I developed three rolls of film yesterday.
That’s right, I took actual film in to be developed. And not in a hipster “Oh, I’ll just use my makeshift darkroom secured by vintage jacquard curtains” way.
No. I took three, wedding flower-decorated, disposable cameras into the corner Walgreens and handed a confused photo employee a time capsule.
“Do you develop these?”
“Uhh…I think so?”
Back story: I had unearthed these gems last month while sorting some boxes at my folks’ home. Kate and I were excited at the three possibilities of these table top cameras being a) from her wedding in ’03, b) from my wedding in ’08, or c) from somewhere else entirely, which would lead us to believe that my parents became wedding Grinches- because honestly, who steals some bride’s centerpiece disposable camera? (Millennials: Please believe me when I tell you that this was a very, very different time, wedding-decor-wise.)
I could not wait to see what was on them.
SO. Thirty dollars(!!!) later (no, seriously, were they hand-stitching the images in gold leaf? How did anyone afford to eat back then?), I was presented with three envelopes, containing about nineteen photos apiece. (Side note, I’ve taken more than nineteen photos already this morning. Of my cat.) And what Holy Grails did these envelopes hold?
One roll consisted entirely of my younger sister’s trip to Venice. I think. I can make out some architecturally Venetian-like buildings, if by “Venetian-like” you actually mean “partially obstructed by a thumb”. There are also, confusingly, eight pictures of a cruise ship. I think we can agree that someone gave my sister one of the extra disposable wedding cameras but failed to follow through with instructions from that point on.
I want my money back.
Camera two! Was full of floor pictures! No, really, actual pictures of the floor at my parents’ house! Except- and this is the kicker- they’re blurry. Not only did I pay ten dollars for nineteen pictures of hardwood flooring, I can’t even do anything artistic with them. Like sell them for stock photos of construction options, I don’t know.
I want my money back.
But the third roll of film? Ooh boy, now that’s some scenery of a different color. This camera, it appears, actually made some time at my wedding. People are crawling out of the woodwork to make an appearance in this envelope. Unfortunately, more than half of these photos look like they were taken with night vision goggles, but this is still my favorite roll of the trio. Everyone looks happy and more than a little drunk. My Uncle Felix is cheerfully photobombing two of my cousins. And one potential framer features an ecstatic bride and groom, air-guitaring together on a cleared out dance floor.
Good God, those kids are GORGEOUS.
I even found one of my Dad, laughing with his sister on the dance floor.
Yeah, this one was worth every penny.
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