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Event planner steps in for abandoned wedding facility; police continue investigation
By Chris Roark, croark@starlocalnews.com
There is enough stress to go along with planning a wedding.
Invitations, tuxedos and dresses, entertainment and food.
Having the wedding venue disappear shouldn’t be one of them.
“I got an email that said they were no longer in business,” said Kelli Burkhardt, one of the people who had put down a deposit to have her wedding at the facility. “I didn’t believe it at first, so I went up there to see for sure.”
Sure enough, the company was shut down. Gone, too, were a host of couples’ deposits, which according to Flower Mound police has reached more than $150,000 with possibly more incident reports forthcoming.
But local event planner Bridget Black has helped save the “big” day for many families.
Wednesday, Black publicly announced that she is working with the building owners, Cliff and Sheila Hodge of Cliff Hodge & Associates Inc., to purchase the building.
The plan is to begin a wedding and event business at the same location, 2701 Corporate Circle. Black said the venue name will change, though a new name hasn’t been determined.
“When I heard about what happened, it broke my heart,” said Black, who has experience planning weddings and various charity events. “This is an important day for families. So I knew I had to do something.”
Black and the Hodge’s have already offered to host the previously planned weddings at the event for a reduced price.
“They’ll come in at a low venue fee, which includes electricity and cleaning,” Black said. “We’ll run the venue for the full day. And we’ll help them work with the vendors at a reduced cost as well.”
Burkhardt said her family spent $5,000 for catering -- a reduced price of what it would have normally cost -- plus $500 to rent the facility from the Hodge family.
That’s generous considering Burkhardt’s family had written a check to Chapelle des Fleurs for $11,000.
Black said out of 15-20 events that were impacted by the sudden closure, eight couples have taken advantage of the new offer. In fact, two couples, including the Burkhardt’s, tied the knot last weekend at the facility.
But the story isn’t over for the missing deposit money.
Wendell Mitchell, Flower Mound’s assistant police chief, said the department is investigating the incident.
“The Flower Mound Police Department has documented each of these incidents,” Mitchell said. “They will be reviewed by the police department and Denton County District attorney’s office to determine if a criminal offense did occur.”
Mitchell said based on the information the police department has right now, he believes there have been 22 instances in which residents lost deposit money with Chapelle des Fleurs’ closure.
In addition to the weddings, that lost deposit money includes $2,000 the town of Flower Mound put down to host a Christmas party in December.
Mitchell said any money that is reimbursed would have to go through the court system.
David Shuster, the attorney for former owner of Chapelle des Fleurs, Janice Falkenstein, said his client had been involved in a legal battle with Cliff Hodge & Associates. He said Falkenstein was led to believe by her former attorney that she would recover damages due to “egregious fees and interest” paid to Cliff Hodge & Associates.
Shuster said Falkenstein agreed before a June 22 court hearing to write Cliff Hodge & Associates a check for approximately $28,000 and to sign an amended lease for a revised rent of $14,000. According to Shuster, Falkenstein contends she paid the estimated $28,000 that day and later the $14,000 for the July rent but told the Hodge’s that her August rent would be a few days late. When the Hodge’s didn’t receive a rent check by Aug. 20, Shuster said the facility’s doors were locked, and the Hodge’s would not work with Falkenstein.
“Janice has been deeply distraught, and her strongest desire is to take care of all of the clients who had previously paid her for services,” Shuster said. “She is seeking bankruptcy relief because she has no other alternative, as is often the case when someone files.” Shuster said.
Sheila Hodge, co-owner of Cliff Hodge & Associates, said the company did work with Falkenstein, and the fact that the two sides were involved in legal action only shows her history of not paying the rent on time.
“The new lease stated that if the rent is not received on or before the 15th of the month, the landlord has the right to lock the tenant out,” Sheila Hodge said. “Because of her chronic history of being late, and based on the information that she provided us, we had to make this business decision.”
Sheila Hodge said it was a hard decision because of the service Falkenstein has provided.
“She puts on a beautiful presentation, does beautiful work and creates beautiful memories,” Sheila Hodge said. “We would have made this decision a long time ago if this was a different type of business.”
However, Sheila Hodge added that Falkenstein had called the police on Cliff Hodge & Associates when the Hodge’s threatened to lock the facility’s doors.
“It’s hard to do business with someone who calls the police on you,” Sheila Hodge said.
On top of the police investigation, Burkhardt said there is other legal action in the future, too. She said her family and 13 others will be filing a lawsuit against Chapelle des Fleurs.
Despite the chaos, Burkhardt said the wedding was a success thanks to the efforts of several people.
In addition to Black and the Hodges stepping in, she credited Don Ross Nabb Production Company, the caterer, and Michael Carroll, the chef, for quickly pulling things together. She said her florist, Kevin May, served as a last-minute wedding coordinator, and the D.J., Jeff Christensen, also played a big role.
“Besides losing $11,000, everything went off without a hitch,” Burkhardt said.
The facility includes a chapel, which seats 150 people, a grand foyer, a bridal room, a groom’s room, an outdoor gazebo and a reception room that seats up to 200 people with a full-service bar, a dance floor and a buffet station.
For information on the facility’s new ownership, go to www.weddingsflowermound.com.
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