A wedding ceremony venue in North Carolina is reportedly refusing to return a deposit after the groom died 5 months earlier than his large day — sparking outrage on-line and requires compassion.
Christopher Perry, a Durham resident, proposed to his fiancée, Kristen Seidel, in Italy in 2024. The couple booked The Cotton Room for Oct. 11, 2025, and paid over $18,000 in deposits for meals, drinks and rental charges — about half the full contract, WRAL reported.
On Could 12, 2025, a day earlier than his thirty third birthday, Perry collapsed and died. Inside two days, the household notified the venue, a part of TC Hospitality Group.
The corporate mentioned the deposit was nonrefundable as a result of it secured the date and lined “advance planning, staffing and operational commitments,” as an alternative providing a partial refund provided that the date was rebooked, which didn’t occur.
Workers on the venue, which is a former textile mill, mentioned it will hold the $7,500 rental deposit regardless and waived the remaining 50% steadiness of the full invoice.
“They’re profiting off the demise of my son,” Christopher Perry’s father, Invoice Perry, mentioned in an interview with WRAL as he sat alongside his spouse, Sue Perry.
“No dad or mum ought to ever should expertise the loss of a kid – and having conditions like The Cotton Room and what they’ve executed or are doing simply type of retains the wound open,” Perry added.
“They haven’t executed something, and so they haven’t earned this cash but.”
His spouse mentioned the household couldn’t work out what the venue would have spent the cash on already. “They haven’t executed something, and so they haven’t earned this cash but,” she mentioned.
Fox Information Digital reached out to TC Hospitality Group for remark.
The DJ, wedding ceremony planner and wedding ceremony photographer, in the meantime, all returned the deposits, in response to the New Hampshire-based dad and mom.
In a Fb submit, Sue Perry shared a private plea with others.
“How can a venue that focuses on the enterprise of affection, happiness and weddings have such a chilly, merciless and compassionless response to this tragedy that my son’s household, fiancée and her household are coping with?” she wrote.
Since her son’s demise, the homeowners have refused to have a name with the household, she added.
Tons of of individuals have taken to social media, Reddit and Google opinions in help of the couple and their household, with many urging the corporate to rethink its choice.
“Surprising for a family-run enterprise,” one man wrote on Fb.
“Atrocious,” one girl agreed. “They are going to lose greater than that deposit. …. They’ve misplaced their status.”
“Legally, they’ve executed nothing mistaken. …. Have they executed one thing morally mistaken? Maybe.”
Nevertheless, in a Reddit group devoted to Durham, some folks defended the enterprise for its choice.
“[Four to five] months is final minute,” one individual wrote. “October is prime wedding ceremony season in North Carolina. …. Not shocking they couldn’t fill a slot with only some months’ discover.”
Another person mentioned, “Legally, they’ve executed nothing mistaken. …. Have they executed one thing morally mistaken? Maybe.”
One wedding ceremony planner mentioned that corporations are counting on deposits.
Raleigh-based wedding ceremony planner Haines Jones, who is just not affiliated with the household or venue, informed WRAL that many companies are “staying afloat on retainers” amid a post-pandemic hunch.
“I see each side,” she added. “On the finish of the day, I do assume the household at the least deserved a partial refund.”
The corporate informed WRAL that funds made forward of an occasion aren’t tied dollar-for-dollar to foods and drinks and famous that it waived the remaining 50% steadiness for the household.
“Deposits additionally help the superior planning, staffing and operational commitments required to organize for an occasion of this dimension,” Michelle Aldred, govt director of TC Hospitality, informed the outlet.
