Couples say metro wedding venue cut off communication after they made payments

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned couples are left out of luck after the people who run the venue where they booked their weddings cut off all communication.

This should be an exciting time for Roselyn Berry and her fiancé, Christian Bufford.

“We haven't been able to focus on the feelings part because we've had to just figure out what we're going to do, how are we going to find another venue, how are we going to pay for it,” Berry said.

While they should be counting down until they say, “I do,” the Elenwood couple is trying to figure out a way to salvage their wedding.

“We knew we wanted April 25, 2020, and we booked Suada in March of 2019,” Berry said.

It was an all-inclusive package: the venue, the design and the vendors.

Berry and Bufford were making all their payments and were ready to start the real planning this past fall, but that never happened.

“We made our last payment Oct. 25. Then we just stopped hearing back,” Berry said.

The couple said the venue stopped communicating, and they weren’t alone. They found a whole Facebook group of brides from Suada.

Suada’s number is out of service. Channel 2’s Alyssa Hyman tried emailing and calling other numbers but had no luck.

At the venue in Buckhead, mail is piling up.

Finally, Hyman contacted the property owner, who told her the business is being evicted because it wasn’t paying rent.

“We went with Suada because they promised this grandiose vision of what our wedding was going to be,” Berry said.

Berry said their out-of-town guests have already booked flights and hotels. She said now they’re just trying to find a way to salvage their wedding day and all the money they’ve lost.

“Not only have we paid money, but our family members have paid money, our friends have paid money to come to our wedding, and I just think there’s not much you can go through that justifies being this inconsiderate, so I want an apology,” Berry said.

The property owner said there is already someone looking to lease the property, and he’s trying to do anything he can to help the couples.

Berry and Bufford said, right now, they cannot afford a lawyer, and they’re working with their bank to see if they can get their money back.

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