Bridesmaid Sues Bride

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - If you think always being the bridesmaid never the bride hurts your feelings, how about your pocketbook!

A woman posted an ad on Craigslist offering to be a professional bridesmaid. After she was asked to take part in four different weddings, she now knows the commitment it takes to make plans for a shower, to deal with the loony maid of honor, and to hold up the bride's dress - so she's offering her services for a fee to any bride who is in need of an additional bridal party member.

But, if you've agreed to be a bridesmaid out of the goodness of your heart only to have the bride kick you out of the wedding party before the nuptials, can you sue? Legally, maybe.

There's no formal contract - if you agree to buy the dress, I agree that you can walk down the aisle and embarrass yourself when I toss my flowers at you - but if the bride made a promise: I'll let you bask in my glow, and in reliance on that, you spend real money to buy an ugly dress, there's a legal claim called detrimental reliance that you could conceivably make.

On the other hand, a judge or jury of her peers who thinks you'd ruin her wedding might not care what the letter of the law says.

And, whether you want to deal with the lifelong consequences of suing someone who was once your friend or may still be your relative is something that will haunt you from this day forward.