There’s a War Being Waged Over the American Wedding

This fall, Alfred Angelo Bridal held a big sale at its warehouse in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The boutique wasn’t courting brides-to-be however—individual gowns couldn’t be purchased, though they were available in bulk. The top seller that day wasn’t even a dress; it was the store’s 2008 Ford Cargo Van, which went for $5,300.

This particular sale was a bankruptcy auction. Alfred Angelo, which once handled a well-respected corner of the U.S. wedding industry, filed for liquidation in July. Overnight, customers found their orders unfulfilled, leaving brides scrambling to find dresses in time for weddings that in some cases had to be called off. The good news for Alfred Angelo was that it managed to raise about $250,000 to pay off creditors. The bad news was that its largest lender, a Connecticut asset management firm, had extended it $54 million.