Couple robbed on wedding day
Niagara Falls newlyweds fall victim to $15,000 theft
For Cody Peers and Tiffany Rose, it was the ideal Niagara Falls wedding.
On Saturday, the Niagara Falls couple were married at the place they met four years ago, the Americana Resort on Lundy’s Lane. “The whole day was awesome,” says Peers. “It was perfect,” added Rose.
But as they partied into the night with 150 friends and family members, they had no idea what had happened with their wedding gifts. Why Peers’ dad was talking to police officers down the hall.
When he stopped by his dad’s house the next morning, Peers got the grim news: The box with all of their cash gifts was gone. About $15,000 to help pay for the wedding had been stolen.
“Cody’s father found out, and made sure no one staff-wise or guest-wise let us know, so that we could have our wedding remain perfect,” says Rose. “Which is great. At least that day wasn’t totally overshadowed.”
The couple last saw the box while they were on the receiving line for guests. Shortly after, the plan was to take it to a “safe location,” says Rose. “We didn’t even think twice about it for the rest of the night.”
The money made it to its safe spot, but at some point during the night, Peers’ father realized it was missing. He quickly phoned police and informed the hotel manager what had happened.
Rose says Niagara Regional Police have some leads, and told her the theft “wasn’t just some random thing.” The wedding was targeted by someone who “knew what they were doing.”
The devastated couple spent much of Sunday telling guests what happened, and tried not to let the theft ruin their first day as a husband and wife.
“I try to not think about it when I look at the wedding photos,” says Rose. “Because we really had nothing but happiness that day. I don’t want anyone to ever take that from us.
“The days after the wedding, there were lots of tears shed, for sure. But when I look at the wedding pictures, I try to think about how happy we were.”
It didn’t take long for reality to hit, however: Without the wedding gift money, the couple was now on the hook for hefty wedding bills. It will mean plenty of overtime and extra shifts for Peers, an industrial painter, and Rose, a registered social worker and elementary school teacher.
“It’s not great,” says Rose of their situation. “It’ll take us awhile to get our finances back in order.
“I had been hoping to take some time off of work this coming year. That’s not going to be possible any more.”
On Monday, Peers’ stepmom Kelly Peacock created a GoFundMe page for the couple to recoup some of their losses. It had raised just over $1,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s very nice, very humbling,” says Peers. “Our families have been amazing.”
But while the money can eventually be replaced, the cards they came in are likely gone forever. As are the heartfelt messages people wrote for their wedding day.
“It was about 150 cards that are just irreplaceable,” says Peers. “That was the biggest (loss) the next day.
“That was our plan,” adds Rose. “The day after we were going to sit at home, open up the cards, and read what our family and friends had wrote. I found out that my grandmother had actually found and purchased our card six months ago. And we can’t ever get that back.”
For now, the couple is trying to relax at a friend’s cottage — a honeymoon wedding gift thieves didn’t steal.
“We’ve been trying to keep our phones away from us, and just do things we enjoy doing together,” says Rose. “Really focus on the love and support we have.
“Just making sure we’re surrounded by the people who love us and show us there’s so much good around us.”