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Military bride gets married after venue closure
A Hillsborough County couple affected by the Cross Creek Ranch wedding venue closure got married on Friday night thanks to a gift from the Southern Grace wedding venue. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.
LITHIA, Fla. - It was quite a journey for one couple in Hillsborough County to get married.
But, thanks to the support from several people in the community, they were able to tie the knot on Friday night.
The backstory:
Gabrielle Kreiger and her new husband, Cody, were one of approximately 40 couples who were out of a wedding venue overnight when Cross Creek Ranch in Dover shut its doors and canceled all scheduled weddings.
The venue did not provide a refund and told the couples to contact their insurance providers.
"It was so wrong, and it was handled so poorly. They were reaching out to us, asking us to finish paying balances early, knowing that they were about to close," Kreiger said. "And it's just, you're taking advantage of people when you know that they'll pay a lot of money to have a certain experience."
Dig deeper:
To make matters worse, Kreiger is in the National Guard, and this happened while she was away on a four-week training exercise.
"Trying to focus on military training and then coming back and just scrambling to try to get today to happen and would not have been able to do it without the coordinators here as well as my mom," Kreiger said.
Community support
The day was saved by the Southern Grace wedding venue in Lithia. The team let the couple get married there for free.
"The ladies at Southern Grace did everything in their power to make sure that today was as seamless as possible for us and graciously donated the venue to us to make sure that we weren't worried about the finances," Kreiger said.
The Hillsborough Cattleman's Association donated a steak dinner for each guest.
"Bad things happen to good people," said Wesley Joyner, the president of the Hillsborough County Cattlemen's Association. "We try to remedy what we can by making it right."
Hook a Hero, a charity supporting veterans and first responders, heard about this and donated the flowers.
"This is the first time the organization has stepped in, in a wedding capacity," said Mike Roberts, the president of Hook a Hero Foundation. "But again, it doesn't matter. It doesn't to us as an organization. We're going to step in and do what's right."
Big picture view:
The couple had to rebook some vendors to work with their new date.
"Still had to drop a couple more thousand dollars on today," Kreiger said.
But, they were ultimately happy that this came together in the end.
"We're so thankful for this community and everything that they did to make sure that today still happened for us," Kreiger said. "It would not have been able to happen without it."
What's next:
As for the future, Kreiger is working with her insurance company to file a claim.
She said affected couples are considering a class-action lawsuit which they might join.
The other side:
FOX 13 tried to call Cross Creek Ranch on Friday, but the number wasn't in service.
In an email provided by one of the couples to FOX 13 in March, the owners wrote:
"It is with profound sadness that we must share difficult news. Cross Creek Ranch has officially ceased operations and has closed permanently.
There are no words to adequately express how deeply sorry we are that this affects what should be one of the most meaningful and magical days of your life. We understand the significance of your wedding and the planning, anticipation, and emotion that surround it. We recognize that this news is incredibly upsetting, and you have every right to feel that way.
Due to circumstances beyond our control and significant changes within the industry, we are unable to host your wedding as planned. This decision was not made lightly. We explored every possible avenue to continue operations but ultimately were unable to sustain the business.
We strongly encourage you to contact your wedding insurance provider immediately to begin the claims process. You may provide them with this written notice as confirmation of closure.
If you require additional documentation for insurance purposes, please let us know and we will provide what we are able.
We are truly sorry but Cross Creek Ranch is unable to host your wedding now or in the future.
With sincere regret,
Bonnie and Sean McSharry"
The Source: FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky gathered this information from the bride, the vendors, the new venue, as well as prior reporting.