The Worst Thing That I’ve Ever Seen at a Wedding

By my count, I’ve performed at over 400 weddings during my DJ career.  In general, weddings are a joyous occasion and an opportunity to see people at their best.  However, I’ve also witnessed some bad things.  Drunken punch-ups?  Sure, there’s been a few of those.  DJs can be lightning rods for abuse, so I’ve been victimized by a mean heckler or twenty.  I’ve even had my equipment broken by a banquet manager who threw it into the elevator so he could go home.  Then there was the time that I discovered a drunk bridesmaid taking a nap in the back hatch of my SUV.

But the ugliest incident of all time happened about five years ago.  At a very respectable banquet hall located in Woodbridge NJ, at some point during the wedding, a substantial number of envelopes (and thousands of dollars in cash) disappeared from the card box.  Yes, a thief at a wedding!  How could anybody stoop so low?  The theft was discovered midway into the reception.  The bride was visibly crushed and never recovered.

The perpetrator was never discovered.  Was it a guest?  The date of a guest?  An employee at the banquet hall?  Was it a crime of opportunity, or fueled by physical needs from a drug addiction?

The lesson to be learned from this debacle is to utilize a sturdy box – for example a solid box with a slot on the top so that guests can’t thumb through the envelopes.  One of our more creative grooms – a commercial fisherman by trade – used a 50 pound lobster trap for a card box.  Also, consider assigning a member of your bridal party to keep an eye on the box throughout the evening.  At the end of the wedding, make sure that the box is safely transported to a secure location. With thousands of dollars in cash on the line, use common sense security precautions to avoid being victimized by a thief.  It’s also worth asking your wedding facility if there are security cameras in the ballroom.

What is the worst thing that you’ve ever seen at a wedding?