Accidental Invitee Going To Bachelor Party Of A Stranger After Launching GoFundMe Campaign

Phoenix area man Will Novak will be attending the bachelor party of a stranger in Vermont after raising travel funds on GoFundMe.

Last Monday, Novak received an email with the subject line, “URGENT INFO: Angelo’s bachelor party.” Novak didn’t know anyone named Angelo, thought that the email was likely spam or possibly a phishing scam, and was about to delete it before curiosity got the better of him, according to AZ Family.

The email was a group email involving members of the planned bachelor party for their friend Angelo at a Vermont ski resort. One of Angelo’s friends is also named Will Novak, and the intended Novak’s email address varied from that of his Arizona namesake by only one letter. A fortuitous typo delivered the email to the wrong inbox.

Phoenix man to attend stranger's bachelor party in Vermont after accidental invitation https://t.co/NOnnZmOwio #KMOV pic.twitter.com/uHolfhjws2

— KMOV (@KMOV) January 13, 2019

Though the invitation was clearly a mistake, Novak responded with an over-the-top reply:

All,

I do not know who Angelo is. I am a Will Novak who lives in Arizona. Vermont seems like a very far way for me to travel for the bachelor party of a guy I’ve never met.

That being said: (expletive deleted) count me in! From the contents of this email, Angelo sounds tremendous and I want to help send him off in style. I hope his bride (or groom) to be, is awesome.

I should note that being a desert dweller, I’ve only been skiing once and I was real bad at it. I hope you all are patient with me on the slopes. In exchange for said patience, I can bring my sweet Nintendo Switch so we can play games in the cabin/chalet/whatever in the evenings. If Angelo isn’t into video games I’m happy to bring Sudoku puzzles or just Indian Leg Wrestle or whatever he likes.

I do find myself tripped up on what to wear. Clearly the direction of asking “What would Angelo wear?” is a good one. However, again, I do not know him. I once got a wrestling singlet worn by “Hacksaw” Jim Dugan after a WWF event I attended in 1989 (don’t ask how- that’s private), I can just wear that- though it may not be cold weather conducive.

Yours in partying,

– Will Novak

The one in Phoenix

The members of the bachelor party were clearly impressed because they responded to Novak’s message:

William Novak the one in Phoenix,

We all agree, we are all very excited to meet you. And you sound tremendous as well!

We agree that your timely response may have been one of (if not the best) responses to an e-mail that has ever been sent. And we insist on you coming, this would surely make Angelo’s day. We can pick you up from the airport. We will provide an outfit that fits though I would agree the wrestling outfit will do just fine. I am sure we can scavenge some money to help your cause and eliminate some cost for sure. Don’t worry about the video Games, but bring Sudoku puzzles (Angelo loves those), and yes we would prefer Indian Leg Wrestling…

If you don’t ski well you’re going to learn…

They followed up that message with another to let Novak know they were serious:

If you think we are kidding we are not. You better be coming…

Novak was eager to meet his new friends, but also cautious.

I should warn you, if you are all murderers and plan to harvest my kidneys – you will FAIL. I won 2 gold medals in Karate in 2nd grade and I am well trained in the deadly martial arts.

Novak attached to that note a 25-year-old picture of him in a karate uniform. The guys decided to use that photo to adorn the back of the official bachelor party T-shirts.

Novak had a problem, however. Even though the guys had offered to pitch in, Novak would still have to spend about $750 to attend the bachelor party. A new father who had just finished paying for a home remodel, Novak didn’t feel good about spending that money on a whim. His friends offered him a solution: GoFundMe.

Novak set up a GoFundMe page, and within two hours, he not only had collected the necessary $750 but ended up with about $2,700. Novak is going to donate the excess to Angelo’s honeymoon fund and has promised to post pictures of this past weekend’s bachelor party on the page.

“My wife couldn’t be happier to be rid of me for a weekend, and she doesn’t have to pay for it,” Novak in Phoenix said. “What a dream. It’s every wife’s dream!”

“We’ll have to have a duel to see who’s the better Will, I guess,” Bill in Vermont said.