'It's really embarrassing': Bride brings guests home to N.L., has trucks broken into
A bride is blushing, but not with joy over her upcoming wedding.
She praised Newfoundland and Labrador for its friendliness to her wedding party members hours before they had items stolen in an apparent break-in after they arrived.
Wanda Lee Coombs is originally from the Grand Bank area, but moved to Toronto when she was 11.
She and her fiancé are getting married in Green's Harbour on Thursday. A convoy of wedding party members and guests drove three pickup trucks packed with items from Toronto to St. John's, arriving at their two AirBnB rental homes on Old Topsail Road Sunday night.
But some time that night, while the group cooked a feed of seafood, two of the three trucks were broken into and completely stripped, Coombs said.
"This is my fault because I told you guys not to panic, told you guys you could trust people," she said.
Coombs suspects two of the trucks were broken into Sunday night, while she took her truck to the grocery store.
"If anyone hears of anyone selling some real nice stuff that was stolen from 'tourists' in St. John's, please let me know," read Coombs's plea she posted to Facebook Monday.
'It was sad'
That post has been shared hundreds of times and Coombs has filed a police complaint, but she still hasn't heard anything about the stolen goods. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed it had received a complaint in the incident.
Sherry Coombs-Fitzpatrick, the maid of honour and sister of the bride, said it's the sentimental value of wedding gifts she saved up to buy that hurts the most.
"I had to save for six months to even be ready for this wedding, and it all got robbed within like an hour of being here. It was really upsetting. When they broke into those trucks, they [saw] that this was a wedding … and there was no sympathy," she said.
"And it was sad because we bragged and bragged to all our friends that came down here how beautiful a place Newfoundland is and the people are amazing and we're so proud of where we come from, and then this happens. It's really embarrassing."
Other things stolen include about 30 pairs of shoes, entire suitcases lifted out of the trucks, and dirtbiking gear that was purchased especially for the post-wedding trip to Lord's Cove with extended family.
The trucks weren't damaged, with the exception of some scratches, Coombs said. She added that at least one of the trucks was locked. She said she's not certain about the other one, given all the coming and going they did when they arrived.
'Trying to make the best out of it'
Derick Sampson, the groom from Toronto, had only been to the province once before, for his fiancée's mother's funeral.
"I felt kind of sick to my stomach," said Sampson.
"We invite all these friends and family to come down and join us on our special day, and this is the kind of stuff we're dealing with. It's an unfortunate situation — we're trying to make the best out of it."
He's still hopeful that their wedding will be a beautiful day filled with joy and happiness, but this certainly puts a damper on things. However, Sampson said he knows enough people from the island to know this is not the norm.
"I've met enough people in Newfoundland to know this isn't a direct reflection on the people here. It's — there's scum everywhere. I've met enough people to know Newfoundland is a great place, we just had an unfortunate situation."
Meanwhile, Wanda Lee Coombs has been bringing guests to some of the beautiful tourist stops around St. John's in an attempt to put a positive spin on everything, while still scrambling to get ready for her wedding on Thursday.
"Our family is pretty easy going and always try to see the silver lining. I'm hoping that in a couple days we can kind of just joke it off and not dwell on it, as hard as it is," she said.
"It's a sad enough day as it is. We don't have our parents, so that's enough of a cloud over the day, so I don't want to let material things harp on the rest of it … I still have the dress and it's beautiful enough that hopefully nobody notices."
