Myrtle Beach couple loses nearly $20,000 after wedding venue’s abrupt closure

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A Myrtle Beach couple is living a wedding planning nightmare after losing nearly $20,000 and their wedding venue at the same time.

Travis Marshall and Rachel Staley told WMBF News they lost all the money they’d put toward their dream venue, Champagne Manor in Monroe, North Carolina, after they discovered the venue closed suddenly last week.

“We are roughly out about $20,000,” Marshall said.

But it’s not just about the money. The couple has also lost the venue Marshall and Staley agreed on.

“Pretty much from the beginning, from the drive up we said, ‘Oh, this is it’,” Marshall said.

The couple said they have been together for nearly six years and got engaged in June of 2023.

They have different styles, so they said finding a venue was a bit of a challenge.

Once they found Champagne Manor, they booked it at the end of May 2024 for their May 2025 wedding.

They said after they signed the contract and paid their deposit, the owner of the venue stopped communicating.

“He already had so much of our money that we were like, well, we have to, like, make this work,” Staley said.

Fast forward to New Year’s Day, that’s when the soon-to-be bride and groom said their florist told them the venue was being foreclosed on.

At midnight on Jan. 2, the owner sent them an email explaining a series of loan issues and failed funding attempts that led to the foreclosure. An email was sent with just four months until Marshall and Staley’s big day.

“You’ve not only potentially ruined a once-in-a-lifetime moment for us, but for dozens and dozens,” Marshall said.

The owner, Jason Lottmann said in the email he would “be in touch via email here in the coming day or two with your plan for a full refund.”

Marshall said that has not happened and the couple has even reached out again to Lottmann but hasn’t received a response.

They said they’re now working to re-plan their big day with their wedding fund now nearly gone.

But, they said they are still planning to get married on their original date of May 15.

“We’re just trying to stay focused on what matters and kind of just like, find a venue that we can afford,” Staley said.

WMBF News reached out to Lottmann multiple times, but as of the time this article was posted, we have not heard back.