Sudden L.I. Catering Hall Closure Puts Weddings at Risk

Brides who had their hearts set on a beachfront wedding venue on Long Island are learning they may not have a place to get married at all. 

The Waterview Club in Bayville, which touts on its website its ability to work with couples on their "dreams and visions for their special day," will soon be closing because of a financial dispute between the business and its landlord. Worse, say some of the jilted couples, the business did not warn the customers who'd already paid in advance for their weddings. 

When Theresa Siegel of Sweet Karma Bakery, which supplies cakes to the Waterview Club, learned the catering hall was closing, she took it upon herself to warn the more than 10 couples who had placed cake orders. 

"If anything, they would have time to rebook another venue," said Siegel. "I could try to help."

Tammy Pagnillo, who had already received 70 RSVPs to her upcoming wedding, was devastated. 

"I was bursting out in tears," she said. 

Andrea Rosenberg, who is getting married on June 6, is afraid her dreams of a waterfront wedding are over. Her parents put down $11,000 and are now scrambling to find a new venue. 

"How does a man sleep with a conscience such as this?" asked her father Mark Rosenberg. "This is the most important day of her life." 

Waterview Club owner Paul Burnup told NBC 4 New York he wasn't able to tell his customers because he only learned on Monday that the landlord was shutting the business down. 

He said he has been working with the landlord to have another caterer take over his business, but the deal fell through. He later sent a statement Thursday afternoon saying the club had secured an agreement with a new caterer and was waiting for the landlord to respond to the proposal. 

"We are making every attempt possible to make sure the clients are taken care of," said Burnup. "The new caterer is prepared to step in immediately so that every event can take place." 

But the brides-to-be who have already been burned once say they don't want to take a chance with an entirely new business they know nothing about.

"Just give us our money back, that's all I want," said Pagnillo. "I'll use it towards a new venue that will take us." 

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