A real estate developer who blew $2 million off an Aspen mountain wedding for his daughter used Roosevelt’s famous “day of infamy” description of Pearl Harbor to destroy the disastrous marriage.
Mogul Craig Spencer, 62, and his wife Barbara, 63, are suing Alchemy Concert Systems for its alleged role in the “horrific wedding nightmare” endured by his daughter Arielle Spencer, 33, and her husband Caleb Lodge.
Craig and Barbara, who live in a $14 million mansion in Philadelphia, labeled the March 2022 nuptials a “day that will end in infamy.” According to TMZArielle and Caleb have already broken up.
The Spencers’ sparkling words echo President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous remark after the Japanese attack on a Hawaiian naval base in 1941, which killed about 2,400 people, the majority of them American military personnel.
Real estate mogul Craig Spencer (left) spent a cool $2 million on a snowy mountain wedding for his daughter, but has now likened the day to Pearl Harbor
Arielle’s parents Craig and Barbara – who filed the lawsuit – are photographed on their daughter’s wedding day
Craig and Barbara were outraged that Alchemy’s alleged blunders caused a 12-piece band he flew in from LA to stop playing.
And Craig, who is CEO of the Arden Group’s real estate development fund, was further furious that the trouble interrupted a performance by rapper Nelly after delays snowballed over the course of the evening.
Footage shared on Instagram showed the rapper serenading the newlyweds with his 2002 hit Dilemma during his abbreviated set.
Spencer claims in legal documents that the pre-wedding Alchemy sound system malfunction led to a series of problems that “essentially ruined the wedding.”
Spencer and Lodge’s wedding ran into trouble when the sound system installed by Alchemy at the Little Nell resort was found to be faulty.
That forced celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss — whose past clients included Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, and Ellen DeGeneres — to push back the schedule.
Scroll through to the fifth image to see Nelly serenading the couple
The lavish wedding included a gondola ride, a 12-piece band flown in from Los Angeles, and a private performance from rapper Nelly (pictured left)
Arielle Spencer and Caleb Hodge, (pictured) who are reportedly already divorcing, will wed in March at the Little Nell resort in Aspen
Arielle is pictured second from left with her friends on her wedding day
The gorgeous bride is carried around the venue as part of her traditional Jewish wedding – but trouble was brewing behind the smile
Caleb and Arielle are skiing together in Colorado. TMZ reported earlier this year that they have already broken up, despite only getting married in March 2022
The pair are pictured together before their alleged split. News of impending divorce came just a year after their marriage
Weiss, who raised $100,000 to oversee the nuptials, moved the 5:30 p.m. gondola ride to Aspen Mountain back an hour, moving the 6:30 p.m. wedding to 7 p.m.
This had the knock-on effect of shortening the cocktail hour and moving the bride and groom entrance from 8:20 pm to 9:15 pm.
“When the bride and groom entered the reception, instead of the 12-piece band flown in from Los Angeles to perform for guests, there was no music other than a DJ playing music through a single, barely audible speaker.” , reads the lawsuit.
The band “fiddled around onstage, swearing and frustrated,” technicians tried to fix Alchemy’s equipment but failed, “making guests uncomfortable and uncomfortable.”
The delays also meant that dinner was delayed by an hour and that the food was cold “and the time between courses was severely shortened.”
Nelly then started his performance 50 minutes late and had to cut his set short because the events on the mountain had to end before 1am.
The Spencers are suing Alchemy, who they say paid $80,000, for breach of contract, negligence and unjust enrichment.
The couple are also suing Weiss, claiming she was overbooked and underprepared, which contributed to the disappointing day.
The Little Nell luxury resort in Aspen, Colorado describes itself as “Aspen’s only five-star, five-diamond hotel.”
The Spencers claim that delays and a malfunctioning sound system ruined the bridge and the groom’s entrance
The couple alleges that Weiss doubled their costs from the $1 million budgeted and only informed them of the additional costs shortly before the wedding
Battleships West Virginia and Tennessee burn after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941
The Spencers live in a $14 million mansion in suburban Philadelphia, pictured
They also claim that Weiss doubled their costs from the $1 million budgeted and only informed them of the additional costs shortly before the wedding, That reports TMZ.
The $1 million lawsuit against Weiss, which is separate from the Alchemy filing, alleges Weiss ruined the traditional Jewish ceremony of the hora.
That sees wedding guests lifting the bride, groom and their parents on chairs and bobbing them back and forth to traditional Jewish music.
The lawsuit alleges that Weiss was warned that the chairs in the reception area were far too heavy and should be replaced with lighter ones, but she chose not to follow this advice.
The hora was therefore shortened and the father of the bride was not allowed to participate.
A wedding registry for the couple includes a $1,315 Baccarat whiskey decanter, a $429.79 goose down comforter, a $1,299 Weber gas grill, and a $419.99 Viking casserole.