Bride’s sister caught stealing thousands in cash gifts at wedding. 'I deserve this money!' AITA?
"Bride’s sister stole money from the bride, got caught on camera and posted on a local instagram blog account."
I was a bridesmaid at this wedding. It was an African wedding where it is culturally expected and accepted to shower the bride and groom with money. (trying not to give too much away by mentioning specific country).
Bride already had designated little cousins who were responsible for picking up and holding onto the money till the end of the ceremony. If you’ve ever seen one of these ceremonies, you know how chaotic things can get on the dance floors.
At the end of the night, we all gather to help the bride and groom sort and count their money. We all quickly realize there’s way less money in the bags than we anticipated.
At first we assumed people just didn’t spend as much, but the bridal assistant insisted the money should have been much more. The cousins were asked about it, they claim bride’s older sister kept taking money from their big collection bags and putting it in hers.
Bride insists she specifically told her sister not to have anything to do with the money. Sister is asked and she swears up and down she didn’t touch it, accuses cousins of being thieves.
Next day, videos start getting posted on this “blog-like” instagram page that showcases local weddings. One of those videos clearly shows sister grabbing multiple handfuls of money from cousin and putting it in a duffel bag the bride didn’t even know she had.
One of the other bridesmaids puts sister on blast in the comment section. Sister replies and blames it on bride. Claims bride should have helped her financially instead of “wasting money on such a lavish wedding for a marriage that won’t last anyway”.
Makes multiple posts on her page basically saying the same thing. Says bride is irresponsible and selfish and she(sister) deserves that money for putting up with the bride’s “bratty and disrespectful attitude towards her elders”.
Here is what readers had to say in response to the OP’s post:
I hope someone informed the police.
DreamChaser1993 (OP)
I doubt that. People would probably accuse the bride of being a bad sister if she got the sister arrested. People get away with a lot of stuff just because they’re “family”.
I went to a wedding where the bride and groom had asked for Home Depot gift cards to put towards home renovation/ repairs. Turns out the officiant stole most of the cards. Someone was filming with a video camera and happened to catch the officiant putting them in their pockets. It was reported to the police, and the officiant ( who was a pastor) claimed it was part of their payment for their services.
I have a pretty strong hunch as to where the bride and her family are from, especially since my husband and I had a similar dance at our wedding. My aunt watched it all like a HAWK, my godsister was one of my bridesmaids, and her kids were in the wedding party --and loved running around and collecting money--so I never worried about any of it for a second.
I just wanted to have fun and celebrate with family and friends on the big day. SHAME ON THE BRIDE'S SISTER. The toxic behavior in the ____ community should ALWAYS be called out.
Yeeeeesh. What a sad sack sister is.
You go to her house and get the money back. If she continues to refuse you report her to the authorities. Doesn't matter how it makes the bride look. Sister commented larceny.
Thank you for sharing! It’s weirdly comforting to know both that there are terrible people at weddings all around the world and that the rest of us can all be appalled by them. The specifics may vary but human nature stays the same!
Wasn’t there myself, but my wife was at a wedding a couple years ago and there was insane drama when the youngest brother of the groom (he was about 14) was caught in the coat room going through pockets. He had a couple iPhones, some random credit cards, and cash.
As the designated money holder in my family, bride f’ed up choosing younger cousins to collect the money! Always have someone older in charge and use the little cousins as gatherers. They gather and remit to one bag with a big aunty. No way sis would have been able to touch it. Glad she got caught tho! What an embarrassment! Hope bride has cut sister off. With that level of entitlement, she is a danger to bride!
If a sister of mine did that, they would still be in the hospital with doctors still trying to remove the baseball bat from the side of her head, with police guards, and the family waiting to see if she regained consciousness. Have her whiny entitled ass arrested.