the Summerlin House Joyce Hensley-Adams The Summerlin House at Thornton Park fantastic vintage venue, horrifying deceptive owner! orlando, Florida

Summerlin House was exactly what I was looking for! Cute, quaint with a vintage feel. Perfect for the wedding reception my fiance & I had in mind! We wanted something very specific for our ceremony so we opted to not have it there. Upon speaking to Joyce, the sole operator/manager/venue coordinator, we were told she could meet our ceremony needs by having it a block away at Lake Eola. She said if we paid everything up front, she would take care of our park ceremony, (including city permits & park fees). Joyce also claimed she would cover all DJ & floral (done by her, Creative Designs), costs in excjange for my fiance to redo her Co. logo, keep in mind she is wanting to change her Co. name. A few warning flags went up but I waved them off. Our contract had our names misspelled as well as the price we agreed on. When asked to change the info, Joyce rushed us out the door because she had other clients & claimed she would change it on her copy. This was not the first time I was rushed out the door due to Joyce's over booking clients. She also promised me spreadsheets with all her vender info on caterers, DJ's, local hotels & even valet & garage parking. This spreadsheet was never sent to me until almost 2 weeks after I had paid Joyce in full...

I pretty much never heard back from Joyce once I had paid her. She didn't respond to any of my e-mails or texts until I mentioned we had to change our wedding date. Joyce had booked our wedding during a popular event that would be taking place at Lake Eola. We HAD to change our date. After we picked a new date, I asked for our new contract with new date & correctly spelled names. Again, this took quite some time to get. I realized this mistake would not have been made had Joyce actually booked & paid for our park ceremony like she promised. I waved it off as a simple mistake & continued to TRY & plan our wedding. I still had not received the info for the caterer she said we should use due to our budget. One day, however, I received an e-mail from her stating that said caterer was offering her a $2800 credit worth $5500 of food. I was hesitant & a little confused as to why a caterer would offer that. My fiance called her & she explained that a turnkey wedding had cancelled & she was offering us the credit they weren't using. She told me I had to pay her the $2800 by the next day or the caterer would give it to someone else. She wanted us to have it because of our budget. I don't have that kind of money & asked my parents to help out. My parents agreed to help but wanted me to look Joyce up & make sure we weren't being scammed.

well, I looked her up & found so many similar reports of how she scammed people, claimed & promised to take care of things & then rean off with their money or left them with a bill.. This made me panic. I contacted the city of Orlando & said caterer & neither knew of what Joyce had claimed. My wedding ceremony was never booked or paid for & a catering credit was never offered. I contacted Joyce & told her there would not be a barter for DJ/floral & that we would not use the catering credit & that we'd take care of everything ourselves. She was not happy about this.

Unfortunately, Joyce turned out to be extremely rude, manipulative, insulting & pushy. She screamed at me over the phone when I told her why we were doing things on our own. I told her I didn't like what I read & felt mislead. I finally confronted her about the caterer & supposed park ceremony & she had several stories that differed from the original statements she had made. I told her I would take legal action for services not being rendered & fraud if I was not fully refunded. Joyce told me I would be fully refunded, at which time I would sign a contract stating I was being refunded & that we were canceling our Oct 7, 2012 wedding. The day in which we agreed to meet has come & gone. I contacted her on that day & of course her story had changed. She now claims that I have to fill out a refund request form to be precessed by her accountants, but the form states that she has already refunded me. I know for a fact there aren't any accountants, she is the only operator of the venue. I have still not received my refund. Joyce's stories are ever changing & don't make sense. I realize I am dealing with a crook who has quite a public record.

 DO NOT get scammed by this woman & have your special day ruined. We have postponed all wedding plans due to the lack of funds we have been swindled out of.. Do your research before you book with any venue. Joyce asks only for cash or check when it should be done with a credit card. I do not want any other innocent couple to be crushed by this woman.