Top 10 Times Karens Ruined Weddings

Weddings can get a bit raucous on occasion. But in 2011, bride Angela Davito took it to a whole other level in Gilbert, Arizona. During the reception at a house, the party got out of hand, causing the police to arrive to break up a fight in the backyard. Not getting anywhere, the cops began using pepper spray. But not everyone was subdued. Davito took the opportunity to charge a guest. When an officer stepped in and restrained the bride, she kicked them, resulting in her arrest. As a belated unwanted wedding gift, Davito was sentenced for attempted aggravated assault and received six months of probation and four hours of community service.

In 2022, deputies in Seminole County, Florida, were called to a wedding venue after complaints many guests had become ill after consuming the food. Rather than dodgy cooking, the cops soon realized the victims were describing symptoms of being stoned. Tests on the victims and on several dishes found that cannabis was used unbeknownst to the guests. However, not everyone was in the dark. Caterer Joycelyn Bryant and bride Danya Svoboda seemingly colluded to secretly slip the substance in and were arrested. When groom Andrew Svoboda was asked by cops whether cannabis was added in, he stuttered out a “no.” Suspicious. To make it worse for Bryant, she got issued a $30,000 lawsuit by one of the guests due to “permanent injuries.”

One of the perks of Dominic Ward being a lieutenant in the UK’s Royal Regiment of Fusiliers was getting married to Cherie Preston at the Tower of London in England. However, fellow lieutenant Phil Roberts ruined the day. At the reception in the protected Trinity House, an intoxicated Roberts got a fire extinguisher and sprayed it around at guests and onto a 19th-century painting. The venue staff, fearing for the other historic art, quickly removed the whole party from the property. Roberts’ rowdiness wasn’t over yet. He allegedly punched the person helping him to his accommodation and then urinated on the Tower’s gates. Roberts was arrested and fined. The following day, he attempted to resign, but it was rejected while the army investigated.

Unlike 2005’s “Wedding Crashers,” rather than sneaking in for seduction, some folks go a lot further in the nuptial deception. In 2022, retired sheriff’s deputy Landon Earl Rankin was arrested for pretending to be a guest at two weddings in Phoenix, Arizona. He waltzed in and stole boxes of cards containing thousands of dollars in gifts before walking out. Unfortunately for Rankin, he didn’t consider his thefts would be caught on security cameras. To somehow make it worse for himself, when he was arrested for stealing, the police found illegal substances on Rankin. The former cop pleaded guilty to several charges and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, followed by three years of supervised probation.

In 2017, Darby Johns was attending a wedding at the Hammock Beach Parks Resort in Palm Coast, Florida. Everything seemed fine… except for one uninvited guest wearing a suspicious black wig. Shelby McDowell had channeled her inner James Bond to spy on Johns, her apparent partner. McDowell exploded in rage after seeing Johns smooch another woman. After soaking him with a drink, she then punched the other woman repeatedly. McDowell sought safety in the bathroom. The bridesmaids dragged her out and started wailing on her. Eventually, the cops arrived, and McDowell was arrested. However, to add a further twist to this messy tale, Johns stated he wasn’t dating McDowell and didn’t even kiss the woman.

One woman in Chongqing, China, ruined far more than one wedding. Potentially, she destroyed up to 32! In 2021, this Karen went into a bridal store to cancel a package worth $1,250. However, the store wasn’t going to give her the $550 deposit. After negotiating and seemingly accepting a deal to host a children’s party instead, the Karen had a change of heart in 2022. Armed with a pair of scissors, she went down the store’s rack of bridal gowns and cut into them as a member of staff recorded the destruction. Altogether, the cost of 32 dresses damaged was around $11,000. The woman reportedly offered the store compensation of around $4,700.

If there’s one emotion that Karens love to harbor into a massive problem, it’s jealousy. In 2023, a married couple was leaving a church in Bolivia. As they walked through a crowd of delighted guests, one person was there for nefarious reasons. Reported to be the husband's ex, she was holding a bucket. Rather than being filled with confetti, it contained excrement and oil. Yep. The Karen proceeded to throw her gross concoction at the couple, dousing this bride in the face and on her dress and ruining the groom’s military outfit. Even another guest was caught in the crossfire. After the incident went viral, the bride, likely after 52 showers, posted on social media that she hoped the Karen would leave them alone now.

In 2023, one of the messiest reception parties ever happened. In Newport, Rhode Island, police arrived at a venue after a guest, David Onik, was denied entry to a restaurant and tried to fight staff. When police spoke to him, it all went downhill fast when his wife fell over as a cop led her away. The furious guests attacked. One reportedly punted an officer in the groin, one tried to grab a cop’s firearm and was struck, and another punched an officer in the face, breaking their nose. It was mayhem. Even the cops were aggressive. In the end, six people were arrested, including Kylie Swain, the bride! So far, those arrested have been handed varying sentences of probation, fines, and community service.

In 2023, before Nancy Lizeth Rodriguez Guadarrama could walk from her car to the church to marry her husband, Clemente Mendiola Martinez, the cops swarmed in and slapped ‘cuffs on her in Villa Guerrero, Mexico. During the drama, Martinez managed to escape. Yet, Guadarrama isn’t a typical Karen but an organized one. As part of the Familia Michoacana crime group, the pair were believed to be involved in extorting chicken merchants and kidnappings. Martinez, who was suspected to also be a hitman, was later found deceased in a car riddled with bullets by an unknown assailant. In 2024, Guadarrama was found guilty of her involvement in a violent robbery and was sentenced to eleven years and six months in jail.

Since 2019, weddings across Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama have lived in a state of fear. At any time, Sandra Lynn Henson could arrive, pretend to be a guest, and then rob other people and gifts before vanishing. She even stole money being raised for a bride’s daughter with disabilities. In 2021, after several run-ins with the law, she was sentenced to five years. However, in 2023, Henson was out on probation. Dubbed the “mid-South wedding crasher,” she was arrested for stealing from another wedding in Mississippi. Henson was sentenced to 31 months in jail, fined $12,500, and had to pay restitution to two couples she stole from. However, due to medical issues, most of her sentence was suspended. In 2024, Henson passed away.

What other special events have Karens ruined that we should look at next? Birthdays? Funerals? Christmas? Graduation? Or something else? Let us know below!