Old Family Photo Album Reveals the Truth About a Woman’s Fiance
When British couple Heidi Parker and Ed Savitt met in college, it was truly a match made in heaven. They quickly fell in love, met each other’s families and started to build a life together. After a sweet marriage proposal, the two were set to walk down the aisle when Heidi’s mom dropped an unexpected bombshell.
While preparing for the wedding and reception, her mom came across an old family photo album that held a surprising secret. Shocked, she immediately shared the unbelievable twist with her daughter.
College Bound
A short time ago, Heidi prepared for life after high school. She planned to attend Newcastle University in northeast England, 130 miles away from her home in Sheffield. It gave her enough distance to live her own life as a young adult but was still close enough to easily go home to visit her family at any time.
Newcastle University was also a great choice for Heidi to receive a top-quality education. The famous research university offered challenges and the opportunity to interact with some of the most intelligent people in the world — including her future fiance.
Life on Her Own
While at Newcastle, Heidi quickly adapted to college life. During her third year, she decided she didn’t want to live in the dorms, but she still stayed pretty close to the school. The young student and her roommates were excited about their off-campus apartment and the fun they would have together.
However, shortly after moving in, Heidi realized that her living situation wasn’t the best choice for her, and she began looking for other places to live. It took some time to find the right place, but her next home ultimately changed her life forever.
Moving Out
Heidi spent weeks searching for the perfect apartment, hoping to find a place that would work for her. She eventually found a studio apartment that was within walking distance of the university. The apartment was a great spot to have her own space.
She secured the apartment and packed up her stuff at her old place, excited to start her new adventure. She gave the keys to the landlord for the new tenant and left without looking back — until she received a message from a stranger shortly after leaving.
A Random Message
While settling into her new apartment, Heidi received a random message on Facebook. It was from the new tenant living in her old apartment. It was Ed, who was also a student at Newcastle University. He was struggling to get the washing machine to work. After trying for hours, he decided to message Heidi for help.
Heidi explained the odd machine to Ed via text. However, she had her own ulterior motive for answering the message. “I let him know… basically because he was hot,” she later revealed in an interview with The Sun.
A Fateful Encounter
A few weeks later, Heidi saw Ed in person while she was out with her friends. Amazed to see how attractive he was in person, she walked over to officially introduce herself. “We just spotted each other,” she explained. “I thought he was gorgeous. I thought he was actually amazing.”
The two began chatting and hit it off instantly. Later, Ed asked her if she would like to go out on a date with him sometime. She happily agreed. The future couple had their first date at Pizza Express in Newcastle and soon developed a very tight bond.
Building a Romance
The couple’s first date went exceptionally well, and they went out on even more dates. “After that, we were basically inseparable,” Heidi admitted. It was like they were kindred spirits.
Over their final years at Newcastle, Ed and Heidi began to learn more and more about each other and discovered just how much they had in common. As graduation loomed, they both had to figure out plans for their lives. They also wanted to figure out a way to keep their relationship going, but what was the best way?
Looking to the Future
After graduation, the couple both moved to London, but separately. Heidi focused on her job at a PR firm while Ed worked on opening up his own coffee shop. They didn’t want to rush into the next phase of their relationship.
After some time, Ed and Heidi’s relationship became more serious. They decided to take the plunge and move in together. Before taking that next step, however, they agreed to meet each other’s families. The two were excited about the idea and soon made plans for their mothers to meet.
Meeting the Parents
The couple decided to introduce their mothers to each other over a nice meal at a local restaurant. Although they were happy that their mothers would finally meet each other, both Heidi and Ed were a little nervous. They wanted everything to go well.
It turns out that the couple had nothing to fear. Heidi’s mother, Kay, and Ed’s mother, Fiona, got along so well that it was almost like they knew each other already. It turned out they had a lot in common, much like their children.
Similar Interests
The two mothers actually had a lot in common when it came to their interests and hobbies. Both Kay and Fiona liked to sail and travel. They had even visited some of the same destination spots in the Mediterranean around the same time.
The similar trips were an interesting coincidence, but the conversation moved on to other topics. The group enjoyed the rest of the evening together as the moms celebrated the fact that their children had found love together. Soon, Ed and Heidi decided to take another big step on their journey.
A Big Surprise
After the time they had spent together, Ed knew that Heidi was the one he wanted to be with for the rest of his life. He planned to ask her to marry him and came up with a romantic idea for the proposal.
Sometime later, the couple went on a walk through the grounds of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Ed proposed to Heidi there and gave her a three-stone diamond ring. “Afterwards, we went home, and he had organized a surprise engagement party,” Heidi recalled of the sweet moment. “It was wonderful.”
