What was supposed to be the happiest day of Aaron “Bo” and Margaret Thompson Brown’s lives turned heart-wrenching Saturday night.

During the local couple’s wedding reception at the American Legion in Seymour, an uninvited guest made away with a large wire bird cage that held stacks of congratulatory cards filled with cash, checks and gift cards.

Margaret’s mother, Joyce Thompson, estimated the thief got away with around $5,000.

“What a low-life thing to do to a bride and groom just starting out in life,” Joyce said.

Seymour Police Department was called to the reception at 10:48 p.m. to investigate.

Assistant Chief Craig Hayes said after conducting a search, officers were unable to locate the suspect, whom witnesses described as a skinny white male wearing a dark T-shirt and a ball cap. Anyone with information should call the police at 522-1234.

“No one knows who he was,” Hayes said, reading from a police report.

For Margaret, the whole situation seems surreal, but she’s not letting it get her down.

“It wasn’t even the money, I was upset that someone could come in and do something like that on somebody’s wedding day,” she said. “But I don’t want to remember that, I want to remember that we all had a good time.”

Although many tears were shed, Joyce said friends and family who attended the event did their best to console the bride and groom, even starting a collection to replace some of the stolen money.

“They were able to get about $500, I think,” Joyce said.

Derek Fields, a friend of the couple, was responsible for rallying the guests to give more money.

“He jumped up and took the mic from the DJ and said it was a terrible thing that had happened and suggested that people gift the same amount,” she said. “Then they passed around a box.”

Margaret said that part of the evening was “straight out of a movie.”

“I was in the corner and my bridesmaids were trying to console me, and the DJ played ‘Lean on Me’ and we all started dancing again,” she said. “I decided I could let it ruin everything or I could just forget it and have fun.”

She said she and her husband had planned to use a lot of the money to pay for a honeymoon, which she says they now plan to take in the spring.

“We’ll be OK,” Margaret said.

Joyce is advising guests who gave the couple checks or gift cards to have them canceled immediately and reissued if they choose. If a check has been cashed, she said to check with the bank and call the police.

She also has a message to the thief.

“You put a really sad damper on what was a beautiful day,” she said. “Hope you can sleep at night.”