Couple rekindles romance after receiving 1966 vinyl record that they let go of by mistake

On August 21, 1966, Phil Schmidt and Donna Parker recorded their wedding memories on a vinyl record—a collection of vows, cheers, kisses, and even the sound of glass breaking during the ceremony. This precious keepsake was tucked away in their extensive record collection and, over time, forgotten. Decades later, during a house clearing sale in March 2022, the couple unknowingly parted with the vinyl. Months later, an Austin woman discovered it tucked inside a jazz album cover at a thrift store. When the Schmidts finally received the vinyl, just after their 58th wedding anniversary, they were overwhelmed with joy, as reported by KXAN-TV.

After the Schmidts got married, they lived in their Austin house off Treadwell Boulevard for over 46 years. There, Phil taught at the University of Texas. In March 2022, they decided to move to a Denver retirement community to be closer to their daughter and family. Before moving in, they set up a clearing sale to get rid of all the items they no longer needed in their new home. “We had an estate sale that cleared out everything from our home that wouldn’t fit in our new apartment,” Donna told KXAN.

Unbeknownst to them, their record collection included the irreplaceable vinyl from their 1966 wedding. “We had a large record collection and somehow our wedding vinyl made its way into a jazz cover. Makes me wonder what other treasure we left behind,” The bygone vinyl ended up in the cover of a jazz album, “The Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn,” a live album recorded in 1956, in a local thrift store. Donna said. Lucky for them, an Austin woman, Katie Ornelas, visited the thrift store one day for a shopping haul and bought this jazz collection.

Once at home, Katie slipped out the peculiar vinyl from the collection and played it. Flabbergasted, she noticed that instead of jazz melodies, her ears heard vows, cheers, and laughter. It didn’t take long for her to realize that its owners had mistakenly let go of it. Soon, she began the search for the vinyl's rightful owners. “We put it on, and we were just instantly, just connected with that record and wanted to make sure it found its way back to its family because it was in a different sleeve [than the vinyl cover],” Katie told KXAN. “So we anticipated that it’s probably missing its owners.”

As local media published Katie’s story, it found its way to the best friend of Schmidt’s daughter. The Travis County Clerk told KXAN that it conducted several searches in its wedding record system but couldn’t find any details of the mystery couple. After a vigorous hodgepodge of searches, calls, and verifications, Katie finally found the Schmidts, who confirmed that the vinyl was indeed their wedding tape and had gotten into the thrift store by mistake.

Just a few months after the Denver couple celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary, they got reunited with their priceless heirloom that became a token of rekindling the flame of their romance. “What a gift for us to have this recording back in time for our 59th next year,” Donna exclaimed. Their lovely episode exemplifies that destiny has mysterious ways of turning-up for the books of love.