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Jilted Bride Sues Groom: $95K Over Cold Feet

By Laura Strachan, Esq. on January 03, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Little girls dream of their wedding day. The white dress, flowers everywhere and of course the diamond ring. But cold feet can do worse than ruin what is supposed to be their special day. It can also lead to a lawsuit. Such is the case for a jilted bride that sued her groom for $95,000 after he got cold feet on their big day.

Dominique Buttitta, an attorney, was informed by her ex-fiance four days before her wedding that there would be no wedding. His reasoning: he did not want to marry her. And now she believes he owes her for the amount of money that she put into the wedding including renting out the location, flowers, an orchestra and her non-returnable wedding dress.

The 225-person wedding already cost the jilted bride $95,942 according to the Chicago Tribune. In addition to the financial strain of the unperformed wedding, Buttitta also alleges severe emotional distress based on the fact that she had to inform the priest, family and friends that the wedding was called off.

The wedding lawsuit is more comprehensive than just wedding costs and uncomfortable conversations. Buttitta also alleges inappropriate bachelor party behavior as well as informing his friends that the wedding was canceled before informing her. Whether the groom should be responsible for paying back the entire cost of the wedding is debatable and will depend largely on cleverly-crafted arguments not based on being left at the altar but in how this is a legal issue as well as an emotional one that was breached by the groom.

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