A Florida couple attempted to host a two-day wedding celebration at a mansion they didn’t have permission to use, and when the owner found out about it on the day of their planned nuptials, he called the police.
Courtney Wilson, the groom, and Shenita Jones, the bride, sent elaborate invitations to family and friends to attend their wedding at their “dream home and estate.” But they never got permission from the owner, Nathan Finkel, to hold the event there, NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miami reported.
The detailed invitations described their love story and how they had been reunited via divine intervention 30 years after meeting in high school. They requested guests join them for the ceremony and reception that would last until after midnight on Saturday. They would then return to the mansion on Sunday for an afternoon brunch, the station reported.
When Wilson showed up with another person on the morning of his wedding day, ready to begin “setting up,” Finkel saw them at the gate and immediately called the police, according to WTVJ.
“I have people trespassing on my property,” Finkel told a 911 dispatcher, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “And they keep harassing me, calling me. They say they’re having a wedding here and it’s God’s message. I don’t know what’s going on. All I want is (for) it to stop.”
When police arrived, they asked Wilson to leave the property immediately and not come back. Wilson complied, and no charges were filed, according to WTVJ.
Finkel put the property on the market nearly two years ago, and it’s currently listed for sale at $5.7 million, according to the Sun Sentinel. Equipped with a swimming pool, hot tub, bar, gazebo, tennis courts, elevator and bowling alley, the estate was previously owned by Finkel’s late father, who had been an early IHOP restaurant franchisee, according to WTVJ.
Months earlier, Wilson visited the estate during an open house and pretended to be a prospective buyer, said Keith Poliakoff, attorney for Southwest Ranches, where the suburban mansion is located, the Sun Sentinel reported.
Apparently, Wilson called Finkel a few months after his open house visit to ask if he could use the backyard for the wedding, but Finkel declined right away, Poliakoff told the newspaper.
Ultimately, there was no wedding for Wilson and Jones that day and certainly not at their dream estate.
“The guy figured it was a vacant house and didn’t realize Nathan lived on the property in a different home,” Poliakoff told the Sun Sentinel. “This guy had no idea he lived there. You know the shock that must have been on his face when he showed up at the gate and the owner was home?”