A Weird Coincidence
A few months later, the couple went out to dinner again with their mothers. Everyone was having a great time, enjoying their meals and hanging out. Somehow, the conversation turned to childhood holidays.
During the conversation, Kay mentioned that Heidi had a “holiday boyfriend” when she was six while they were vacationing in Turkey. The boy was also named Ed. Kay remembered that the pair had played together and held each other’s hands for much of the two-week break. It was a pretty strange coincidence, but the group moved on to other topics and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Prepping for the Big Day
The preparations for Heidi and Ed’s wedding quickly began. The couple wanted to get married before the year was over, and that meant a lot of work for Heidi to get everything just right. Thankfully, her mom was right by her side throughout the process.
To help Heidi, Kay was storing a lot of the wedding supplies at her house. In an attempt to keep her home in order, she decided to do a deep clean to organize everything a little better. Her cleaning spree eventually led her up to the attic.
Flipping Through Photos
Like most family attics, Kay’s held many family memories and keepsakes. While she was cleaning up there, she came across an old photo album with family photos. Kay began flipping through the pages and reminiscing about fun moments with her loved ones.
She eventually came to the photos of their family trip to Turkey. She remembered the story of Heidi’s “holiday boyfriend” that she had mentioned at dinner several weeks before. It was one of Kay’s favorite memories of her little girl, and the photos brought her right back to that moment.
Puppy Love
At just 6 years old, Heidi ventured with her family across the Mediterranean Sea. They went to different tourist spots before settling in for several weeks on the southern coast of Turkey. While there, Heidi met and connected with a young boy.
The two stayed side by side for the entire trip to Turkey, as if they were destined to be together. Taking a look at the photos, Kay decided to send them to Heidi so her daughter might remember who she was talking about.
An Uncanny Coincidence
Looking at the old pictures, Kay couldn’t help but smile at the cute face of the boy with the wild, blonde bowl cut and the timid smile. She reminisced about how the boy and her daughter had grown so close in a short amount of time. The boy even slightly resembled Heidi’s Ed.
Kay briefly wondered if they could be the same Ed, but it seemed extremely unlikely. It could have easily been any number of little boys her daughter met all those years ago. However, she decided to reach out to a reliable source who could help her clear things up.
A Shocking Twist
Kay texted an old photo of the two kids to her new friend –– Ed’s mom, Fiona. Obviously, she would know if the young boy was her son. Fiona called her shortly after receiving the text. It was indeed Ed! The two moms couldn’t believe it. After all that time, Ed and Heidi were reunited.
Kay had to let the young couple know about the adorable twist to their journey together. Instead of calling Heidi directly, she sent the photos to her the old-fashioned way — she mailed them.
A Flooring Discovery
Some days later, Heidi received the photos in the mail. When she took a close look, she couldn’t believe her eyes. She called her mom in total shock, confirming that it was definitely Ed. “I just yelled, ‘Mum, you know who that is!'” Heidi said.
Later, Ed took a look at the pictures and couldn’t believe it himself. Neither he nor Heidi had any recollection of their trip to Turkey or their brief romance at such a young age. Nonetheless, the photos were right in front of them as proof.
More Digging
Both Kay and Fiona decided to dive a little deeper into their individual photos from the trip to Turkey. The more they dug, the more evidence they found of the two lovebirds. “Loads more photographs came out,” Fiona told the Daily Mail. “None of us had any idea whatsoever that Heidi and Ed had met before university.”
As more photos were found, Heidi was completely stunned. “I was so shocked, I had to actually lie down,” she admitted to The Mirror. “From the photos, we had been spending an awful lot of time together.”
It Was Fate
After seeing the photos, Heidi couldn’t deny that she and Ed were destined to be together. “I didn’t believe in fate before finding that out, but there’s no arguing with it,” she told the Daily Mail. After all, what were the chances that these two little 6-year-olds would one day meet again and fall in love?
Kay believed in the couple’s fate as well, stating that they had a “subconscious realization that they had shared that time together when they met as adults.” That is why Ed and Heidi hit it off so well right from the start!
A Special Invite
Heidi and Ed knew that their love story was too good not to share with family and friends. They had to share these photos with them, but what was the best way to do it?
After some brainstorming, the couple decided to use the photos as a part of their wedding day. The guests all received a special invitation in the mail that had Heidi and Ed’s photos from their younger days. Guests were surprised but elated that the couple had reunited so many years later, and RSVPs began pouring in for the big day.
