A local bride and groom were shocked to learn their wedding venue abruptly closed without warning, and without giving them a refund, just a few months before their big day.
Bride Krysha Bruitt and her fiance Jarad Woods booked space at the Oaks Event Center in Burleson, signed a contract and left a $1,250 deposit to secure their wedding date for April 2019.
"I thought the room itself was gorgeous," said Bruitt. "It was always people there. It was always some type of activity going on."
Bruitt said she called to make another payment two months after signing their contract, but found a problem.
"This time it rings, and it rung for seven minutes. It never went to voicemail," she said. "So, I go to the website and the website is unavailable. And I'm like, 'Ummm.'"
When she looked up the venue on Google, it said "permanently closed."
"I said, 'You know what? I'm going to drive by there because something's not right,'" said Woods. "I go by there. No kidding. The place is fenced up."
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When they couldn't track down the owners, the couple reached out to NBC 5 Responds to help get their deposit back.
NBC 5 Responds visited the venue and confirmed the space did appear to be closed.
NBC 5 Responds eventually located the attorney for the Oaks Event Center, who confirmed that the location is closed. He said the owners weren't in financial trouble, they just made the decision to cease operations.
The attorney said they made sure to notify all customers of the closure by mail.
"I think that's a bold-faced lie because I know for a fact I didn't get a letter," said Bruitt.
The attorney assured me that the couple would get a full refund. Two weeks later, that's exactly what happened and $1,250 was deposited back into their account.
Their wedding plans are now back on.
The attorney for the event center said they're working on processing refunds for all of their customers.
Bruitt told me she recently got a call from the new staff at the center who informed her that they had new owners and wanted her to re-book with them.
She respectfully declined.
The couple said she got a better deal with a venue in Cedar Hill and can't wait for their special day.
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