WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - They’re devastated. They’re broke. And now they have nowhere to host their wedding. Hank found dozens of local brides say the venue they paid thousands of dollars to host their big day suddenly closed. Now some couples are scrambling to come up with more money and a place to say “I do.”
She had the rings. She had her dress. And bride-to-be Erica also had more than a hundred save the date reminders for her June wedding in Bedford, New Hampshire That’s where she planned to marry Kevin, the love of her life.
“Since you were a little girl have you dreamed about this day?” Hank asked.
“I have actually, yes,” Erica said.
The Woburn couple says they took out a loan and paid thousands of dollars to rent what they thought was the perfect venue.
But a month ago they got this email from the company behind their gorgeous wedding hall, Noah’s Event Venue. It says the company “will no longer be able to host your event” and “we completely understand that this is stressful to now have to find a new venue.”
And we found for sale and for rent signs on that wedding hall and no one inside.
“Anybody else who tells me their horror stories about their wedding, I’m like I don’t think you can trump this one,” Erica said.
It’s an I do disaster. Erica had also committed to a caterer, a disc jockey, and spent two thousand dollars just on decorations, decorations she can no longer use.
What happened? The event company Noah’s Event Venue, filed for bankruptcy, leaving Kevin and Erica with no place to have their wedding and most of their cash gone.
“It’s really crazy, actually, I mean like you would never expect all that money and all that work that you put into something to basically disappear,” Erica said.
And it’s not just Erica and Kevin. We found the same company managed 42 other wedding venues across the country. The company left dozens of New England couples and thousands more nationwide with no place to celebrate their special day and no way to get all their money refunded.
In fact, bankruptcy attorneys for the company admit Noah’s Event Venue owes more than 8.5 million dollars to people who booked events and they say the likelihood is low those couples will get much money back.
“You’re losing more than $10,000?” Hank asked.
“Yes,” Erica said.
“What do you think about that?” Hank asked.
“I was devastated,” Erica said.
Erica and Kevin will still have their special day. They’ve come up with more money for a new place to tie the knot. And they’ve got new save the date cards. But now their future includes a huge hole in their finances.
“I honestly at first thought is was the worst day ever but I’m still marrying the same person, and my friends and family are still coming, and we’re gonna go on and it’s going to be one day that will just start the rest of our lives together,” Erica said.
If you’re planning for your big day experts say you may want to get wedding insurance which could cover a venue closing. You should also pay for as much as you can with a credit card so you have the ability to dispute the purchase if something like this happens.
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