was forced to arrive half an hour late after waiting for her bridesmaids' dresses to arrive.

Mrs. Christina Massarato is suing dressmaker, Mrs. Evernell Davis of Evernell's Fit and Finish, for distress and disappointment after Mrs. Davis failed to deliver four dresses on time before her wedding ceremony last year.

But Miss Nicole Stoneham, representing Mrs. Davis, said in her summing up speech in Magistrates' Court this week that it was not unusual for Bermudian brides to arrive as much as half an hour late for their weddings.

In arguing that only minimal damages be awarded to Mrs. Massarato, Miss Stoneham said the late arrival of the dresses did not "ruin'' the wedding as claimed by the defendant.

But Mr. Rod Attride-Stirling defending, said that Mrs. Massarato suffered considerable stress and disappointment on her wedding day for which she is suing Mrs. Davis for $10,000, the maximum amount allowed under law in Magistrates' Court.

"On what should have been a day of private reflection and public joy, a day of special memories, it was not so for my client. Not only does she have unpleasant memories of that day, but of the unpleasant litigation that followed. There was clearly distress caused,'' said Mr. Attride-Stirling.

Mrs. Massarato is seeking damages after her wedding ceremony was cut short.

She claims that the dressmaker was given seven months to make the dresses which she had not begun just days before the wedding.

Mrs. Davis, who admitted that the dresses arrived late, said in an earlier hearing that no final decision was given on the design of the dress by the bride until a week before the wedding.

She claimed that she could not start work on the dresses until the largest bridesmaid had found a strapless bra to wear with the off-the-shoulder design.

Miss Nicole Stoneham representing the plaintiff, argued that Mrs. Davis had fulfilled her contract in making the dresses and was entitled to payment even though they arrived late.

But Mr. Attride-Stirling, said that Mrs. Davis was in breach of her contract with the bride to deliver the dresses on time and had no right to the outstanding $900 due on the dresses.

Senior Magistrate, the Wor. William Francis said that he would contact both parties once he had made his final judgment on the case.