Entertainment

This couple thought their wedding video was ruined, but a friend had a surprise in store

You need to watch this wonderful video.
You need to watch this wonderful video. You need to watch this wonderful video.

A couple who were “crushed” when their wedding videographer went bankrupt had the footage salvaged by a friend.

High-school sweethearts Luis and Karley Velasquez, both 23, were married at the Hidden Oaks Retreat Centre in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

The pair had decided to splash out on a wedding video, only to find that after the big day, the videographer had gone bankrupt and could only provide them with unedited, damaged footage.

“I was ecstatic to have a dreamy wedding video like the ones I had spent hours watching on YouTube,” says Karley.

“When I found out we wouldn’t have our video I was absolutely crushed.”

That’s when Danielle Madrigal-Upchurch, 27, who has experience in rescuing wedding videos, stepped up to help. Danielle enjoys video editing and decided to see what she could do.

Two years ago she helped Karley’s cousin fix a badly edited wedding video, so when Karley experienced a similar issue, Danielle jumped at the chance to help.

“I got the Dropbox code from her cousin and I downloaded all the footage from her wedding I could find and tried to put it together for her so she could at least end up with some sort of wedding video,” Danielle said.

What’s more, Danielle did this selfless act in the week after her very own wedding.

Danielle and Karley with their partners (Danielle Madrigal-Upchurch/ PA)
Danielle and Karley with their partners (Danielle Madrigal-Upchurch/ PA)
Danielle and Karley with their partners (Danielle Madrigal-Upchurch/ PA)

“Once I started editing the footage, I realised that when it got taken from Dropbox and put on to my computer, the footage all showed up and was not lost.

“We kept it a secret and invited Karley to ‘Friendsgiving’ to show her the final footage with all the footage she thought wouldn’t be in it.”

The big reveal was filmed and shared on Reddit by Danielle. The video shows Karley bursting into tears as she realises there is much more of the video than she thought was salvageable.

“When my husband and I watched the video we were so overjoyed,” said Karley. “I wear my heart on my sleeve, as you can see by my reaction. I couldn’t believe all the heartache we had experienced by not having our video was over!”

Danielle says she was “crying right along with her” when the video was playing.