- We suppose this is one way to throw a party that people will remember for years to come.
A wedding is supposed to be a special occasion for the bride and groom. As such, it’s not that weird for them to include something from their lives — like hobbies or other interests — in the reception.
But you probably shouldn’t share your love for psychoactive substances with the guests. And you definitely shouldn’t do it without asking them first.
However, a bride and a caterer from Florida (of course this happened in Florida) clearly didn’t get that memo. The two are facing felony charges for lacing the food served at a wedding with copious amounts of weed.
According to the WESH news station, the event was proceeding just fine until multiple guests started feeling odd and strangely sick. Some of the guests who had themselves imbibed recognized their symptoms — they were stoned.
Others who had no experience with weed, however, didn’t exactly appreciate being drugged against their will. A few of them threw up and several thought they were about to drop dead.
But hey — at least nobody will forget about the wedding anytime soon.
‘We Were High as a Kite’
The wedding — or should we say weed-ing — took place in Longwood, Florida, on February 19. Miranda Cady had arrived to see her friend, Danya “Shea” Svoboda, get married.
“I always respected her energy, her vibrance, her enthusiasm, and was really excited to celebrate with her,” Cady told WESH.
Everything had gone well, and when the catering service rolled out the food, the guests ate it with gusto. The spread included meatballs, lasagna, Caesar salad, bread with herb dip… You know, the usual.
But soon after, things took a turn for the weird. Many guests started experiencing bizarre, unexplainable symptoms.
One of them, Jeffrey Belmont, told The Washington Post that he sampled much of the food that was served. All of a sudden, he reported that he started feeling weirdly tingly and fidgety.
Many guests thought they were having some kind of a medical incident. Others, however, figured out what was going on.
Cady said that one of her friends started getting suspicious about what they were experiencing.
“He’s like, ‘Are we stoned right now?’ And everyone was just kind of looking around each other laughing and we absolutely were,” Cady recalled.
“We were high as a kite, out of our minds.”
‘Crazy Thoughts’
But the sticky icky in the food must’ve been some extremely strong strain. Douglas Postma, uncle of the groom Andrew Svoboda, can attest to that.
According to his own words, Postma was no stranger to marijuana. Although he hadn’t partaken in the drug for years by the time of the wedding, he knew what it was like to be high.
But whatever the bride and caterer had slipped into the food didn’t feel like your usual weed, Postma claimed. He said that his heart started racing and he began to have “crazy thoughts.”
Cady confirms the weed’s bizarrely strong effects. According to her, she felt like she was about to have a heart attack.
“My heart was racing and before I went to bed that night, I actually slept in my car right on-site,” said Cady.
Other guests didn’t fare much better. According to police reports, they shared stories of being so high they couldn’t use their phones, and several went to the hospital because they thought they were dying.
‘Well, There’s Cannabis in the Food’
Naturally, many of the guests had questions. Postma asked his nephew what was going on, and Svoboda said he would look into it — apparently, he didn’t know about the stunt either.
Some guests, looking for water to try and clear their heads, told the caterers they were feeling strange. Reportedly, their response was a blunt: “Well, there’s cannabis in the food.”
Cady told The Washington Post that before the weirdness started, she actually saw the head caterer, Joycelyn Bryant, add a “green substance” into the food. Naturally, she thought Bryant was just adding some herbs into the dishes.
But once the weed kicked in, Cady approached Bryant, asking her if the food had been drugged. According to her, Bryant “giggled and shook her head ‘yes.’”
After that, Cady went to ask whether the bride was aware the caterer had added weed into the food. She, too, gave an affirmative.
A Gift to the Guests
The wedding-reception-gone-wrong finally ended around 9 p.m. That’s when the cops and first responders showed up.
The police took samples of the food to run tests on them. The tests, some of which took several weeks, showed that the dishes indeed contained THC — the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
Both Svoboda the Bride and Bryant have now been arrested. As recreational cannabis is illegal in Florida, the two are facing felony charges for possession of marijuana, culpable negligence, and reckless tampering.
We couldn’t find reports on any of the guests having any long-term issues, so we assume everybody was fine after they sobered up. But now, they’re left wondering why on Earth Svoboda decided to get everybody high at her wedding.
“I don’t know why, I think that is the biggest question on all of our minds in speaking with some of the family members. We want an explanation,” Cady said.
Cady remembers that at the wedding, Svoboda was acting like she had given her guests a “gift.” And maybe she did have good intentions, but for Pete’s sake — don’t feed people drugs without telling them.