Wedding Crasher Caught on Camera Stealing at Least $80K Worth of Gifts

A newlywed couple in California has had an unfortunate start to their married life.

George and Nadeen Farahat got married over the weekend at a local church, followed by a reception in one of the ballrooms at the Renaissance Banquet in Glendale. However, while they were celebrating the first moments of married life with their guests on the dance floor, one uninvited guest was ruining their special day.

A wedding crasher was captured on camera brazenly grabbing a box containing tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and cash that had been given to the couple by family and friends. The man, who was wearing a suit, could then be seen fleeing the venue, which was decorated with lavish flowers for the occasion.

“As soon as we found out what happened, the music shut down, everything immediately stopped,” bride Nadeen recalled to ABC 7. “I ended up sitting on the dance floor, sobbing with my friends and cousins around me.”

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Security footage captured the thief attending the reception for around 90 minutes, using the restroom and, at one point, even ordering a drink at the bar.

“He’s watching the dance floor, watching our family. It’s so scary to look back and see that there was a stranger at such a private and intimate event,” Nadeen told ABC 7.

Groom George — who estimates that the thief took between $80,000 and $100,000 — told KTLA that the party was “wonderful until the incident took place.”

He added, “As is tradition in our culture, most people give cash or checks as gifts for the newlyweds, so there was a box containing all the envelopes, the cards, the money from family and friends who were invited.”

The footage showed the thief taking the box through the venue toward a back alley, where a getaway vehicle was waiting.

The couple is offering a $5,000 reward for any tips that lead to an arrest. Despite the unlucky incident, they say they are trying to put a positive spin on the situation.

“We try to focus on the positive on that day,” George told KTLA. “We had a wonderful ceremony at our church and a really fun party with our family and friends.”

Nadeen is equally pragmatic about the theft, which is currently under investigation by Glendale police. “Somebody said that if it rains on your wedding day, it usually means good things are to come. We’ll follow that same trend,” she told the news outlet. “We’re just really thankful.”

The Glendale Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.