First come the hearts and flowers, and then come theweddings–more than 3,000 every day in the U.S., with an averagecost of about $27,000, according to experts–but even the best planscan go awry. Hence the creation of the Wedding Protector Plan,announced today by Travelers.

The top wedding claims and problems typically include damage towedding attire, mishaps with event photography, cancellation due toillness or bereavement, and no-shows by contracted vendors.

“A wedding is a large investment both emotionally andfinancially,” Alan Tuvin, vice president of product management forTravelers, said in a statement. “There are a lot of moving parts toa wedding and things can go wrong. It is important to protect sucha significant financial investment.”

JoAnn Gregoli, wedding planner and owner of Elegant Occasions,Inc., in New York City–which has offices in Rome, Milan,Washington, D.C., Chicago and Philadelphia–said she knows from 20years of experience just how much can go wrong.

“We had a hurricane hit and we couldn't get down to Florida,”she said. “All the flowers were destroyed–$10,000 worth of flowerswere lying in trucks down in Miami.” Fortunately, however, thatwedding was covered, she added. “The invitations, everything.”Another client had to postpone a wedding because of family illness.Here again, wedding insurance covered everything, she said.

In another example, Ms. Gregoli said an elaborate cake beingflown from New York to Colorado arrived, “but it didn't make it inone piece. It was destroyed, and it was a very, very expensivewedding cake.” This time, she said, there was no insurance,although part of the loss was covered by the airline.

Several weddings in the Northeast have had to be cancelled overthe years because of nor'easters, she added. One wedding tookplace, but with only half the guests. “We had flowers, we had food,all of that, and we had to pay for it–and we only had 100 peoplefor a 200-person wedding.”

One of the worst examples, she said, was when a house burneddown just two weeks before the wedding. “The ironic thing is thatthe wedding was supposed to be at the house,” she said. Anotherlocation was found for the wedding, but the invitations had to beredone, arrangements were made again and all deposits werelost.

Ms. Gregoli said she now is a proponent of wedding insurance andeven requires it in some instances.

Travelers said its plan provides coverage for wedding costsranging from civil ceremonies to “large, over-the-top weddings,”and there is no deductible.

Other coverages include postponement for withdrawal of militaryleave; forfeited and lost deposits; extra expenses associated withspecial attire; transportation; photographs; and entertainmentexpenses.

Travelers also created www.AgentProtectMyWedding.com forconsumers. The site offers a risk quiz to help consumers determinehow much risk surrounds their wedding, plus examples of coveragesprovided.

Consumers can then use an online agent locator to find a nearbyTravelers independent agent to discuss purchasing protection. Aslong as the wedding is more than 14 days away, it's not too late,Travelers said. The Web site also offers an e-newsletter fornewlyweds, which covers topics from lifestyle to money managementtips, designed to help couples become in-synch with their lives asone.

The Wedding Protector Plan can cover events in the UnitedStates, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Bermuda,Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, the Caribbean Islands (excluding Cubaand Haiti) and cruise ships leaving from a port within thoseterritories (some restrictions apply).

For more information, agents can visitwww.AgentProtectMyWedding.com.