HARDIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Hardin County wedding venue owner has been ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to nine couples who had their weddings abruptly canceled or who paid for weddings or paid for professional services they did not receive.
In 2018, LEX 18 interviewed one Hardin County couple whose wedding was ruined when they learned they were sending money to Nicolle Thompson who was working as an event planner for Gabrielle Farm. The services that they had been promised were cancelled when vendors stated they had never received payment.
The couple confronted Thompson, and told LEX 18 they were given the runaround on where their money went. They searched on Facebook for other couples who had been affected and filed claims with the Attorney General's office.
The sudden cancellation of these all-inclusive weddings forced the majority of the couples to either quickly come up with thousands of dollars more to secure new venues and vendors, or to postpone their weddings because all of their available funds had been paid to Thompson.
A Hardin County Circuit Court judge ruled that Thompson had to refund the couples from Bullitt, Jefferson and Meade counties. The court also ordered Thompson to pay an additional $20,000 in civil penalties and permanently banned her from operating another wedding service in the future.
