safe storage of wedding cards on the day

beltzar

Hi folks,
I haven't seen any posts on this yet;
I've been coming across more and more weddings where envelopes go missing for one reason or another and I would rather this did not happen at ours. what's written inside the card is honestly more important.
When someone hands you a wedding card on your wedding day and you pass it over to the best man for safe keeping etc What does he do when he has a few of them? Are they left with reception? Brought back to a bedroom?

Any feedback on how couples handled this would be great.

Cheers

PCPhoto

you can have a postbox ...gimmicky but allows you to have a storage space which doesn't look like a storage space.

lol... you could always just tell best man its his responsibility to take care of them all.... give him a notebook and make a mark every time he gets a card - so he can match number of cards with number in notebook.

beltzar

PCPhoto wrote: »

you can have a postbox ...gimmicky but allows you to have a storage space which doesn't look like a storage space.

lol... you could always just tell best man its his responsibility to take care of them all.... give him a notebook and make a mark every time he gets a card - so he can match number of cards with number in notebook.

Hey pcphoto
i like the post box idea. the reception is in a venue that only caters for weddings so only family and friends will be there during the day. but I might lock it to the table underneath and disguise it with material.
Emmmm the notebook, gosh could you imagine......Would be kinda funny just to see him squirm.
Thanks for the postbox idea. like it

hoodwinked

i don't know how it will work but what we are hoping to do, i'll give the best man a key to our hotel room, and a key to our locked suitcase so only the three of us will have access to the locked suitcase,

he can put them there if he has too many to hold onto and that way they are there for us when we get home (im so scatter brained id probably leave them all behind accidentally)

bp

The best man looked after all cards and gifts and kept them in his room. He had a big bag with him and then he dropped them over to our house the next day (no room in the car with the wedding dress etc!).

Sleepy

hoodwinked wrote: »

i don't know how it will work but what we are hoping to do, i'll give the best man a key to our hotel room, and a key to our locked suitcase so only the three of us will have access to the locked suitcase,

he can put them there if he has too many to hold onto and that way they are there for us when we get home (im so scatter brained id probably leave them all behind accidentally)

Sounds like a very good idea. Locked bag in a locked room.

Think I'll ask my best man to do the same tbh.

silly

you could use something like this - in the middle of the room maybe - and then it could be taken up to your room to be locked away in the evening.

http://www.overstock.com/Gifts-Flowers/Birdcage-Wedding-Card-Holder/3415327/product.html

Sleepy

Would anyone else feel like something like that might be almost seen as a demand for a card?

kandr10

Give the best man the key to your room and lock them up there. There might even be a safe in the room but tbh they'd be fine once the room is locked.

hoodwinked

kandr10 wrote: »

Give the best man the key to your room and lock them up there. There might even be a safe in the room but tbh they'd be fine once the room is locked.

i think the issue is they are not! Friend of mine had the card his parents gave him stolen from his hotel room at his wedding, they only knew there was some missing as one of the the stolen ones happened to be from his parents (there was no money in it either )

kandr10

Fair enough. Far more likely to go missing if best man doesn't bother putting them up in room though. Would trust room far more than reception. We had access to a room in the reception venue that was lockable (obviously staff would have access too). Worked out fine, nothing went missing as far as we know!

PCPhoto

Sleepy wrote: »

Would anyone else feel like something like that might be almost seen as a demand for a card?

guests dont see the postbox until on the day (if they have a card they can pop it in - or give it to bride and groom who pass it to best man and he pops it in the letterbox)

its a simple enough concept and letterbox is then moved to a safe location (reception/bedroom) - which is brought home the next day.

silly

if hotel staff arent trusted i.e locked into a room or left in reception.Then putting the cards into the boot of a locked car would probably make sense.

Also, i wouldnt see it as demanding a card...
Alot of people bring cards to a wedding without knowing if there is going to be a post box or not. We always give our card to the best man, or drop it up to the couple before or after the wedding.

Ginny

Oh God don't do the postbox or the birdcage, I promise you some guests will see it as asking for a card. Plus you'd need someone looking after it as well all night, you'd be surprised how little people notice at a wedding.
We just gave the best man a key to our room and they were placed either in the safe or a locked bag, actually most people gave the cards directly to my husband anyways.

paulbok

Our hotel has a locked deposit box in the managers office that only the duty manager and us (well the bestman) have a key for.
Most hotels should have a safe of some description in the rooms so check that out with the hotel.
I wouldn't be comfortable with a postbox or birdcage for many reasons, particurally who minds it and who inevitably gets blamed if something goes missing.

saraocallaghan

I know when I worked as a receiptionist in a hotel, during weddings the best man would come to us and we would put all the cards in the safe that was locked.

Only receptionists and the manager had access to the keys. We never had any problems with cards/money.

beltzar

Thanks everyone. its great to get peoples ideas. i was at a wedding last year and the room opened at 5 in the morning despite me locking it from the inside. since then same hotel has been slated for theft issues on tripadvisor.
To be honest i am more worried about staff than our guests. might bring a bag with a solid lock on it for our room.
Thanks again

amdublin

silly wrote: »

you could use something like this - in the middle of the room maybe - and then it could be taken up to your room to be locked away in the evening.

http://www.overstock.com/Gifts-Flowers/Birdcage-Wedding-Card-Holder/3415327/product.html

These type of product are very common at weddings in America.

bbbbb

Was best man at my brothers wedding, people keep coming up to you at random points during the day so you need somewhere to keep them (I had a small attaché case, pockets too small!). Later left it in the managers safe.

Senna

Dont dismiss the post box suggestion, if guests congregate in a private foyer or bar and it is in plain site, guests will put the cards in as soon as they get there, meaning by the time of the meal, the bestman can take the box away and wont have to bother with people coming up all evening with cards.
It does work best and something small and tasteful wont be "demanding" a card.

