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Wedding Hall Owners File For Bankruptcy Months Before Couple's Wedding

ELK GROVE (CBS13) — She said yes, they set a date and sent out the invitations.

But less than three months before the wedding, a couple got a surprise they didn't expect: Their wedding hall was still under construction.

Alexis Vernon is supposed to be getting married on July 12, but now it may not happen. Family and friends have all booked hotels and are flying in for that date.

"My caterer could have cancelled on me, my musicians could have canceled on me. Anything. But for me not to have a venue and having to find a new venue is the worst thing that could have happened to me ever," she said.

She and her fiance, Stanley, booked their wedding ceremony and reception at Elk Grove Events Center on Bradshaw Road last summer. They even paid a $1,500 deposit.

But since October, no one at the center has answered the phone.

"I call back in November, nothing. Left messages. Call back in December. Nothing. January, February," Vernon said.

She kept calling, but no one called back.

So, Alexis searched for the venue on Yelp to see if she was alone—she wasn't.

"I totally panicked," she said.

The complaints were the same as hers: Wedding dates come and gone, yet no deposit back, sometimes not even a call at all.

We wanted to get answers and went to the events center, but it was locked. We tracked down the number of the owners' construction business, but no one returned our call.

The Rock Church owns the property, and even admitted it has received multiple complaints, but it says it can't do anything about it.

After more digging, we found that the owners of the Elk Grove Events Center filed for bankruptcy last week. That means couples like Alexis and Stanley are scrambling to find a new venue with only weeks until their big day, and they may not see that $1,500 deposit.

"I just don't understand how they could not at least picked up the phone and call and say this is going on, let's us help you to find something different, or anything," she said. "They haven't done anything."

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