DENVER — Planning a wedding is stressful in and of itself, but finding out the venue booked is no longer in business adds a whole new level of stress.
That's what Ryan Kappeler and Katie Finch said happened to them around a month before their wedding date on March 3.
“We spent a whole weekend looking at venues, calling probably 250 different venues just to see if anybody could accommodate a last minute wedding," said Finch. “We got super lucky, and it all came together with the venue that we're at now.”
Kappeler and Finch said they had originally contacted a company called We Got This Event as their event planner, which they said was responsible for securing the venue, supplying the DJ, and catering the wedding. Finch said they were shocked to learn the venue for their wedding had switched ownership at the end of 2022, and can not reach anyone with We Got This Event.
“I just left crying work in tears. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, we're gonna have to cancel our wedding. What are we going to do?'" Finch recalled.
Denver7 spoke with a representative from Castlewood Grange in Englewood, which was the event center where the weddings were booked. Those with the center said they partnered with We Got This Event mainly in 2022, but have no affiliation with the company. Essentially, We Got This Event rented the space from Castlewood Grange, according to the representative.
Those with Castlewood Grange said they informed We Got This Event at the beginning of 2022 they were planning on selling the building in December of 2022 and not to do any more rentals.
“I guess they did, and they booked their events there without having approval to do any of it," said the representative.
Denver7 reached out to We Got This Event, but has not heard back as of Sunday evening. This article will be updated with a response when it is received.
Haley Galasso is another bride who found herself in the same as Finch.
“We figured once the venue was settled, that everything else would fall into place," Galasso said. “My sister actually pulled up the venue on Google Maps that said permanently closed. So that's when we kind of were like, 'Oh, something's weird.'”
Now, Galasso said it's been difficult to reach the company.
“We put down almost $3,000 with them," Galasso said. "Pretty much everything I had to redo, and I'm a teacher, I don't have a lot of free time to be doing all this, which is why we did it so far in advance.”
However, Galasso's mother forwarded an email she said she got from the company in response to a refund. In the email, it says We Got This Event was "under the assumption" they would be able to finish the events booked for 2023, that the owners of the building had been discussing selling the place for "multiple years while not coming to fruition," and are trying to refund their money.
The email ends with "I personally apologize for this situation, and am highly stressed for the pain this has caused you and your family."
The families Denver7 spoke with said there are six couples total going through this that they have identified.
Despite all of the frustration, Finch said she and Kappeler are looking forward to getting married on March 3.
“We both decided that it doesn't really matter where we get married, or when we get married, as long as at the end of the day, we get to marry each other," Finch said. “We just want to get married."
