Wedding Horror Stories: When Elvis Shows Up Drunk and Fashionably Late

Ah, weddings! The day filled with love, joy, and—sometimes—unexpected surprises. Like the time a bride and groom decided to spice up their evening with an Elvis impersonator as a special surprise for their guests. Sounds fun, right? We had everything planned, timeline confirmed, and vendors lined up. Everyone knew their role, including "Elvis." Or so we thought.

As the night wore on, the moment for the grand Elvis entrance was quickly approaching, but there was one small problem: we hadn’t seen or heard from “Elvis” at all. Just 5 minutes before his scheduled performance time, we get a phone call. Turns out, he had passed the exit for the venue. No biggie, we figured—it would only set us back about 10 minutes, and we could keep the evening moving smoothly in the meantime.

But then 20 minutes passed. Still no Elvis. At this point, we tried calling the performer, but he wasn’t answering. So, I took it upon myself to stand watch by the door, eagerly waiting to spot any headlights coming down the driveway. Time kept ticking, and now we were getting dangerously close to the last few songs of the evening. No Elvis. Still no response.

Finally, I had to break the news to the bride and groom: "Hey, you might want to contact your performer for a refund before you head off on your honeymoon because if he shows up now, we’re going to run over our rental time with the venue, and you'll get charged."

It was then that I learned the real kicker—Elvis was also their getaway car, and you guessed it, it was a pink Cadillac! Now we had a whole new problem: getting the bride and groom back to their hotel, all while figuring out who among the guests or family members was sober enough to drive them.

Just when we thought we might finally have a handle on things, we see dust and headlights flying down the venue driveway, and I kid you not, it was like something straight out of a movie. Elvis rolls up in his pink Cadillac, casually steps out of the car in full Elvis regalia, taking his sweet time like he wasn’t an hour and a half late to the party. At this point, I could either laugh, shake my head, or possibly smack him with my clipboard. I chose to channel my inner patience…barely.

As “Elvis” sashayed into the venue (because of course, he did), my assistant and I quickly realized the real reason for his delay: Elvis was drunk. Yes, you heard that right. The getaway driver was intoxicated! I might have actually hit myself in the head with my clipboard in disbelief.

Despite the, uh, less-than-ideal situation, Elvis did his performance—well, technically, the last song of the night because he was so late—and we made sure to get a few photos of the bride and groom in the Cadillac. But there was one thing we made clear to the photographer: under no circumstances were they to actually drive away in that car.

While they posed for photos, we quietly alerted security, because, let’s be honest, we had a feeling “Elvis” might end up performing a rendition of Jailhouse Rock later that evening… after the guests had all gone home.

Moral of the story? Weddings are unpredictable, and while surprises can be fun, maybe—just maybe—double-check the professional qualifications of your performers, especially if they’re doubling as your getaway car driver!

Stay tuned for more Wedding Horror Stories this month, and if you’ve got a tale of your own, we’d love to hear it. Contact us here.