A wedding crasher is someone who attends a wedding uninvited. Unlike the 2005 film which takes its name from the term, the objective of a crasher
may not be to “hook-up” and have sex with guests that were invited but to enjoy free food, cheap or
free alcohol, or the party atmosphere. Wedding crashers usually
don’t crash the actual wedding ceremony (bride and groom on the altar with a priest) because of the lack of social significance to them and to achieve the previously stated objectives of entertainment, so they’re usually found at the wedding dance, reception, and/or
dinner.
The nature of wedding crashers means they may cause trouble at weddings. Since they usually
don’t know the people getting married (or other people attending) there is no significance, concern, or respect for the wedding attendees. For example, a crasher may
get belligerently drunk and cause a ruckus at a wedding with no remorse since the people there
mean nothing to him or her. Wedding crashers are
difficult to keep out since receptions and dances tend to be large and most
don’t require an actual
paper invitation for proof. A small wedding where only family members are invited
maybe a situation where a crasher would be easily spotted.
In rural areas or smaller towns where an “everyone knows everyone” environment is prevalent because of small population, inadvertent wedding crashing may occur when people not invited to the wedding ceremony attend the reception or dance after because they have some sort of social tie with people at the wedding. An example would be the
person knows the bride and groom, who due to the fact
maybe a friend of them would have their presence permitted at the wedding despite being uninvited.
Wedding crashing may also occur with people who know people at the wedding but are not invited because of disputes with guests or even the bride and groom. An angry
ex-boyfriend may crash a wedding as a form of vengeance, for example.