Remember That One Wedding That Was Actually a Huge Drug Sting?

If there’s ever a reason to not show up to a wedding, it’s the risk of being arrested. So if you’re planning a wedding and want to invite some of your favorite drug dealers, you should probably just send the save-the-date to someone else. After the Shiawasse County fake wedding in 1990, it’s unlikely they’re going to show up.

This week, The Atlantic ran a story on the fake wedding, which was actually a police sting to round up all the drug dealers in town and arrest them as quickly and efficiently as possible. The bride was wearing a gun and, according to reports, the band even mocked the guests with a song about losing to the law before the police identified themselves and began taking people away. It’s exactly like The Red Wedding, except no one died and also the food was probably better.

Here’s a description of what happened at the affair, via MLive:

“A few minutes after 8:20 p.m., the band finished a lively rendition of the rock ‘n’ roll oldie, ‘I Fought the Law and the Law Won.’

A guest stood and asked police officers in the room to raise their hands. The rest, he announced, were under arrest.

The bride — Flint police Officer Debra Williams — lifted the hem of her white gown and pulled a .38-caliber handgun from a leg holster as the bridegroom — Lacy Brown — began helping police identify suspects.

The entire story is worth a read, especially because of how incredible the entire operation was. Not only did it take five months to get everything ready and convince the dealers that Williams and Brown were just a couple looking to make friends and score drugs, but it’s also an ingenious idea. Local police department doesn’t have the funds to go after every drug deal in the county on their own? Throw a fake wedding and get them all at the same time. Too bad it wouldn’t work today—social media would no doubt sink this thing before it set sail—because it could make one hell of a reality show.