The Summerlin House No Refund even WITHOUT a Signed Contract Orlando, Florida

This couple came in on our New Years Special for $1,000 This included our venue fee ( normally $2,300) all chairs, tables, and their choice of linens, $800 floral package, free engagement photo session from our preferred photographer.  The special had to be paid in its entirety in order to book the venue. They did not have the money to pay it all at once so I made an exception for them to allow them to make payments .  I took the date off the books and during a 2 week span they changed the date 3 times. I never charged them to change the holds on these dates. They made the first payment on Jan 11^th and on January 15th I emailed the contract to them. The Bride emailed me and said thank you we have received the contract we will sign and scan and email back to you They never did send it however the continued to make payments and let me plan the wedding and they took advantage of the free photo session which was part of the special.

 Our Venue has an exclusive caterer and we do not allow outside catering. They were well aware of this, and still went off on their own to obtain quotes from outside caterers. This was one of the first things I had to put my foot down on so to speak. I continued to get phone calls from caterers and pop in visits from caterers telling me they had asked them for a quote.  I again told the Bride that they must use our caterer. They continually told me that they did not have money to do all of this I even suggested several times that they may want to push the wedding back to save some more money and not be so strained.

 I went to bat for them on their behalf to my caterer and had them lower the per person price from $36  to $22 pp  I also talked the caterer in to lowering the price of the horsdevores and they changed them from $3 pp to $1.50. They were concerned about rain as we are an outdoor event I offered them a FREE tent if it looked like there was going to be rain ( that would have cost them over $3000 had they had to rent that ) They were concerned that they didnt have money to do the centerpieces for the Reception  I met with them one evening in my office and drew out  a mock up centerpiece that had the vintage flair the bride wanted and offered to do them for free to help out.

Two days before the wedding after purchasing all the floral for the ceremony and reception I called the Bride to ask a quick question about the centerpieces and she informs me that they have chosen someone else to do the floral. This was absolutely the last straw I was upset and I flat out told them if they couldnt do things like they were supposed to be done that they could  go else where. And the groom got mad that I said that and they canceled with me.  He asked for a refund and I told him please review his contract because not only was the special non refundable but our cancellation policy of any cancellations less than 30 days there is no refund .

 It was only then that he realized they never sent it in and now he claims they never agreed to it. If they didnt agree to it then why did they continue making payments, take the free photo session and ask me to please see if I can get the caterer to give them a lower price. If they didnt agree to it why were we about to have a wedding in 2 days?  I did so many things to help this couple and was nice and gave them so many deals and freebies.   I strongly feel that the remarks he has made on this site are inaccurate. I run a good business and I did nothing but try to help them and this is how it all ended up ..it is very very sad.