People i know got married years ago, they had 3 cards stolen and blamed the hotel. A few months later when they got the video, they seen the bestman (with a few drinks in him) being handed a card during the dancing and he just left them stacked on the stage beside the band.:rolleyes:

Gatica

that's just irresponsible!

My OH was best man and the cards got put into the safe in our bedroom, once he had a handful either he or myself would drop them up. I know that safes in hotels aren't 100% foolproof, but with us going up at regular enough intervals we were sure no one/staff snuck in and took anything out of it.

As a bride, I wouldn't give key to our bedroom to anyone! too much temptation for pranks from best man or others...

I think locked suitcase in a bedroom is a good idea. Very unlikely someone would steal the whole suitcase from a room even if they managed to get in.

paulbok

If you do go for the locked suitcase, also consider a small chain and padlock or laptop lock to secure the suitcase to a radiator/piece of heavy furniture.

beltzar

Imagine, I hadn't thought of locking it to something.

Thanks for stating the obvious I would have been disgusted at myself if thet bag disappered.

hoodwinked

But if we drop our suitcases locked down the day before they won't be expecting the cards to be in them they''ll assume the best man still has them! and thus wouldn't bother stealing the suitcase

if the suit case is locked to the bed (or something else) it will be obvious there is something valuable in there and they will bust the zip open to see!

amdublin

hoodwinked wrote: »

But if we drop our suitcases locked down the day before they won't be expecting the cards to be in them they''ll assume the best man still has them! and thus wouldn't bother stealing the suitcase

if the suit case is locked to the bed (or something else) it will be obvious there is something valuable in there and they will bust the zip open to see!

I think you are way over thinking this.

hoodwinked

amdublin wrote: »

I think you are way over thinking this.

i probably am, but i have a lot of time on my hands, this wedding planning malarky is easy peasy! :pac:

Zaph

hoodwinked wrote: »

i probably am, but i have a lot of time on my hands, this wedding planning malarky is easy peasy! :pac:

It is, isn't it? There's a girl I work with who's getting married next March and she's a wreck already. Everyone in work keeps asking if I'm getting nervous or stressed, but there's a week to go and pretty much everything is done, so what is there to worry about. Although it would be nice if the weather started to pick up a bit.

As for cards, when you have a few gathered head up to the room and go for the old-fashioned stuffing them under the mattress. No-one will think of looking for them there, but just remember to take them out later before the marriage bed gets a workout and you end up crushing all the cards.

amdublin

Zaph wrote: »

As for cards, when you have a few gathered head up to the room and go for the old-fashioned stuffing them under the mattress. No-one will think of looking for them there, but just remember to take them out later before the marriage bed gets a workout and you end up crushing all the cards.

I think the etiquette at this point is that you empty the contents of said cards on to bed and have a (your words ) "workout" on the money Hollywood film style

Zaph

amdublin wrote: »

I think the etiquette at this point is that you empty the contents of said cards on to bed and have a (your words ) "workout" on the money Hollywood film style

Durty

amdublin

^^^ You're welcome

Enjoy




*joking aside enjoy the day Zaph!

Zaph

Thanks, I'm sure we will

priyairc

bp wrote: »

The best man looked after all cards and gifts and kept them in his room. He had a big bag with him and then he dropped them over to our house the next day (no room in the car with the wedding dress etc!).

Nice idea...
Even i completely agreed with you.....

solerina

My friend got married in Oz recently, they had a 'wishing well' basically a sealed box covered in fancy paper for the cards to be put into...apparently its quite common over there..so dont knock the post box idea !!

deelite

Be careful about using the safe in the hotel room - I know from a travel insurance policy a few years ago that safes in hotel rooms are not covered for theft - safes in the reception areas were only covered. Better check the hotels insurance policy.

Gatica

my OH was best man at a wedding and we put envelopes in the safe. Found it open on returning to the room, the lock was on so I figured he must've put in the locking code but didn't hold door in place to close it. However, the pin didn't unlock the door, so he was certain someone else had been in the room.
Manager was called and all she could do was reset it for us and assure us only her and provisional manager had the codes. Who's to say other staff didn't know it though? All someone else would need is to take 2 or 3 envelopes and leave the rest, hard to tell what's been taken when there are dozens and they're a coupla hundred the richer.

All I'm saying is, just be careful. Better to use a safe than nothing at all, but they're not 100% fool proof.

beltzar

Hey guys,
Thanks for all the suggestions. In the end we didnt use anything.
People gave the cards to 2 different people.
One of them was drinking so every time he got a few cards he put them under the mattress in his room:eek:
And the other guy wasnt drinking and later he told us he hid them in his car.
If I could go back to that time - would have gone with the bird cage idea TBH.

But in fairness - all cards were accounted for - and none were opened.

tomboylady

I was the wedding of two friends a few months ago. The hotel refused to take responsibility of cards but would accept gifts at the reception. I wasn't a member of the wedding party but was asked by the bride to take charge of the cards. Every time she or the groom received a card it was passed on to me. I took them home with me that night, locked them up safely and they came and collected them the next day.

However, I was supposed to collect the gifts on the way out of the hotel after the reception too. When I went to collect them to get them into the car, there was a slight problem. There was a pile of gifts in the back office behind the reception, but there was also a wedding at the same hotel the next day and some of the gifts had been left in early for that wedding. And 90% of them didn't have gift tags so there was no way to tell which gifts belonged to which wedding. Whoever had accepted them at the reception desk hadn't kept track. Such a mess.

belcampprisoner

wheres your wedding I will keep an eye on them