Seen At 11: Sometimes Your Walk Down The Aisle Isn't A Walk In The Park

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Couples spend months preparing for their wedding days, and for many people it is one of the biggest days of their lives.

But as CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco reported, not every trip down the aisle is a smooth one.

Brush fires, dock collapses, and smashed wedding cakes are just a few of the things that can make your big day a bad day.

While couples never plan for disasters, even the smallest problems can seem catastrophic.

Mother nature almost stopped Nicole and Chris Zarcone's Long Island wedding from even happening. Superstorm Sandy hit on Oct. 29, 2012, just in time to turn their dream day into a nightmare.

"He informed me that a hurricane was coming, and that's when I lost it," Nicole said.

The couple said 'I do' in the dark, in a church that was blocked by downed trees with no electricity or heat.

"We got married in candlelight at the church because they had no power," Nicole said.

A power outage at the reception hall sent the Zarcone's scrambling to find a back up location.

"It was unbelievable. It was almost unbearable," Chris said.

Christian Pascarella and his fiancee Stephanie Kutch know that feeling all too well. Their Brooklyn wedding venue suddenly went bankrupt and now the couple is out $17,000 with no place to get married.

"Words can't describe it. I try and not think about it," Pascarella said.

While most people don't think a wedding disaster will happen to them, experts say they should protect themselves.

"Weddings can be extremely expensive and they're very emotional and they're very important and so you want to at least  financially protect the money that you are putting aside for that wedding," explained Jeanne Salvator, Insurance Information Institute.

Salvatore said that for just a few hundred dollars wedding insurance can offer peace of mind.

"We're talking hundreds of dollars to protect tens of thousands of dollars worth of financial investment in a special event," she said.

While it costs more, some couples also find security in hiring a wedding planner whose job is to fix any disaster.

"Depending on the issue we have something in our back pocket, or somebody that we have a great relationship with that we can use as an alternative," wedding planner Amanda Savory of Bespoke explained.

While the Zarcones' wedding didn't go exactly as planned, they said that it was the 'happily ever after' that mattered the most.

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