Card box security

I've heard of these horror stories too... the fact that so many venues remind you of bridal suites having keys and locks and safes inside is enough to worry you alone!

I will likely have our card box up and close to the head table so that it can be kept eye on by many! The box is pretty small so I will likely have a parent empty it out on occasion and keep the cards in a secure area (likely bridal suite)

That is horrible! People can be awful! We were lucky that we got married on some pretty secluded family property so there was no way some random person was going to show up without everyone noticing.

View quoted message My venue is at heritage park so it is pretty secure which is nice the only ones in their are my guests

Omg this is terrible 😔. I guess this is why my fiancé wants to make ours out of metal. If can only be opened by welding it open. One hole on top to insert cards. I wanted a beautiful wooden box that I saw on Etsy. Guess we shall see. People can suck big time grr

I took an wedding planning course a few years ago as part of my event coordination schooling, it's not even a rare thing, it happens all the time! People dress up and go to wedding venues in the hope they can get in and get out with something of value. This also includes physical gifts, guests personal belongings, drinks/food (more harmless crashers), and keys from the coat room.
It's the "happiest day of our life", but there are horrible people out there. Asking your venue about security options or what they do should be part of your questions for planning the day.

I've heard many stories like this, and I wasn't concerned at first, but everyone else seemed to be, telling me to have someone for it, so we asked the groom's dad, to take the box to our hotel room and put it in the safe once the dinner started.

Better to be safe, I suppose! Some venues offer to put it in their office or in a safe there. My sister-in-law had this offered to her at the venue she got married in, so it is definitely worth asking if your venue does this before figuring where else to put it.

View quoted message Just be careful no one sees them. Because their car could get broken into. If your venue has a bridal suite with a safe, I would put it there.

Yeah that's totally a thing. We're going to designate my brother-in-law and his girlfriend as card box security, and will probably lock it up in the bridal suite before dinner starts. We'll also incorporate some kind of lock on the box. People can be super slimy.

Thanks for sharing, I never even thought about this! We will probably get someone to put it in our suite during dinner.

Something else to think about! Better to be safe than sorry. I was thinking of having it moved into the space where the gifts are (assuming people bring gifts) but maybe I should have someone run it right out to their vehicle.

I have my sister and brother in law putting everything in their vehicle during the reception.

Didn't even think of this, yikes! Now I am though! Thanks!

I have heard of this before too, which always surprises me! I'm overly trusting though.

We're just having an open mailbox as our card box too (which my FH was worried about). I'll probably ask one of the bridesmaids to nip out and grab it at dinner and put it up in the bridal suite.

That's awful! I think it's a good idea to lock it up after dinner no matter what. I'm planning to have it locked up in our bridal suit (PIN code lock) and then have someone most-likely drive it back to their home after dinner.

I heard of a story of a card box going missing at a venue near where I live and the thieves got away with something crazy like 60K! Stories like this make me nervous lol.

Omg! that is sad someone would do such a thing. We were thinking about how we would do this as well. Were we have it placed is noticeable and more off to side you would need to come into the building more it isn't right at the entrance.

We designated my FH's cousin to hold onto the card box. After we are done receiving gifts, he and the banquet manager walk down to a safe that they have designated for us for that day and deposit everything. He will be the only one with access to the key to that box. That's a horrifying story!

That's horrible! People can be so disgusting sometimes. We don't have to worry about this luckily, it's a private venue that only holds weddings and events a couple times a year and the only people that actually know about it are people that have booked it, been invited there or know the owners lol so we'll definitely recognize someone who know one knows. Although I have heard a few stories of GUESTS stealing cards...I 100% trust all my friends and family, but for those plus ones I don't know you can never be too save. So we have a lock on our box. We will probably move our box to the car after dinner. That way everyone has had a chance to put their cards in.

I think that I will be designating a Groomsmen as well to watch over ours. That would be a horror story for sure!

My wedding planner said that what they do is have it out until the ceremony starts then she will put it away. Bring it back out during cocktail hour and then it gets put away for the night in her office until my MOH gets it the next morning

Well damn. That's horrible. Thanks for the heads up. I will have to figure something out for that as there are a number of events going on in our venue at the same time so it's even higher risk with all those people walking around.

Do you normally keep the box out just till the dinner starts? By then everyone has come in? What is the appropriate time to remove all gifts/card box to a secure location?

Yes unfortunately I’ve heard of this happening too so horrible! I think I’ll have my mom on card box security I know it’s something she’ll worry about anyways and watch out for. My grandpa is making us one and I think he’s putting a lock on it but it’s a surprise so I don’t know for sure. Putting a groomsmen in charge is a good idea! I feel like ours will have a lot to drink so I don’t think I’d trust them lol