The unraveling began following the weekend of Aug. 29, when Vancouver bride Iris Chow received a sudden cancellation notice. Chow had booked more than a year in advance for Watt and two of her team members to do hair and makeup for her bridal party
Chow was shocked to receive an email from Watt just 16 hours before her wedding, saying she had a medical emergency and assigning a replacement artist.
"That is one of the biggest days of your life. It's a wedding, we don't get to do that again, hopefully," Chow told CBC News.
Allegations of triple-booking
When Chow met her replacement artist, Mikaela Bree Peterson, Peterson informed her Watt had actually recruited her four days earlier.
Chow later found social media posts tagging Watt's agency at a wedding at Sun Peaks, near Kamloops, that same day.
Meanwhile, another bride, Amelia Henderson, received the same emergency cancellation email from Watt the day before her Aug 29 wedding near Vernon. Henderson confirmed to CBC News her replacement artist was also booked in advance.
Believing the emergencies were staged to cover a triple-booking, Peterson posted a series of videos online detailing the experience under the hashtag #BridalGate, triggering a flood of similar accounts.
"As soon as I posted that first video, the traction was quick," Peterson said. "I had to turn my phone off... I probably had at least 40 or 50 people [messaging me]."
Mikaela Bree Peterson's series of #Bridalgate videos have received more than 500,000 views since early September. (Mikaela Bree Peterson)
CBC News spoke to a dozen couples and contractors who described similar patterns of sudden cancellations, unfulfilled contracts and delayed refunds. Documents shared with CBC News include contracts, correspondence with Watt and financial records.
Scrambling to find new vendors
The agency's sudden closure sent Kelowna groom Mike Johnson and his fiancée scrambling weeks before their late-September wedding.
"Having to completely go back to the drawing board trying to find a makeup artist and hair stylist available within two weeks ... has been absolutely challenging," Johnson said.
Other clients reported older financial disputes. Nicole McCarthy spent nearly a year fighting to recover nearly $5,500 paid for a destination wedding in Cancun after cancelling her contract over mounting red flags.
"When I saw the artists she was going to send, I was mortified," McCarthy said. "It was not anything like the makeup and hair that she portrays."
Cassidy Watt, seen in her LinkedIn profile, announced the closure of her bridal beauty agency following multiple social media posts from brides and contractors sharing experiences of her agency. (Cassidy Watt/LinkedIn)
While couples fought for refunds, contracted artists were also left chasing tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid fees and expenses.
According to multiple long-term collaborators, artists covering destination weddings abroad were asked to pay upfront for flights, hotels and travel costs. Contractors said they spent years hounding Watt for reimbursements, and were forced to carry business debts on personal credit cards.
Contracted artists seeking backpay
Mia Johnson — who is not related to Mike Johnson or makeup artist Kam Johnson, who is also quoted in this story — said she is still owed $32,000 in back pay for completed work.
"Every time I followed up, it was always the exact same thing, 'I just have to get through XYZ," Mia Johnson said. "She created a plan to pay me $1,250 a month starting in June, but I haven't seen a dime."
Beyond financial losses, artists told CBC News their association with the agency has damaged their reputations.
They claim Watt continued advertising wedding services under their names after they had stopped working for her, resulting in angry clients when replacements showed up or no one arrived at all.
"The harm that has caused to our own businesses is horrific," said makeup artist Kam Johnson. "It's so unfair that we devoted so much of our time and so much of our work for her... just for her to turn around and do that to us."
CBC News reached out to Watt repeatedly by email and phone to ask specific questions about the allegations.
Cassidy Watt announced on her now closed Instagram page that she is closing her agency, citing health issues. (Cassidy Watt Artistry Collective/Instagram)
In a statement, Watt cited "a significant health challenge" for closing her business and wrote that she is "processing refunds daily."
Some of the people CBC News spoke to, including Mike Johnson and Nicole McCarthy, said they received the money Watt owed them by e-transfer this week, after the agency closed.
Others, like Mia Johnson, said they have not been paid.
The fallout extends to couples who have booked into 2027, including an Edmonton bride owed a $2,200 deposit for her wedding next year.
With the agency's website offline and social media accounts deactivated, affected couples and artists have formed online support groups, compiling receipts and preparing legal filings through small claims court.
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I wonder who Cassidy is getting the money to reimburse her clients. Maybe it is from the MLA for Kamloops who is her father-in-law.
Re her apology letter. It was done by a professional as Cassidy cannot even write.