BREWERTON, N.Y. - Melissa Conarton planned her wedding reception for a year, hoping it would be a memorable event for her nearly 200 guests.

The reception, held July 31, 2015, did turn out to be memorable - but not in any way Conarton had ever planned.

On that sunny Saturday, the guests gathered at Arrowhead Lodge in the Oneida Shores Park near Brewerton for a reception.

Suddenly, one guest started vomiting, then another. Soon, scores of guests were getting sick, so many so that they couldn't make it to the bathroom or the bathrooms were full, Conarton said. It was not a pretty scene, the bride recalled.

"People vomiting, having diarrhea and fainting on the lawn and in the parking lot," Conarton said. "Ambulances came, and then they had to call for more ambulances."

At least nine ambulances rushed to the reception. Emergency personnel spread out tarps on the ground to triage the sick guests - everyone was crowded on the red tarp designated for the more-serious cases, Conarton remembered.

An estimated 100 people got sick - 22 were hospitalized, some overnight. Several of those stricken were children.

"It was like the apocalypse,'' Conarton said this week in an interview with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. "It was devastating - and surreal. We are still in shock from it."

Conarton, of LaFayette, has filed a lawsuit in Onondaga County Supreme Court against Doug Tarpinian, doing business as Holy Smoke BBQ and Catering of Earlville. She is represented by lawyer Thomas Cerio, who said damages are to be determined by the court.

Conarton said she wants to reimburse her guests for the co-pays which arose from their hospital bills, she said. Conarton, a veterinary rehabilitation specialist for companion animals, and her husband, Jesse Abbott, a Cortland police officer, said they don't want their guests to incur debt from their reception.

Court papers said guests fell ill due to food poisoning, and allege that it was due to the food provided by the caterer. The macaroni and cheese, the papers say, was "statistically significant for staphylococcus aureus."

The lawsuit alleges the caterer "served food unfit for human consumption," did not take the temperature of food and then did not provide food samples for testing in a timely manner.

Matthew E. Whritenour, lawyer for the caterer, declined comment saying this is an active case. He referred to the court papers for his client's response.

In October 2015, the state Health Department said its lab tested samples from sick individuals who attended the reception and the results came back positive for staph aureus enterotoxin infection, a type of food poisoning.

The illness is caused by eating foods contaminated with toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria.

State Health Department officials said it did not recover any food from the event and the investigation was not able to identify the food that was the source of the illness. State officials, who did not identify the caterer, said the food came from multiple sources.

Holy Smoke denies it is to blame for the food poisoning, according to court papers filed by the restaurant. The caterer alleges "contributory negligence" and says that "some or all of the damages were caused by third parties who bought food, beverages, ice and other items to the wedding."

Melissa Conarton and Jesse Abbott at their 2015 wedding. Courtesy of Melissa Conarton

Conarton said a few people came early to help set up the reception, and they brought in a cheese platter and sliced pepperoni, which she said they got at Wegmans.

The caterer also said in court papers that the state Health Department and three other county health departments failed to reveal any violations.

In addition, the caterer has sued Conarton and her husband, Jesse Abbott, demanding they pay their outstanding bill.

Conarton paid a $200 deposit, but stopped payment on her check for the remaining $4,279.84.

Conarton, 37, said she and her husband were married in a small, private ceremony at Holy Cross Church in DeWitt two weeks before the reception. The couple wanted to thank their friends and family for all their support with the reception.

Guests began arriving between 3 and 4 p.m. for the reception. They started to dine on pulled pork, herb marinated drunken chicken, beans, rice, grilled vegetables, coleslaw and macaroni and cheese.

Conarton said she and her husband got to have their first dance. Shortly after 6:30 p.m., she was summoned because someone was ill. The guest was vomiting, and Conarton rushed over to her, holding a bag for her to get sick in. The guest then got in her car, and passed out, Conarton said.

Ten minutes later, another guest began vomiting, and then it spread like wildfire, Conarton said.

"You can't imagine what it looked like,'' she said.

Inside, the DJ kept playing music, oblivious to the horror outside, Conarton said.

Everyone then left, and Conarton - who was sick herself - spent the night visiting her guests in the hospital.

"It was horrible," she said.

Conarton estimates she owes guests nearly $12,000 in medical costs.

To this day, Conarton said anywhere she goes and sees people who were at the wedding, she's embarrassed. It's just as vivid in her mind as the day it happened.

"We wish we could take back that day,'' she said.