If you’re invited to a wedding, it’s considered proper etiquette to give the newlyweds a gift. A pair of strangers, who weren’t on the guest list at the couple’s nuptials in Virginia, even followed this protocol despite the fact that they crashed the celebration. In an interview with Newsweek, which was published on July 6, 2024, the bride’s brother, Ben Carroll, revealed that the two uninvited guests left a handwritten card, which they signed “Uncle David and Aunt Nancy,” with $11.54 in cash inside.
Carroll told the publication that some wedding guests noticed two strangers had showed up at the hotel, where the wedding was seemingly held, earlier in the day. The uninvited duo asked the guests questions about the event, but they never indicated that they were going to crash the affair. Sure enough, at some point during the celebration, the unknown couple made an appearance.
According to Carroll, he doesn’t suspect that the strangers stayed long or interacted much with the crowd. “I noticed the crashers at the time, only because they were being thrown out,” he recounted. “As I saw them being escorted from the bar to the door, I realized that I didn't recognize them. Nobody had any conversations with them that I know of at the wedding.”
Two days after the wedding, the newlyweds spotted an undisclosed gift, a card with the bills and coins inside. On Reddit’s subreddit “Mildly Interesting,” Carroll posted a photo of the monetary gift and the message, which read: “Cheers to a life filled with many special memories. We feel so blessed to have been witnesses to your beautiful wedding. We wish you all the best in life! Love, Uncle David and Aunt Nancy.”
Carroll said once the bride and groom read the card and saw the bills stuffed inside, they “instantly” knew the wedding crashers were responsible for the gift. To double check their suspicions, they asked their family if they had an unknown uncle or aunt. "They sent the photo that I eventually posted to our combined (bride and groom side) group chat,” Carroll said. “After some disbelief and extra confirmation there's no David or Nancy, the whole (newly joined) family was beside themselves with laughter."
On Reddit, the picture of the unusual gift gained 33,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments. Many suspected that the couple is an expert at crashing weddings. “Ok but the fact they HAD a wedding themed card on them insinuates they planned this &/or do this regularly,” a Redditor commented. Some were impressed that they gave the newlyweds anything at all. “They scored, but I give them credit for leaving something,” another wrote. Others shared similar tales of wedding crashers who showed up at their affair. “They rolled in, grabbed a drink at the open bar, signed out guestbook & took a goodie/snack bag with em,” someone shared.