VERGENNES, Vt. (AP) – The wedding’s off but the bride is still having a party.

Kyle Paxman has turned her would-be reception into a benefit after she learned six weeks before her wedding that her fiance was cheating on her.

“I’m really just trying to turn it around and make something positive out of it,” she said.

Paxman, 29, who grew up in Barre and now lives in San Diego, had planned to celebrate her nuptials today at the Basin Harbor Club on Lake Champlain. She was making the final plans for the big day, even had a designer dress, when she learned about her fiance on July 28.

She called off the 180-guest wedding and the four-year relationship. She and her mother canceled the band, photographer and florist, but learned they would not be reimbursed for the reception and block of rooms they had reserved. So they turned the reception into a benefit party for the Vermont Children’s Aid Society and CARE USA, an international relief organization that combats poverty by empowering women.

“We had a heartbroken daughter, a huge expense and no wedding happening,” said Patricia Carbee. Instead they sent out invitations to 125 women for drinks and a gourmet four-course dinner. In exchange, they hope the guests will make donations to the charities.

“We wanted to find a way to help her (Paxman) heal and help others at the same time,” said Carbee.

After the event she and her mother will head to Tahiti.

“I’m calling it: ‘Honeymoon with my mother,”‘ she said. “After all this I think we’ve earned it.”

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