What to do when your wedding day is a nightmare

It’s finally here: the day you’ve been dreaming about since you were 6 years old. Only this is so not how you envisioned it.

Getting married isn’t always a bed of roses. In fact, for some unlucky couples it can be a day straight from hell that results in lawsuits against the florist, the caterer, the reception hall or the dressmaker, to name just a few.

Consider the following:

1. You ordered peach-colored roses for the reception and the florist delivered red ones instead.

Yes, you can sue if this happens. Last fall, a New York bride (who happens to be a lawyer) brought suit against her florist for $400,000 in damages after the hydrangeas she ordered were delivered in the wrong shade.

But will you win? Maybe. But if having a perfect event is your priority, then money isn’t the point.

What you want is a “clear and concise contract, with provisions for breaches,” says Lon Engel, a managing partner of Engel & Engel in Baltimore. This encourages businesses to do their work correctly in the first place; it also raises your chances of winning a lawsuit afterward.

2 . At the last minute, the reception hall you reserved went to a higher bidder.

The reception hall is crucial — without one, you’re looking at tailgating. There have been cases where a space was booked, only to be lost to someone offering more money.

Well, if it’s important to have a carefully crafted contract with the florist, then you certainly want one with the owner of the reception hall, right?

3.  Your fiancée leaves you at the altar.

If you’re waiting in the church and your beloved is MIA, chances are there’s going to be a battle over who pays for the champagne and wedding cake that was ordered but never touched. There’s no guarantee you can make the runaway bride pay for all the wedding expenses. Can you at least get the ring back?

“The ring is a gift,” says Engel. The would-have-been bride can keep it.

There was a time in Maryland when a man who had proposed could be held in breach of promise if he didn’t go through with a wedding, but those days are gone, Engel says. The state’s marital laws are no longer as bound to religion and the sanctity of marriage.

4.  When the minister asks if anyone objects to the union, one of the guests speaks up.

If an ex-boyfriend interrupts the ceremony to attack your reputation, you might be able to sue successfully for slander, Engel says — if what he says is untrue.

5.  Your betrothed wants you to sign a prenuptial agreement.

Drawing up a “prenup” is a sure-fire way of dragging lawyers into the “wedded-bliss” process, since both parties to the agreement must be represented by their own attorneys. Some people see them as unromantic. It’s up to the loving couple if they want to risk what they own going into a marriage.

“Love and law don’t always mix,” Engel says. Like contracts, “many prenups aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” he warns. They must be written with care.

6 . It’s the day after, and you both realize you’ve made the biggest mistake of your lives.

Britney Spears got an annulment. Can you?

“Annulments are rare and few,” Engel says. As with marital laws in general, the basis for them differs from state to state.   Don’t expect to get one as easily as a Hollywood celebrity might.

“It’s much easier to get married than divorced,” Engel points out. And annulments are much harder still. Don’t count on getting one in Maryland.