Over 9.7 million people have watched a viral clip captioned “Wedding crashers: a story with alcoholism, gaslighting, and a magician” posted by @deconstruct_with_paige.
Newsweek spoke to Paige Hardy, 25, about the awkward moment a random woman pretended to be a relative before being escorted out by the sheriff.
Paige and her now husband Austin Brown, 28, from San Antonio, Texas, tied the knot on October 22. In 2022, there were 61.44 million married couples in the U.S. according to Statista.
Paige, a domestic violence instructional designer, told Newsweek: “Initially, I assumed it was just someone I didn’t know who my parents or my husband’s parents invited.”
The big day, photographed by Anthony Gauna, captured the wedding crashers on camera. Paige has pieced together the photos to show TikTokers who turned up without an invite.
During the three-minute clip that has racked up 1.5 million likes, Paige tells other users she got hitched at the Poco Loco ranch in Boerne, Texas.
There were 200 guests at the wedding but Paige immediately noticed the random pair of people due to the lady’s alleged drunken behavior.
“I saw her grinding on our bridal party, I was concerned. There were 10 to 15 of my closest friends on the dance floor and a random woman in jeans drunkenly stumbling,” she told Newsweek.
She explained the woman congratulated the newlyweds and Paige spent 30 minutes trying to figure out who the woman is.
After speaking to her parents and in-laws, the bride went over to the woman to delve a little deeper.
Paige told TikTokers the stranger put her hand on Austin’s arm and said: “This is such an incredible girl and I want you to know if you hurt her, we will come after you.”
Those words helped solve the mystery, as Paige knows nobody would ever say that to him after everything the couple has been through.
“My husband is an incredible man. He has sat by my bedside through three surgeries, he supported me when I moved to London for my Master’s degree, and he continues to show me every day how kind and compassionate he is. No one who has ever met Austin would even think of threatening him, because they know he would never hurt me,” she told Newsweek.
Following this conversation, Paige’s wedding planner asked the couple who they are and it turns out they were neighbours. Following this conversation, Paige took a break from the wedding crasher fiasco to watch a trick performed by a magician she had hired. She was joined by the woman who picked a card from him.
But they didn’t get to see the end of the trick as the bride’s mom and sheriff walked over and turfed the wedding crashers out of the party.
She told Newsweek: “It was pretty funny to me. As they walked out, she screamed at a random guest, “You’ll pay for this!”
“It wasn’t awkward, we all just laughed. She was a drunken mess. Plus, having the best man and the magician chase after her for a magic card was the cherry on top of a ridiculous experience.
“I honestly would have let her stay if she hadn’t pretended to know me. And she definitely could have stayed if she wasn’t making everyone uncomfortable.”
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