Wedding planners are typically under a lot of stress in their work, but their duties at least do not usually involve security and chasing after thieves.
For Ashley Baber though, her most recent wedding gig in Georgia was a different story, as she managed to catch an uninvited guest trying to run away with more than $2000 worth of gifts.
What caught Baber’s attention was the fact that the thief was holding a jacket in a peculiar way, and that she needed a coat in the heated weather in the first place.
She then remembered an email she had received earlier warning her of a potentially suspicious person stalking out events all over town.
Baber quickly put two and two together when she realized that the thief’s face was very similar to the photo she had seen earlier, and confronted Kristina Dardo as she was trying to make off with the loot.
Upon arriving at the scene, police recovered envelopes full of nearly $2300 in cash, as well as various gift cards.
Baber took the opportunity to warn others that wedding parties can be a particularly attractive spot for thieves looking for easy prey due to the generally inattentive mindset of guests at such events.
She added that people should be very vigilant about their gifts and the overall safety of the location the wedding is taking place at, and insisted that any gifts delivered to a wedding should be presented directly to someone involved with the wedding — the planner, the bride/groom, or a family member — instead of just being left on the table randomly.
Dardo is reportedly charged with felony theft by taking, and local authorities are trying to find out if she was involved in similar cases.
The newlyweds — Nick and Tiffany — will have an interesting story to share with their children in the future.
