By: Ayisha Lawrence, Wedding Industry Law Associate Author
Most of us have heard the phrase “Well behaved women seldom make history,” and in this case well behaved wedding guests don’t either. There have been numerous instances of wedding guests, most often family members of the bride or groom, misbehaving during the ceremony or reception. We’ll just talk about a few.
One bride’s father got so drunk during the reception, he decided to strip down naked and find somewhere to crash. A server let out what was described as a “hysterical scream” when she discovered the inebriated and naked man in the staff room. That poor bride.
At another wedding, the bride’s uncle was invited as a guest and hired as their photographer, but unfortunately failed at both. He had one too many drinks, fell through a wall, and also had no pictures because he loaded the film into the camera incorrectly.
I’m seeing a bit of a trend here. Maybe no more open bars?
The last story involves the groom’s mother, who boldly stood up and announced that the marriage between her son and new daughter-in-law will not last long (not quite sure if alcohol played a role in this one.) The bride says that she is still pissed about this, but very happily married 13 years later.
Weddings are supposed to be a joyous and memorable occasion, and with stories like these there’s no way you can forget the occasion.
So what’s the moral of the story?
As wedding vendors, how do you handle drunk, aggressive, or crazy wedding guests? From the get go, it is important that you make sure the client is contractually responsible for guest behavior. In your contract, lay out ground rules for guest harassment or interference. The client should acknowledge that he/she is responsible to stop certain offending conduct or suffer the consequences, like you will walk out of the event and terminate the contract.