Craigslist Wedding Dress Scam

Leslie Ward said she tried to sell a wedding dress her daughter wore in a Miss North Carolina pageant on Craigslist for $300. She said a man contacted her wanting to surprise his soon-to-be bride with the bridal dress.

“He made me feel comfortable, made me feel like I was dealing with an individual who had morals and ethics about them and didn't suspect anything,” Ward said.

Ward said weeks went by before she heard from the buyer. When she did, she received a check for $1,950.

“I was to keep the $300 for my dress and an additional $100 for paying his driver, that would be coming by my husband’s business, where the check was delivered for him to pick up the dress,” Ward said.

Ward decided to ignore it; days later she got another email.

“He was very disappointed in the fact that I had not met with his driver, so to speak, given him his money, etc., and that he was going to be turning this over for FBI investigation,” Ward said.

Ward said the buyer told her she had four hours to contact him.

“I knew it was definitely a scam because he was trying to put pressure on me,” Ward said

Ward plans to report the scam to the New Bern Police Department, so that other people won't become victims.

Dressmaker Falls Through On Wedding Dresses For Brides

Planning a wedding can be one of the most nerve-racking times in a woman's life. So imagine how much of that stress intensifies when something falls through.
Three brides put down deposits with a designer for custom wedding gowns or bridesmaid's dresses. All three say it was downhill from there.
Ashley O'Dell dreams of the perfect wedding dress. She gets her inspiration thumbing through bridal magazines.
"It been very busy, and I'm either online looking at wedding blogs or I'm looking at wedding magazines," O'Dell said.
Karla Cornejo can only fantasize about the bridesmaid dresses she wanted her wedding party to wear.

"I wanted something the same color, same fabric, but that would suit their personalities; I wanted something unique," Cornejo said.
Both hired Danielle Pettee, also known as Danielle the Dressmaker, in March of last year.
Her website features her line of clothing being showcased on fashion runways. There are rave reviews about the San Francisco designer on Yelp.
O'Dell hired Pettee to design a wedding gown. Cornejo wanted her to make the brides maid dresses. Her bridesmaids flew in from as far as Dallas for the final fitting last August. But two weeks before the wedding, the dresses weren't done.
"We showed up and there were pieces of fabric on the floor and just cut up," Cornejo said.
It wasn't much better for O'Dell either. Four months after O'Dell paid the designer a deposit, the contract had yet to be signed, the fabric selected and no sketches of the dresses had been produced.
"I asked for the fabric money back and terminated or asked that we terminate our professional relationship," O'Dell said.
Joyce Scardina Becker is a wedding planner and president of Events of Distinction.
"Unfortunately, there are so many people that can go online to Yelp and give a comment and we don't know if those people are a part of the business owner," Scardina Becker said.
Two online resources she trusts are "Here Comes the Guide" and "Style Me Pretty." She thinks both do a good job vetting their recommendations.
"Most importantly, I'm going to ask for references; I want to make sure that they have happy brides, so I will ask for at minimum 10 bride's names, phone numbers and emails," Scardina Becker said.
O'Dell and Cornejo both contacted 7 On Your Side after being frustrated trying to get their deposits back.
"I had asked for the money at least, I don't know, countless times," O'Dell said.
"I didn't loan her the money, it was money I paid as a deposit to receive dresses and that wasn't fulfilled so I expected my money back," Cornejo said.
7 On Your Side called Pettee back in the fall. She backed out of an on camera interview after agreeing to do one. She told us by phone she simply doesn't have the money to pay everyone back promptly.
"She said that she didn't have the money, but the funny thing is that she went on a Vegas trip and went to New York Fashion Week," O'Dell said.
On July 30, Pettee posted on Facebook about shopping and going to a pool party in Las Vegas. On August 22, she posted, "Just booked my ticket to NYC for fashion week," which she now says was paid for by a sponsor.
She has since paid O'Dell back her $300 deposit in full after also being sued by her. Pettee says she offered to back out of the deal after she realized she didn't charge enough. O'Dell plans to get married in June wearing a gown she bought at a store.
Cornejo also ended up going to a retailer and had a beautiful Mexico wedding.
Cornejo has received $150 dollars of her $400 deposit. Pettee has accepted full responsibility for not making the dresses in time and is promising to pay her in full, as well as a third bride who is owed $200. And the dressmaker says she will no longer accept work designing anything for a wedding.

Is Lea Michele preparing to walk down the aisle?

 

Is Lea Michele preparing to walk down the aisle?
Not in real life, but on Monday the actress, 25, posted a photo of herself wearing a wedding gown surrounded by her costars in bridesmaid dresses, hinting at what could be to come on Glee's winter finale Tuesday night。
"In anticipation of tomorrow's very memorable episode, we took this photo," Michele Tweeted Monday, accompanied by the shot that looks like the poster for the hit movie Bridesmaids. "We call it GLEE-MAIDS."
Michele's character, Rachel Berry, and Cory Monteith's character, Finn Hudson, are engaged on the show, but there's no official word on whether an actual wedding – or perhaps just a dream sequence – takes place during the episode。
The photo includes Amber Riley, Vanessa Lengies, Jenna Ushkowitz, Heather Morris and Naya Rivera. Dianna Agron is presumably absent from the shot because her character, Quinn Fabray, disapproves of Rachel and Finn's plans to wed so young。