With dresses fitted, venues booked and invitations sent, three Israeli women describe the warning signs they ignored, the shame and financial cost of calling off their weddings, and whether they regret walking away“Everything began to unravel after we set the wedding date,” said Lian, 29, from Kfar Saba, whose real name has been withheld.“We signed the contract with the venue and walked back to the car hand in hand. Before we got in, I looked at him and said, ‘You should know that once we leave this place, the devil will come between us. There will be plenty of arguments before you put the ring on my finger under the chuppah. We have to stay strong.’Gallery'I was caught up in a fantasy. Every girl dreams of her wedding, and all my friends were already married with children' (Photo: Shutterstock)“He looked at me as though I was being ridiculous and said, ‘Come on, what are you talking about? We love each other. We’ll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?’ He was very naive. In the three months before the wedding, almost everything that could go wrong did.”Like the other women interviewed for this article, Lian decided to cancel her wedding while the countdown was already underway, the dress was ready, the venue had been booked and invitations had been sent to relatives and friends. For women who make that decision shortly before the big day, it can be one of the most destabilizing moments of their lives. Beyond heartbreak and disappointment, they may face social pressure, shame, embarrassment and financial consequences, all while confronting the question: Did I do the right thing?“We met a year earlier through a dating app for traditional Jews, and the connection was immediate,” Lian said. “We were both law students and felt completely in sync, with the same ambitions and the same dream of building a home together. The relationship became very intense. Three months in, we decided this was it and that we would get married. “My older sister was also engaged at the time and was uncomfortable with us planning our weddings at the same time. We wanted to marry before he began his internship, which left us only a few months to organize everything. We even booked the venue before he formally proposed. That was when the problems began.”What happened?