Recreating the Moment
Ed and Heidi decided to have even more fun with the old photos. Taking a step back in time, they came up with a plan to recreate the image used for their wedding invitations. The original photo had Ed posing on the street with his hand in a Coca-Cola cup. He was wearing a T-shirt and plaid shorts. Heidi stood alongside him in a black bathing suit with one hand behind her back.
The couple recreated the photo before their wedding, completing the pose on a balcony. The outfits were pretty much the same, down to the Coca-Cola cup!
A Beautiful Venue
The couple was eventually married in Derbyshire at the famous Haddon Hall, a beautiful manor house that was originally built in the 12th century. In fact, it was described by author Simon Jenkins as “the most perfect house to survive the Middle Ages.”
The grand house has regular events and tours throughout the year and has even been the location for many top films. It was featured in three versions of Jane Eyre, served as Prince Humperdinck’s Castle in The Princess Bride and was also used in Elizabeth, Pride & Prejudice and The Other Boleyn Girl.
An Elegant Ceremony
The couple was married in the long gallery of Haddon Hall in front of their loved ones. While on the grounds, Ed and Heidi took fabulous photos around the terraced gardens of the venue before driving away in a vintage car to get to the reception.
The lavish ceremony also included a wedding party consisting of Ed and Heidi’s close family and friends, some of whom had also attended Newcastle University. “It was just so much fun to marry my best friend surrounded by all our family and friends,” Heidi said to the Daily Mail.
Party On
Shortly after the beautiful ceremony, guests raised a quick champagne toast to the happy couple on the lawn at Haddon Hall. The couple and the hundreds of wedding guests then traveled over to Shiningford Farm for the reception.
The night was filled with great food, music and conversation as guests celebrated Ed and Heidi. Everyone laughed and danced late into the night under a tent on the grounds of Shiningford. However, there was even more fun to be had. The next day, guests returned for a big pool party to end the wedding festivities.
Going Viral
Ed and Heidi posted their incredible journey online on Facebook for family and friends. After seeing that the two had actually met and fell for each other so long ago, people couldn’t help but share the photos of them as 6-year-olds. Their story soon went viral and spread all over social media.
The couple went on to make headlines on several news outlets and blogs in the U.K., including The Mirror, The Sun and the Daily Mail. Their story was shared not only in England, but also in the United States and other countries.
A Real Fairytale
The couple still can’t believe their love story themselves. To have met each other so long ago and never realize it is completely astounding. If it wasn’t for Heidi’s mom, they may not have ever figured out the truth.
“We had been together for four years when we found out, so it’s mad to think that we might have never known. It’s crazy to think we could have gotten married, shared our lives together but never found out about this,” Heidi said. “People keep telling us it must be fate and that it’s like the plot of a movie.”
Close-Knit Family
What was also fate was how close Ed and Heidi’s families became after the wedding. Kay and her husband, Keith, are now great friends with Fiona and her husband, Jonathan. The couples have gone on many trips and other outings together since the wedding.
The rest of the family is also close. Ed has two sisters, Emma and Maddy, and a brother, Matt. Heidi has two sisters, Hannah and Olivia. When they all link up, they have a great time. “It was not just Heidi and Ed who met on that holiday but all of us as well,” Kay remarked.
An Everlasting Love
Following the wedding, the two lovebirds went on a wonderful honeymoon in the Maldives to enjoy a beach vacation the couple really loved. While there, they came in contact with others who were astonished by the couple’s story. “It was brilliant,” Heidi recalled to LADbible. “We love telling people how we met twice.”
Ed and Heidi Savitt are now living their happily ever after in England. Heidi regularly posts photos of the couple out and about –– traveling, celebrating special occasions and just enjoying married life.
Returning to Turkey
What’s even better is that this couple got to journey back to where their story first began — even if they didn’t know it. They recently returned to Turkey and stayed at the same Mediterranean resort in Gumbet where they first met back in 1997.
While there, the Savitts toured the area and came face to face with some of the same landmarks they had seen so many years ago. The trip only brought them closer together and made them grateful that they had found each other again. “It was really exciting to go back to where the miracle began,” Heidi admitted.
Do Soulmates Exist?
Ed and Heidi’s story brings up the idea of a “soulmate.” Typically, loving soulmates are featured in fairytales and romantic movies around the world. The idea of fate leading you to the one you’re meant to be with for the rest of your life is captivating.
Although some dispute the idea of having a soulmate out there in the world, Ed and Heidi’s story seems to affirm it. It’s possible you’ve already run across your soulmate and haven’t realized it yet, just like the Savitts. Anything is truly possible!
