SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Florida (AP) – Courtney Wilson and Shenita Jones invited family and friends to their “dream home and dream” for the weekend wedding celebration: Saturday ceremony and Sunday brunch.
There was only one problem: the couple did not have the 1,500-square-foot mansion and did not have permission to use it.
The Fort Lauderdale suburban estate had it all: a bowling alley, a waterfall pool, a hot tub, tennis courts, a gazebo, and a 240-foot bar. Wilson said it was God’s plan for the couple to get married there.
But despite what the invitation deduced, the real owner, Nathan Finkel, never gave them permission to celebrate the holidays there. He was stunned when Wilson showed up Saturday morning to settle in and called police, according to the South Florida SunSentinel.
“I have people infringing on my property,” Finkel told a 911 office. “And they keep harassing me, calling me. They say they are getting married here and that is the message of God. I don’t know what’s going on. All I want is for you to stop. And right now they’re sitting on my property at the front door. “
Two agents told Wilson he should leave. He did so and no charges were filed.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Wilson told the newspaper.
Finkel, whose father was a first-time franchisee at the IHOP restaurant, has been trying to sell the property for two years, and is now listed for just over $ 5 million.
Wilson, posing as a potential buyer, toured the estate a few months ago, said Keith Poliakoff, a lawyer for Southwest Ranches, the exclusive suburb where Finkel resides.
“A few months later, this guy asked Nathan if he could use Nathan’s garden for his wedding,” Poliakoff said. “Nathan said no.”
But that didn’t stop the couple from sending elaborate invitations, detailing their love story: reconnecting 30 years after high school and how he proposed pizza on Christmas Eve. The Saturday afternoon ceremony would be followed by an hour of red carpet cocktails and a reception that would last more than midnight. Sunday snack would be from noon to four.
“The boy thought it was an empty house and didn’t realize Nathan lived on the property in a different house,” Poliakoff said. “This boy had no idea he lived there. Do you know the shock he must have had when he showed up at the door and the owner was home? “
Broward County records show that a marriage license was issued to the couple last week, but they had not registered as married on Wednesday.