The following ten ceremonies, however, show that one’s big day can suddenly come crashing down, spoiling any chance of a dream wedding. From drunken brawls to pistol-packing brides, this motley crew of colorful characters surely set the bar for an unforgettable, if not romantic, evening.
10 Tequila Sunrise
It’s never a good idea to begin drinking in the morning, especially if you have to walk down the aisle to the altar. Just ask 32-year-old Amber Young of Arizona, who started her wedding party hours before the nuptials. Young, dressed in her wedding gown, managed to cause a three-vehicle collision while driving intoxicated to her own wedding in March 2018. Once pictures began circulating on social media of the bride-to-be in handcuffs, Young insisted that she was not headed to her wedding but meeting a friend for lunch. In addition, Young vehemently stated that she was merely wearing a sundress. To further dispute the Marana Police Department, Young’s attorney, Michelle Behan, stated that her client’s arrest was “wrongfully claimed” and that the wedding narrative was a hoax falsified by the police. Nevertheless, Chief of Police Terry Rozema released the following statement: In response to allegations from Ms. Young’s attorney(s); there is absolutely no basis in fact that we fabricated the story about Ms. Young being on her way to her wedding when she was involved in a three-car collision and was subsequently arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Contact with Ms. Young was captured on police body camera. The audio and video captures Ms. Young stating that she is getting married, that it is her wedding day, providing details about her wedding, and affirming she is wearing her wedding dress.[1]
9 Feeling Lonesome Tonight?
Following their heartwarming nuptials in 2017, a bride in Northern China became suspicious after her groom’s 200-plus guests seemed quite puzzled when asked how they knew her Knight in Shining Armor. After prying a bit further, it turned out that they were all hired actors. Apparently, the “guests” were paid 80 yuan ($12; £9) each by the deceitful and lonely “Mr. Wang” to pose as loved ones for the couple’s heavenly day. In fact, the majority of actors in attendance were actually broke taxi drivers and students. By all appearances, the groom was clearly in need of friends; however, he and his bride-to-be had been together for three years, spawning an array of more bizarre inquiries.[2] Several friends came to the defense of the naive bride, claiming that the two had completely different circles of friends and that she had been deceived. Additionally, others speculated that the lonesome groom was ashamed of his destitute family, prompting him to create a new and wealthier entourage. As the Sun set on an eventful evening, the bride reported her charming husband to the police. In the end, the romantic union was far from idyllic and most certainly began on the wrong note, leaving police with one last daunting question: What (if any) laws did the groom actually break?
8 Delicious Cake Ingredients
For their idyllic ceremony in the Philippines, Jhon Chen and bride Shine Tamayo paid a wedding planner in advance to supply all the food and decorations for their December 2018 ceremony. Upon their arrival at the reception, however, the newlyweds were horrified to discover that their caterer had failed to supply the entrees, prompting the panicked bride to make last-minute dinner arrangements. Thus, Shine resorted to the wonderful delicacy of street food located across the humid and murky road. Determined to satiate their hungry guests, the couple carried trays of bland noodles, questionable meat, and blackcurrant juice before cutting into the main attraction, the wedding cake. This is where the evening truly went south. As the displeased couple began to slice through the icing, they discovered that their dream cake was nothing more than frosting-covered polystyrene foam.[3] As one can imagine, the bride became a distraught mess, breaking down in a flood of tears. Once she’d composed herself and dried her eyes, guests escorted her to the police station, where the delicious foam cake was inspected. Following a brief investigation, including evidence of 140,000 pesos (roughly $7,200) paid to the wedding planner, Krissa Cananea was placed under arrest on charges of fraud.
7 A Hostile Maid Of Honor
Even though January 7, 2017, was Jennifer and David Butler’s big day, the one who truly stole the show was the maid of honor. It all began when Amanda Willis of Florida kicked off the festivities by drinking everything in sight. According to several guests, Willis became a “complete mess” after guzzling an entire bottle of Fireball. She then somehow managed to steal a partygoer’s car keys and attempted to speed away before being physically restrained by the groom and his brother. Following that delightful altercation, Willis returned to the reception against her will, only to come across a big bottle of Captain Morgan, which she happily drank. Evidently, the bottle was one drink too many, causing her to go further into the dark side. After she “cracked” one of the groomsmen across the face, police arrived to arrest Willis, who then claimed she was having an asthma attack. While being examined at a nearby hospital, the inebriated maid of honor kicked over a bedpan, assaulted two medics, and then exposed herself to the arresting officers. According to the Charlotte County Police, Willis—who was no stranger to being arrested—was charged with the following: larceny, battery of an officer, battery of a person 65 years or older, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and violation of probation. As for the newlywed bride, she no longer considers Willis a friend.[4]
6 Watering A Tree
While she primarily models under the name Max McIntyre, Katie Mehta has also worked as a wedding photographer in Texas. During a reception in November 2018, security was informed by partygoers concerning Mehta’s “inappropriate” behavior: having sex with a guest while working at the event. Once the frisky photographer was told to leave, the 26-year-old calmly walked over to a tree and proceeded to urinate on it while screaming expletives for all to hear. Her cheerful rant continued while she was handcuffed in the back seat of a squad car, telling the arresting officers, “Y’all families will be dead by Christmas, y’all’s daughters are dead. My dad is going to find out about this and y’all are [expletive] dead. D-E-A-D.” Fortunately for the aggressive urinating maiden, her sister came to her defense, claiming that Mehta unknowingly drank spiked drinks during the ceremony. In spite of such an original defense, officers found a prescription bottle of Xanax in the purse of the highly intoxicated model. She was later charged with public intoxication and a felony charge of obstruction or retaliation. Whether or not Mehta will continue a career in wedding photography has yet to be seen.[5]
5 ‘Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting’
In September 2018, in a hallway at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey, 43-year-old Carlos Mejia approached a bridal party and asked for a cigarette. When they refused, a verbal argument ensued, causing a resentful Mejia to scream obscenities at the women before returning to his room. The scornful bride, however, was not done expressing her disdain. With her female entourage in tow, the unidentified bride began pounding on Mejia’s door while shouting a tirade of expletives. Moments later, Mejia opened the door and emerged from his room brandishing a sword. Before being disarmed by several guests, the sword-wielding smoker successfully managed to slash the bride’s left arm, causing the wedding to be temporarily put on hold. Mejia, who appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, was taken to the Sussex County Jail on a five-count indictment, including charges of assault and terroristic threats.[6] In June 2019, Mejia (who is a native of Colombia) took a plea deal that includes jail time with lengthy probation. His sentencing is scheduled for August 8, 2019.
