Houston brides left in limbo after Crystal Ballroom at the Rice closes

HOUSTON - A popular wedding venue in downtown Houston has suddenly shut down, leaving several couples scrambling to find new venues.

What we know:

Several brides have come forward saying the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice along Texas Avenue is permanently closed.

FOX 26 learned the company connected to the venue may be filing for bankruptcy.

Many brides have reached out to FOX 26, including Mindy Escobedo. She says she paid $6,500 to reserve the venue for Dec. 19.

Escobedo booked a tour at the Crystal Ballroom just a week after getting engaged. She says she toured the venue with her sister and mother and immediately fell in love with it and signed a contract in June.

Escobedo says she was shocked when she received an email last week stating that the venue shutdown and is unable to fulfill future events and contractual obligations.

She shared her story on TikTok. 

What they're saying:

"I posted it not with the intention of it to go viral, but just to literally reach brides in the Houston area. Usually, I'm a very optimistic person, but their lawyer emailed me yesterday and acknowledged that the venue does owe me money and the venue is aware that they owe me money, but that they are going to try to apply for bankruptcy protection."

According to the email, the law firm representing 909 Events Incorporated said the landlord terminated the company's lease in the Rice building and 909 Events Incorporated intends to file for bankruptcy protection.

Once the bankruptcy case is filed, any claims, including deposits paid under existing contracts, will need to be submitted.

FOX 26 reached out to REM Global Incorporated and 909 Events Incorporated about the closure and possible bankruptcy, but haven't received a response yet.

"I’m hopeful that I might have a chance of getting $6,500 back. That's really holding us back from being able to book another venue because we had a set budget that we were working with."

She says the situation has made it difficult to move forward with her wedding plans.

"It’s making it kind of hard to move forward with something else. We’re too deep in a wedding and all the costs associated with deposits with other vendors to not have a wedding, but being out this $6,500 currently is making it hard for us to find the perfect venue again," said Escobedo.

She also says she wants other brides to know they are not alone as they try to navigate the unexpected closure.

"My message to brides out there, and really anyone that may be going through something that is super unexpected and shocking and not what you had planned for, you just have to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t want to stain my wedding day, that hasn’t even happened yet with this negativity, so I’m just going to move on from it, whether they give me my money back or not. I don’t want to have this negative connotation for my wedding day," said Escobedo.

Dig deeper:

Chris Tritico, senior legal analyst, says if the venue files for bankruptcy, couples who paid deposits would be considered unsecured creditors.

"When a venue like this goes out of business, it’s typically owned by a corporation. And when they go out of business, they’re going to file bankruptcy. When you file bankruptcy, the poor young ladies who have put down all their money, they’re an unsecured creditor. Unsecured creditors never get their money back in a bankruptcy because the secured creditors — the bank and people like that who have a security interest in the property — they get paid first. If there’s any money to get, they get paid first," said Tritico.

He says unsecured creditors are at the bottom of the list when it comes to getting money back in a bankruptcy.

"I’ve never seen in a bankruptcy, unsecured creditors get their money back, so if, assuming they filed this bankruptcy, all of these brides, or all of these couples, are going to lose their security deposit."

Tritico says if the company does not file for bankruptcy, couples could potentially file a lawsuit. But he says that may not be financially worthwhile if the business has already failed.

He says couples could end up spending more money pursuing a lawsuit than they would recover.

"Filing a lawsuit is probably not profitable for you. I don’t recommend you spending money to try to get money back, when there’s no money to get. It’s a no-win situation.