HIGH POINT, N.C. — A wedding day is filled with tradition. The first dance, speeches from the wedding party, and the happy couple cutting the cake.
Charity and Darrieon Millner cut a cake at their reception on Saturday — just not the one they ordered.
Their baker canceled hours before they said 'I do' and left them scrambling.
Their wedding planner picked up a last-minute cake from Sweet Dough Bake Shop in High Point for the big day.
Now, the couple is out thousands of dollars with no idea when their refund is coming.
$2,200 cake and dessert bar
"It just hurts. It truly just hurts," Charity said. "I immediately knew that something was wrong."
The High Point couple booked their four-tiered wedding cake and dessert bar more than a year ago with Sweet Lucy Lous Bakery.
The price tag — more than $2,200.
"The tasting was amazing, if I'm being honest, the product that she prepared for our tasting was phenomenal and we were immediately sold," Charity said. "It was definitely going to be a big hit at the wedding."
Here's the mock-up drawing of what their four-tier wedding cake would have looked like.
Here's the mock-up drawing of what the Millners' dessert bar would have looked like.
Since neither of those items showed up at the wedding, the bride and groom cut into a wedding cake that their wedding planner quickly picked up at the last minute.
"She just failed to deliver"
On the wedding day, bakery owner Elizabeth Penn reached out to the couple's wedding planner with bad news.
"She sent a text message saying she did not have a cake to present. No apology in the text message," Charity said.
Texts continued between the wedding planner and the baker throughout the day and so did the bad news.
At first, just the dessert bar was coming, then it was also a no-show.
"She just failed to deliver. She just didn't show up and we still don't have a true explanation for exactly why," Charity said.
No answers and no refund
The cancellation policy of the contract between the bakery and the couple says if the couple cancels within 90 days of the event, the remaining balance is still due.
The contract also says that in case of an unavoidable occurrence like bad weather, the bakery is not held liable for more than the price of the product.
The Millners said they visited the bakery owner the Monday after the wedding to get some answers as well as their refund...but left empty-handed.
"That feeling of disappointment and just a feeling of she doesn't really care, is how we feel," Darrieon said.
2 Wants To Know gets involved
That's when the couple reached out to 2 Wants To Know.
We visited Elizabeth Penn, the baker at Sweet Lucy Lou's.
She denied an on-camera interview but did give us this statement:
"Sweet Lucy Lou's was booked for the Owen Millner Wedding which took place on October 1, 2022, at The Loft at Congdon Yards. It is with great disappointment and sadness we confirm the agreement was not fulfilled for the wedding. We spoke to the client and family members on Monday, 10/3/22 to discuss a refund. The bride has supplied the invoices in addition to the bakery purchase for which she wishes to be refunded. Sweet Lucy Lou's agrees to refund what she paid the bakery. The bakery is permanently closed and wishes to reach a resolution with the client."
The Millners are still waiting on their refund as of this report.
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