The day after - this couldn't happen on TV

The morning after the wedding, things were going well. We had a nice cooked breakfast at Crathorne hall and carried on to the church hall at Kirkby. 

Everything had been done for us, thank you to all who helped there.  All that was left was to pack up the car and the several wine bottles that were left. They were all open ones. What had happened to the sealed ones?
Lyn and Chris said that the sealed bottles were a wedding present for us to start our wine cellar. We were most curious as to why there were none. This soon became clear. 

My mum brought the children back and they were reunited with us at Alison's mum's. 

Soon the children began to tell us about their day. 
Kenneth Michael reported that he and Matthew had been paid by auntie Lorraine to steal our wine bottles and put them in her car. He had been warned not to tell me he said. He reported that they had been paid £17.

We sent a text to try to discover the truth. 

We got a denial, which later turned out to  be a long way from the truth. 

KM reported eight or so bottles and another boxful had beer stolen. This was then compounded when he said they had also been instructed by auntie Lorraine to take three glasses from the tables and put those in auntie Lorraine's car as well. He said that when they reported to her that that mission had been accomplished she said okay. Gracie then confirmed what had happened, saying that she had seen them doing this and when she had told them that she knew what they were doing, she had also been told not to say a word to me.

We were horrified at this, as is everybody else who has heard the tale. Alison's mum was also very shocked and disappointed as she would have to pay for the stolen glasses. 
After further questioning it became apparent that these were all sealed bottles, according to KM, and was coming some way to clarifying the mystery of where our wedding present was.

Further questioning of Kenneth Michael and Gracie  continued, it turned out that they took bottles at regular intervals. Since then more has come to light from other guests who thought it rather strange that two young boys were seen taking wine out under their jackets. We were stunned that the children have been coerced into doing this. They had started taking them whilst the meal was still in progress as people's attention was elsewhere. 

Auntie Lorraine's  reply said that all the bottles they had taken had been open ones. This did not tally with our information, but she was adamant about this. Still no explanation why she needed three glasses when she was also staying in the travelodge who supply cups for people. Mind you, their cups have handles, perhaps she is not able to drink wine from them. 

Because our wedding presents had been stolen and our hospitality abused, not to mention that the only ones going to be returned were "open ones David had sealed" and then they would be left 70 miles away for us to collect we were very upset. It was made worse by the fact that the children said they had been paid for taking it, and were then taken to the shops to spend their ill gotten gains on sweets!

We were talking about this to our close friends and family, they said how could somebody do that, how could somebody, that somebody in this case being the bridegrooms sister,  persuade children to steal things from your wedding. All our friends were up in arms about it.

I doubt we will ever get the full truth. We finally got a long email - unsigned and totally at odds to the earlier text message! - apologising for the wine being taken, saying that she thought they were only going to take the non-alcoholic stuff. 

We interpret this to mean that it is okay for them to steal the non-alcoholic wine, a another jaw dropping moment.

She did say we could send her a bill for the glasses she had stolen. We are still not sure why she did steal them.

When we got back to the hotel on Sunday evening, we found that some of the wine that had been taken had been anonymously returned. Also there were the three stolen glasses. In total we got back two bottles of fizz. Both unopened. Also two bottles of red wine unopened, three bottles of white wine unopened, two bottles of non-alcoholic Waitrose wine and a bottle of cloudy lemonade. You could have had quite a party with all those.

Here is a picture of the returning drink. 

Note they were returned to the hotel, whereas if they'd been returned to the people they were stolen from, Alison's mum could have given the glasses back to the caterers. Mind you we would have had to be faced if this was the case.

The glasses are currently sitting on our mantelpiece as a reminder that you can choose your friends but not your family. We definitely have one less Christmas card to send from now on.

We are very grateful to have some of our wedding present wine back, the rest has probably gone south for the winter, Chris, drove a round trip of about 1500 miles to deliver it to us, mere days before his hip operation. It's a relief to know that families can be nice as well :-)

It made me think back to my sisters wedding when my father had told me in no uncertain terms that if I did anything to spoil her day I should no longer consider myself part of this family. Will the same apply the other way and this crass behaviour result in the ostracision it deserves?

We are determined not to let her cloud our wonderful memories of the day despite her rather enthusiastic attempt to.