Florida bride accused of lacing guests wedding food with weed

A US bride and her wedding caterer have been charged after allegedly lacing the reception food with marijuana — causing the event to spiral into mayhem.

A US bride and her wedding caterer have been charged after allegedly lacing food at the reception with marijuana — which, after being ingested by unsuspecting guests, caused the event to spiral into mayhem.

Attendees at the February nuptials of Danya Shea Glenny Svobada and her husband, Andrew Svobada, in Florida have recounted in court documents the feelings of “confusion, terror and stupor” they experienced after eating a weed-infused olive-oil dip, made by caterer Jocelyn Montrinice Bryant, as well as pasta and desserts.

“It all hit everyone pretty instantaneously,” one guest, Miranda Cady, told the Daily Mail.
“We were all fine and then we were all not.”

Ms Cady, who described the bride as someone with “a great energy and vivacious personality”, described the event as “pretty traumatic — emotionally traumatic”.

Bride Danya Shea Glenny Svobada. Picture: Seminole County Sheriff's Office

Caterer Joycelyn Montrinice Bryant. Picture: Seminole County Sheriff's Office

Artist Miranda Cady, who attended the February 19 wedding. Picture: WFTV

“To be violated this way from someone you like and trust is really hurtful. I didn’t have an option or say. Even if people avoided things like the olive oil, it was still in the bread, in the pasta,” she said.

The food “took forever” to arrive — but once it had and the plates had been cleared, Ms Cady said the energy in the room shifted.

“Everyone was sitting on the sidelines. That was kind of the first red flag. ‘What’s happening at this wedding?’” she recalled.

“Around that time, we started looking around and everyone’s giggling. Someone had said, ‘Are we stoned?’ Absolutely, we were out of our minds.”

Danya and Andrew Svobada during the ceremony. Picture: Miranda Cady

The wedding was held in Florida this February. Picture: Miranda Cady

The 38-year-old told WFTV that at one point — so high and anxiety-ridden she thought her heart was going to stop — she wrote a text to herself, “a message [for police] just in case I didn’t make it through the night”.

Another guest, according to court documents obtained by The Washington Post, took her elderly mother inside the venue for a glass of water, where she was told by a kitchen staff member that they didn’t have any water and was asked if it was her stomach that was bothering her.

When the daughter said it was, the staffer allegedly replied, “Well, there’s cannabis in the food.”

Other guests, according to the documents, recalled feeling “strange, tingly and fidgety”, and one “became dizzy and found herself on her hands and knees, vomiting up her dinner”.

The food “took forever” to arrive — but once it had and the plates had been cleared, Ms Cady said the energy in the room shifted. Picture: Miranda Cady

“Everyone was sitting on the sidelines. That was kind of the first red flag. ‘What’s happening at this wedding?’” she recalled.. Picture: Miranda Cady

One, who was taken to an emergency room as a result of eating the food, “became paranoid, loud and unruly, believing that one of her family members had died”, according to an affidavit.

According to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, at least eight of the estimated 50 guests were taken to hospital. None of the guests interviewed by authorities said they knew there would be marijuana in the food.

Both Ms Svobada, the bride, and Ms Bryant, the caterer, have been charged with food tampering and the delivery of marijuana, both crimes in the state of Florida, as well as negligence, a misdemeanour.

It’s still unclear why they decided to infuse the food with weed.

“I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt,” Ms Cady told the Daily Mail.

“But I really have no idea.”