News

Amélie Bérubé-Chanda is getting used to being the biggest downer at a bridal show.

As the Simcoe, Ont., office manager of Weddinguard, a Calgary-based insurance provider, she often spends weekends warning blissfully engaged couples about the potential pitfalls and payouts of saying 'I do.'

For rates beginning at about $100, the betrothed can now protect themselves against everything from lost rings and ruined photos to cancelled honeymoons.

"We say 'I'm sorry to scare you, but it happens all the time,' " said Ms. Bérubé-Chanda, whose company insures about 10,000 weddings a year across the country.

Wedding insurance is a growing industry in Canada, and throughout North America, as increasingly elaborate ceremonies mean there is more cash on the line - and more potential for things to go wrong.

The concept has gained prominence in the United States since hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast, and in some areas wedding planners now require their clients to take out coverage.

Romeo Lavarias readily agreed when his fiancée, Stephanie Goldstein, suggested insuring their July wedding.

The couple lives in the city of Miramar, Fla., which was hit by hurricane Wilma in 2005. Mr. Lavarias's job in emergency-management operations made him especially open to the idea.

"My job is to prepare our city in the event of a disaster, so naturally this is right up my alley," he said. "The number one reason [we bought insurance] was hurricane season."

Depending on the company and the type of coverage, a wedding policy in Canada can cost from $100 to more than $1,000.

The typical Canadian wedding now costs about $25,000, and Ms. Bérubé-Chanda said her company will reimburse the cost of everything from flowers to venue fees if something goes wrong.

When her company first started providing wedding insurance, Ms. Bérubé-Chanda said, the policies were usually taken by the parents of the bride, who put up the cost of the event. But now, more couples seem to be paying for their weddings - and their insurance - themselves.

Often, the couple will put a member of the bridal party in charge of setting up insurance, another responsibility to add to the bridesmaids' list of shower duties and dress fittings.

Ms. Bérubé-Chanda said the payouts for these can be considerable, especially if there is an injury involved.

Wedding halls and reception facilities will often make the couple take out event insurance as a way to divest themselves of responsibility should something go wrong.

In addition to nuptials, stag parties and "Buck and Doe" festivities carry risks of intoxicated guests causing damage to a venue, and are also insured by Weddinguard.

The company is also being contacted by a growing number of military families, who want to insure their weddings against unforeseen overseas postings.

Other clients have had their weddings ruined by bad weather, when snowstorms closed airports or floods knocked out roads, while some families have had their wedding gifts stolen from the reception hall.

In the United States, various insurance providers even pay for couple counselling if a cancelled or postponed wedding causes emotional stress, according to the Insurance Information Institute in New York.

A "change of heart" can also be protected in a special option from the U.S. company Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., which added the clause this month for a cost of about $25 on top of its standard wedding policy.

It's for those who pay for a wedding only to have the groom or bride back out, said insurance broker Rob Nuccio of RV Nuccio and Associates, who wrote the option.

"Oftentimes, there is an innocent person involved in that. There is the poor father who lays out 50 grand and he's just left dumbfounded," Mr. Nuccio said.

The clause is not part of Weddinguard coverage, which does not insure against cold feet.

"If you change your mind at he last minute, that's not our thing," Ms. Bérubé-Chanda said.

"But we do get a lot of phone calls inquiring about it."