FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – One woman waited months for her dress. Another moved across the country after buying hers, all while trying to stay in contact with the boutique for the status of her wedding dress. A man brought in his late mother’s 1964 wedding gown hoping to preserve it after his grandmother died.

That’s just a fraction of the stories behind the complaints against I Do Bridal- also known as Mor Bridal, LLC- and the boutique’s owner, Tesia Lapp. Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a suit against the defendants, the bridal company and its owner, who allegedly engaged in deceptive practices that left dozens of brides without dresses before their special days, court documents show.

The attorney general’s office filed the suit on Aug. 3 and received 35 total complaints as of Wednesday morning. The boutique on Coldwater Road promised gowns, bridal wear, dry cleaning, and preservation services for customers– promises the defendants failed to keep, Rokita’s lawsuit said.

Rokita’s office also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Lapp that would bar her from liquidating, selling, transferring, or dispensing any gowns or bridal wear or even the company’s assets and business accounts.

The injunction would also keep her from destroying or disposing of any business records.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring the defendants from the bridal services industry until the state obtains a $75,000 surety bond. The state also seeks customer restitution, listing the names of dozens of customers and the amounts owed– ranging from $250 to $2,600 each.

Wendy’s Bridal merged with I Do Bridal in September 2022, court documents said. Lapp was also sued by Coliseum Shoppes in July for failure to pay rent while running Wendy’s Bridal.

The lawsuit against I Do Bridal claims victims made payments, sometimes over $2,000 before the boutique would even place the orders or pay the designers despite telling customers the orders had been shipped.

“When the estimated delivery dates passed and consumers asked repeatedly for updates on delivery dates, Defendants would often provide different, later delivery dates which resulted in consumers waiting months beyond their promised delivery dates if they received a dress at all,” the lawsuit read.

WANE 15 reported Friday that Rokita visited I Do Bridal to investigate, taking inventory of what was inside and helping people get their dresses after consumer complaints poured in.

Many customers didn’t even find out the shop was closing until the announcement on social media on July 21.

“The last three years have brought a number of changes and obstacles in the wedding industry that we have been fighting to overcome, but ultimately could not,” the announcement read in part.

The attorney general’s office filed the suit on six counts including unfair, abusive, and deceptive acts; misrepresentations relating to consumer transactions; failure to deliver or complete; continuing to operate after being administratively dissolved; knowing violations of the deceptive consumer sales act, and incurable deceptive acts.

–WANE 15’s Jeff Wiehe contributed to this story