Man arrested for crashing wedding of complete strangers: 'It's a great story'
A Florida wedding crasher was arrested just before a photographer snapped the bride and groom’s puzzlement over the mystery guest.
Mark Allen Saunderson, 37, of Land O’ Lakes sampled hors d’oeuvres, danced to music, and enjoyed an open bar at Grand Plaza Hotel in St. Pete Beach on Monday, while celebrating the marriage of Sadie and Adam Dajka — two total strangers.
While filming the Gainesville couple’s first dance as husband and wife to “What’s Mine is Yours” by country singer Kane Brown, photographer Val Ritter of VRVision Photography felt someone bump into her. “I turned around and this man was trying to dance up on me,” Ritter tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “He was moving his arms a lot and having fun.”
Ritter photographed him as she would any other guest, but then, she saw the bride and groom’s confused faces, which she caught with her camera.
Sadie tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she glimpsed Saunderson walking around earlier in the evening, but assumed he was a guest on her husband’s side of the family. During their dance, she heard her maid-of-honor gasp, “What are you doing?” and saw Saunderson dancing wildly.
“My husband and I looked at each other and both said, ‘I thought he was with you,’” Sadie, 29, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Then we laughed.”
Sadie’s father and two brothers ushered Saunderson out of the venue; however, the man snuck back into to the reception through the kitchen. “My mom is the feisty one and once she saw him, I knew it would be handled,” says Sadie.
The man was kicked out again and charged with disorderly conduct by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. According to Saunderson’s arrest affidavit sent to Yahoo Lifestyle, after he was escorted out of the Dajka wedding reception, he headed to the 11th floor and tried to join a second wedding party, reportedly playing a game of cat-and-mouse with hotel security. Police wrote in their report that Saunderson was shaky on his feet and had bloodshot eyes.
According to WFLA, Saunderson bailed out of jail on Tuesday morning.
Saunderson is not the only wedding crasher Ritter has photographed. “I’ve caught a few before,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “They always try to get in front of the camera.”
The Dajkas have no hard feelings toward Saunderson, however. “It’s a great story,” Sadie tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “He didn’t ruin our night and no one will forget our wedding.”
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