a third image of Margaret on her own.

“She cried a lot. Happy tears,” Barry said of his wife. “She was just beside herself with joy.”

Their story got around when Margaret innocently shared the story with the couple’s hairdresser. It wasn’t gossip that spread the news: Margaret said the person waiting to have their hair cut next happened to be the wife of the editor of the local newspaper. 

The story, which originally appeared in the Summerland Review and other Black Press newspapers, quickly spread through town. 

“In the pool this morning doing water aerobics … lots of people came up to me — they had seen [the story],” Margaret said. 

The photos have given the couple time to pause and reflect on their many years together. 

“I just looked back and how young we were,” Barry said. “Marg was 20. I was 21. We’ve come a long way, and we’ve had a wonderful time and a wonderful life.”