4 Wedding Night Brawls
Only hours after they’d exchanged vows in 2017, the honeymoon for a Tennessee couple had already come to an end. Officers in Murfreesboro responded to a domestic disturbance call in a dreamy motel parking lot, where they encountered the inebriated duo battling it out. According to police, Kate Elizabeth Prichard, 25, became incensed with her new husband for unknown reasons after a day of drinking. At some point during their delightful fracas, Prichard pulled out a 9-milimeter pistol from beneath her wedding dress, pointed it at her hubby’s head, and pulled the trigger. As luck would have it, the gun was not loaded, prompting the bride to load a round before firing it into the air. Prichard, who was still in her gown, was booked into custody and charged with aggravated domestic assault.[7] Interestingly enough, having one’s honeymoon end before it even began is more common than you might think. Also in 2017, Pennsylvania groom John Delozier was arrested on his wedding night after choking his wife. Apparently, Delozier, 31, became irate after his bride recommended that they save some of the cash they were gifted at their nuptials. Another logical groom who spent his wedding night behind bars was David Wachinski. The 31-year-old, also from Pennsylvania, was charged with assault, public drunkenness, and disorderly conduct in 2015, after he punched his wife in the face and kicked her in the ribs as she lay on the ground. It took a Taser to calm the charming groom down before he was hauled off to jail.
3 Something Borrowed
In December 2018, a Good Samaritan traveling down a dusty road in South Africa came across a scene few would forget. A naked and bleeding 55-year-old man was found in visible “agonizing pain” and for good reason: His penis had just been sliced off. A preliminary investigation led detectives to the home of the blade-wielding lunatic, an unidentified 27-year-old man from Bolahlakgomo. It was later discovered that the brazen anatomy collector had stored the severed appendage in a laundry basket within his residence before fleeing his humble and welcoming abode. Following the unsightly discovery, a manhunt was immediately launched, scouring the area and surrounding rural communities.[8] This led authorities to a wedding in the same village, where the shameless penis connoisseur was astonishingly lying in wait. Following an uneventful arrest, albeit one that still disrupted the peaceful reception, the suspect, an ex-convict, was taken into custody on an attempted murder charge. Police have yet to determine a motive for such an unforgiving attack.
2 A Reception Cut Short
The last thing Tyonne “Chef Ty” Johns believed was going to happen while catering a Virginia wedding was that she was going to leave the 2016 event in a body bag. As the 35-year-old was wrapping up a thriving afternoon at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly, 19-year-old park employee Kempton A. Bonds got into a verbal altercation with the woman during a routine cleanup. As the spat between the two intensified, members of the wedding party became involved, escalating the situation. At some point during the verbal strife, Bonds pulled out an 8-centimeter (3 in) pocketknife and fatally stabbed Johns two times in the chest. In the days that followed, Bonds was charged with second-degree murder, while family and friends of the deceased claimed the killing was a hate crime: “Lesbian, bisexual, gay, we have to silence our selves because of someone else being uncomfortable,” said Eraena Seymour, Ty’s friend.[9] To everyone’s further shock, Bonds was found not guilty of murder by a Fairfax County jury after they’d deliberated for a little over three hours. According to court documents, dramatic audio captured on a cell phone was the key factor in Bonds’s freedom. In the audio, it is evident that Bonds was being surrounded by irate guests hurling insults prior to the deceased confronting him, stating, “I’m gonna knock you out.” According to Bonds, he feared for his life as Chef Ty strangled him, inciting the fatal stabbing.
1 Wedding Sting
In 1987, Money magazine had named Flint, Michigan, the worst place to live in America. With thousands of workers laid off and families fleeing in droves, the drug epidemic had grown to proportions the city had ever seen. Determined to put a damper on the trafficking of narcotics, undercover detectives Lacy “Moon” Brown and Debbie Williams gathered hard evidence suitable for indictments on more than 40 suspects. The only problem was the department’s lack of funds and manpower to round up all the peddlers, thus forcing the two to come up with a clever idea. Brown and Williams planned an elaborate operation: They and other undercover officers would throw a fake wedding for a drug-dealing “acquaintance” in order to lure all the criminals to one venue, where they would be arrested simultaneously. The fake wedding was held on September 4, 1990. By 9:00 PM, the party was in full swing, with undercover cops giving fake speeches and toasts, all while the unsuspecting drug dealers were getting good and drunk. As the band began to play “I Fought The Law (and the Law Won),” uniformed detectives hastily burst through the door while the drunken and oblivious lawbreakers continued to party, believing it to be a joke. In the end, the majority of those arrested pleaded guilty, while those fortunate enough to post bail fled the city and disappeared. As for the undercover officers assigned to the case, once the last offender was hauled off to jail, the wedding party resumed, with one detective stating, “You don’t give cops free food and free beer and expect them to walk away when it’s still there.”[10]
