Dream wedding draws a blank after groom's cousin shoots guest

Anna Goldshmidt married Elan Stratiyevsky at the Waldorf but became hysterical when the reception was called off.

Anna Goldshmidt's wedding was meant to be the talk of the town.

Beneath a canopy of white flowers in the art deco Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, 350 guests assembled to watch the jewel-adorned bride in her strapless gown marry financier Elan Stratiyevsky in a traditional Jewish ceremony.

But Goldshmidt was unaware that, during the cocktail reception on June 13, her groom's cousin had shot a guest - firing his Ruger 9mm pistol by accident, and grazing the head of 55-year-old Maya Rafailovich, who was taken to hospital. The ceremony went ahead but afterwards the management of the Park Avenue hotel called the US$750,000 ($1.2 million) reception off, saying that they feared for the safety of the guests.

Goldshmidt, police sources said, was hysterical when told and "let out a blood curdling scream". She and her husband are suing Vladimir Gotlibovsky, the man who fired the gun, for US$750,000. But yesterday it was reported that Gotlibovsky in turn is suing the Waldorf Astoria, accusing them of overreacting by cancelling the reception. He argues that the Waldorf should pay at least half of what the court awards the couple, because the hotel unnecessarily cancelled the reception.

"He was not responsible for the cancellation of the wedding reception," said Christopher Chang, who is acting for Gotlibovsky, a Bronx liquor store owner. Gotlibovsky, 42, legally carried the gun and has not been charged with any offence. "The fact of the matter is after the firearm discharged, the hotel was secure and the reception could have gone forward."

A Waldorf Astoria spokesperson told the New York Post: "We certainly understand and appreciate Ms Goldshmidt's disappointment; however, the decision to cancel the reception was based on the paramount concerns of the safety and security of our guests and team members including the guests of her wedding."

Gotlibovsky had joined the guests downstairs, while the bride prepared in her suite above. A woman can be seen on hotel surveillance video passing by him just before the gun was discharged, and may have accidentally bumped into him, causing it to fire, sources said. The bullet tore a hole in Gotlibovsky's trousers and ricocheted off the marble floor. After the gun was fired, Gotlibovsky gave the gun to his brother, who took it out of the hotel.

"The guy's an idiot. It was during cocktail hour. It was just stupid that he brought it," a guest said.

And it was not the first time he had mistakenly fired his gun. On Christmas Eve 2014 he accidentally shot himself in the foot. But police still allowed him to carry a weapon, as he said he needed it for protection, due to his business.

Goldshmidt, apparently, remains seething. "Her dream wedding was cancelled and can never be recaptured," the law suit said. "There will never be a wedding album; what was to be the happiest day of her life turned into a disaster."