Customers say Bensalem wedding venue cashed deposits and closed

BENSALEM, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The doors are shuttered at Water's Edge in Bensalem, but checks for future parties to be hosted at the venue have already been cashed.

Those who were looking forward to celebrating major life milestones at the venue are now looking for their money back.

"All she wanted to do is walk down the aisle in a dress and have her dad give her away. And they took it from us," said Stephen Dixon.

Instead, Dixon and his fiancé Kayla Kilpatrick say they are out a $4,300 deposit for their upcoming June 3 wedding. They are also left without a venue.

"Now half of our money for our wedding is gone," said Kayla Kilpatrick.

They picked Water's Edge in Bensalem and say their deposit check was cashed on May 12.

Then came the issues after speaking with the event planner. "She said I'm sorry the owner is MIA. We're not able to return your money," said Kilpatrick.

Alexis Jefferies is expecting her first child in October. Her baby shower at Water's Edge was set for this weekend.

"We ended up showing up to the venue (Monday). We were there for 45 minutes, just waiting outside for the lady to come. We ended up calling her and she said she forgot to call us and tell us that the venue shut down and we can't have our shower there," said Alexis Jefferies.

These families are now connected through shared pain and frustration.

"Apparently they haven't had a liquor license since February and they offered to serve liquor at the shower," said Jefferies.

"They sold us on an extra hour of open-bar. They don't have a liquor license," said Dixon.

Now out of their deposits, they're planning other events and planning to take action against Water's Edge.

"We are going forward with police reports," said Kilpatrick.

"We had actually gone to the Bensalem Police Department and filed a report, and even the officer said it's highly unlikely we'll ever see the money again," said Jefferies.

Action News spoke to the owner of Water's Edge who admitted the deposits were cashed, there's no liquor license and Water's Edge isn't reopening.

The owner went on to say they haven't returned any money and that employees of the venue have worked without payment.

The owner says that the deposits will be returned and employees would be compensated, but would not say when.