Josh and Katie met in college. It was an instant connection and they were very in love. They dated for 4 years. The year after they graduated from college Josh asked Katie to marry him in front of her entire family at Christmas dinner. She was ecstatic and immediately wanted to start planning the wedding.
When Katie and Josh spoke about what kind of wedding they wanted, Josh told her that his preference was for a small, more intimate affair. Katie initially agreed but after her mom got involved in the planning things got out of control. She treated the wedding planning like a full time job (in addition to her day job). Every weekend was spent with her mom shopping wedding venues and vendors. The guest quickly grew to over 200 people. Josh accepted this because her parents said they would pay for the wedding.
Two months prior to the wedding Katie informed Josh that her parents had reached their wedding budget and that she and Josh would need to chip in for the flowers and the band. The remaining amount owed was almost $10,000. Josh was upset but not wanting to upset his new in-laws he reluctantly gave Katie his credit card to cover the remaining amounts due to vendors.
Around the same time Josh’s friends had planned a bachelor party in Las Vegas. He left for Vegas feeling angry at Katie for not respecting his wishes regarding the wedding expenses. He was upset that they would be starting their marriage in debt.
The party in Vegas quickly got out of control. He and his friends started hanging out with a group of girls from a bachelorette party. Everyone was drinking heavily by the pool. One thing led to another and Josh found himself alone with one of the girls. They started kissing, but he stopped himself before anything more serious happened. He felt horribly guilty but after talking it over with his best friend (the best man at his wedding) he made the decision not to tell Katie since it was a harmless kiss and nothing more.
Josh returned from the bachelor party fully committed to his fiancé. Everything was fine. Four days before the wedding Katie got a call from her friend, who happens to be the girlfriend of Josh’s best man. Apparently Josh’s best man confided in his girlfriend regarding Josh’s mishap in Vegas and she felt obligated to let Katie know 4 days before the wedding.
Katie freaked out. She could not believe that Josh would stray. She cried. She told her parents. Her parents were angry at Josh. They called Josh’s parents. Josh’s parents were angry at him as well.
He begged for Katie’s forgiveness. She ultimately said she could forgive him and they proceeded to the wedding. Some of the guests knew about the incident at the wedding- which really embarrassed both Katie and Josh.
After the wedding Katie tried to forgive and forget, but the trust was completely gone. She feels betrayed and angry. She asked Josh for a divorce 2 weeks ago. And she also thinks he needs to pay for the $10K of credit card debt as well.
Jessica H. Anderson
Divorce Attorney Reno, NV
Listen to what John and Jessica have to say about Josh & Katie’s relationship woes and Legal Brief #3: Over Before it Began on iTunes.