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Theft ruins wedding, strands bride

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 05/23/2010 3:50 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

The vows were written, the rings were ready, and the wedding location at St. Vital Park was blissfully free of rain.

But for a pair of trans-continental newlyweds, the wedding ceremony ended in heartbreak after they discovered that a thief smashed into the family's rental car and stole the bride's passport... while she was saying "I do."

Now, the family hopes that someone in Winnipeg will find and return the vital document, and other items lost in the theft.

On Saturday afternoon, groom Vaughan Sievewright, who is from Canada and now works in England, and bride Trang Thai, who is from Vietnam, tied the knot in an outdoor ceremony at St. Vital Park. But minutes after saying their vows, the couple discovered that during the ceremony, a thief had broken into a family member's rental car and swiped the bride's purse, which contained the passport she needs to get back home to Vietnam.

"Everybody was devastated," said Phillip Friesen, the groom's cousin, who lives in Winnipeg. "During the reception, everyone was really low. And all the people from Canada, we're just feeling horrible for her... it's her first experience of Canada, and this happens."

Now, the couple's planned West Coast honeymoon is ruined, as Thai cannot board a plane without her photo I.D. They fear she won't be able to make it back to Hanoi in time to return to work on June 5. Also in the bag: a scrapbook the bride had made as a gift for her groom, her engagement ring, and some cash, though the latter two items are of less concern.

Still, they have hope: Friesen is asking that anyone with any information about the purple purse, Thai's passport, or the other stolen items contact him at 204-269-2303. If the passport and scrapbook come back, no questions asked, the groom said. "If they want to hawk the rings, they can do that. They can have the money," Sievewright said. "All we care about is the scrapbook and the passport... it's going to make life super-difficult for a couple of newlyweds... it's sad that it's given my new wife a bad impression of the country and the city."

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

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