Weddings get canceled for plenty of different reasons. This year, many events couldn't have gone on safely due to the crisis. Other times, brides might find out something about their groom that causes them to change their minds.
But sometimes the reason for a canceled wedding is tragic. And that's exactly what happened to Justin Montney. Justin and his fiancée, Alexis-Athena Wyatt, were getting ready to get hitched in Colorado Springs in May 2020. Even though many May brides have rescheduled, Alexis-Athena never had the opportunity. She was tragically killed in a car crash in February 2020.
She was driving a Honda Fit at the time when she lost control of her vehicle due to icy road conditions. Due to the weather, she drifted into oncoming traffic and was unfortunately struck by a semi-trailer.
"She loved her family more than anything else," Justin said to KRDO, which reported on the incident. The two got to know each other at a Christian Bible study retreat, where they fell in love. "She was just kind and gentle and really amazing."
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While many of their wedding vendors were understanding, one company took a more aggressive stance. And that was the company where they booked their videographer, Copper Stallion Media.
The wedding industry can be a little difficult — and also very expensive. A lot of deposits are made, and bills add up. Canceling a wedding can often be very expensive. So it makes sense as to why Justin tried to get some of his money back after his fiancée died. That said, plenty of contracts state that deposits are nonrefundable.
This is because many companies could have booked that date with another couple, and cancellations cause them to lose money if they can't book another client. Creatives usually get paid by the gig, meaning that if a couple pulls out at the last moment, it's a big check that the videographers won't end up seeing. So the deposit is often seen as a safeguard.
That said, it does make sense as to why a company would refuse to give refund. However, the next steps this particular company took were simply heartbreaking. Obviously, an incident nobody could have expected was the reason why the event was called off. The pair would have gotten married — even with a rescheduling — had the bride not died.
The amount of the deposit was $1,800. The company flat-out refused to answer Justin's emails at first, according to BuzzFeed News. But it did make contact after seeing a review that Alexis-Athena's mom posted on The Knot. For those in the wedding industry, it's very important to score well on such a popular site.
At that time, the company threatened to sue both sides of the family. Justin then took his story to KRDO, which was obviously familiar with what happened. After seeing that story published, Copper Stallion Media let it all out, publicly mocking Justin on social media. The response was immature, and the comments were very hurtful. And it kept getting worse.
Screenshots taken of Copper Stallion Media's Facebook post say, "we hope you sob and cry all day for what would have been your wedding day. Sorry, not sorry." Chances are Justin will — but probably based on his tragic loss and not his lost videographer deposit. Copper Stallion really rubbed salt in the wound.
"At first I was just going to tell friends and family, but when he started to threaten Alexis's family with a lawsuit for basically their daughter dying, that's when I was like, OK, I'm going to start going to the people who … spread the news," Justin said during a live video interview, per BuzzFeed News. "The rest of the internet said, 'Oh, that's terrible.'"
But that wasn't all. The company also bought the domain of JustinMontney.com, which currently leads to a video of the song "Disillusioned" by the band A Perfect Circle. Copper Stallion also appears to have bought JustinMontneyWedding.com, which leads to the same page. Earlier, according to screenshots obtained by BuzzFeed, its content was a bit more vile. "We replied and expressed our sympathy and explained to him that all of our wedding contracts are non-refundable," Copper Stallion wrote. "He kept emailing us trying to get a refund and we kept reiterating that the contract is non-refundable."
Buying the URL is more or less harassment. Just imagine if someone you weren't fond of snatched up domains made up of your name, which would eventually pop up on Google. It could truly affect any future jobs or relationships you have, especially since using Google to look people up is a fairly common practice.
Of course, when Justin's comment went out, the company was bombarded with bad reviews on Yelp. Most of the reviews didn't even use its services, but the reviewers just wanted to stand up for Justin during such a raw time. But this elevated the dispute to war. The dispute became something completely different. Eventually, the company reportedly changed its name on Yelp to "Justin Montney."
"It is not right that people can go online and trash a company," it reportedly wrote. "The contract was non-refundable. We will NEVER refund Justin Montney even with the online threats and harassment. If we knew he was going to shake us down, we would have charged a higher deposit."
It seems cold, but at the same time, this is why contracts are in place. While Justin didn't foresee the wedding being canceled for any reason, it's a risk he took while signing it. The company, however, couldn't have been more heartless. It had a right to stand by its policy, but attacking a client, especially one who suffered such a tragic loss, doesn't really make the company look appealing to other potential clients.
This is one of the risks of being a company that gets most of its work through the internet. One client's bad experience can live forever in an online review. But adding fuel to the fire often doesn't help matters. With the number of videographers out there, future brides and grooms may quickly choose another company to avoid any negativity.
"[The company's owner] is trying to stir up a ruckus and defame my name, but obviously he doesn’t have any ground to stand on," Justin said, in regard to how everything blew up. "He kind of made his own smear campaign." Meanwhile, a reported message on Copper Stallion Media's Facebook page, prior to it being taken down, said that a staff member had killed themselves since this story was exposed, claiming that bullying online is very real. The death hasn't been verified, and one report suggested that the employee had actually died two years earlier. Recent reports have brought up additional unsavory details and possible legal entanglements regarding the ownership of the company.
