FRANKENMUTH, Mich. (WNEM/Gray News) – Brides in Michigan are panicking because they said they never received their wedding dresses they paid for after a local bridal shop abruptly closed.
Multiple brides who bought dresses from Love Story Bridal in Frankenmuth said they have had similar nightmare experiences.
These brides believe they have been taken advantage of by the shop’s owner, Kasey Shultz.
Bride Taylor Jarnigin said she said yes to the dress at Love Story Bridal in May.
“To go in and go through all the dresses you try on. You have the big grand ‘say yes to the dress’ thing,” Jarnigin said. “Like, hey, I’m wedding dress shopping.”
But that fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
“She [the shop owner] was kind of wishy-washy about when it [the dress] would come in, which, again, I didn’t think was super weird because they can’t fully give you a delivery date,” Jarnigin said. “We went up to Frankenmuth where the shop was for Octoberfest, and just happened to drive by the shop, and there were no signs. The windows had paper on them, so turns out, the store was closed.”
A Facebook post from Love Story Bridal in July said they were closing, but that all orders would be fulfilled.
“So, we called the phone number that was on the Facebook page, and it took us to some random auto parts store. Any number that was linked to their website or anything online was disconnected or just didn’t work,” Jarnigin said.
This situation is all too familiar for brides like Hallie Heiser, who bought her bridesmaid dresses from the store.
When the dresses arrived, her maid of honor’s dress was wrong, and another dress was missing. But Shultz, the owner, ensured the right ones would be coming.
Heiser recalled how she felt when she realized she needed to reach out to Schultz.
“I haven’t heard anything from her. I should probably reach out, see where these bridesmaid dresses are, because my wedding is in two months,” Heiser recalled.
But just like Jarnigin, Heiser experienced the same problems with the store’s phone numbers.
“Tried calling the store number, completely disconnected. She disconnected her personal cell phone number as well,” Heiser said.
In the meantime, after closing Love Story Bridal in Michigan, Shultz had moved to Iowa, where she bought another bridal store and named it Celebrate QC.
Eventually, both brides heard back from Shultz through Facebook.
In short, Shultz told Jarnigin her wedding dress was still coming, and she told Heiser she had the bridesmaid dresses in her possession and made a plan to meet up with her.
But then, both brides say Shultz went silent.
“It added so much more stress on top of everything else you’re trying to plan,” Heiser said.
“At this point, I am just angry because I’ve had to go through all of this. So, not only angry for myself, but angry for anyone who has had to do business with this woman,” Jarnigin said.
So, the brides took it upon themselves to find out where their dresses were and contacted the manufacturers.
“Turns out the manufacturer still had the dresses. The owner of Love Story Bridal never had the dresses in her possession. She also never sent the money to the manufacturer. So, all the money that was paid for my bridesmaid dresses, she took,” Heiser said. Shultz had told her she had the dresses.
For Janigin, she learned her wedding dress was in Shultz’s possession, even though Shultz said she didn’t have it.
“My manufacturer let me know that my dress, along with several others of the exact same dress in different sizes that she ordered at the same time, were shipped and delivered months ago to the store,” Jarnigin said. “She’s not just stealing our money, she’s stealing our dresses, is what I’ve learned. At least in my experience.”
But it’s not just brides who claim Shultz has taken advantage of them. Morgan Short, the previous owner of the Michigan shop who sold her business to Shultz, said she’s also had problems.
Short said her medical issues and pregnancy led her to sell her store to Shultz at the end of 2023.
“What she bought from me was technically my reputation, my name, my orders and all the inventory and assets inside the building that’s moveable,” Short said.
Short said she hasn’t received payment from Shultz in over six months.
“She took all the inventory that she still owed money on, took it all the way to Iowa, and since then, I’ve been fighting to get either payments or even just to get my dresses back,” Short said. “I have an 8-month-old at home, and I just started a new job. It’s not like we’re perfectly on our feet and we’ve been getting paid, either.”
Short said she just wants Shultz to be “held accountable for what she’s been doing.”
WNEM called several numbers associated with Shultz and sent Facebook messages, but never heard back.
“I hope she makes it right with whoever she has agreements with,” Short said.
Jarnigin said she wants Shultz to be stopped.
“I want it to stop. Stop going to different states. Stop opening bridal shops,” Jarnigin said.
Celebrate QC, the bridal shop Shultz opened in Iowa, has already closed, a close source said.
Fortunately for Jarnigin, she bought her dress with a debit card, so she was able to get a full refund through her card company.
Heiser was not so lucky. She had to repay for her bridesmaid dresses and have them shipped to a different store.
There is some light for the brides who have been left without their wedding dress, thanks to the owner of another bridal shop nearby who wants to help.
“We will obviously have to take everything on a case-by-case basis, depending on when the bride’s wedding is and her budget, but we would love to help any brides,” said Michelle McFarland, owner of The Wedding Shoppe in Berkley. “Please contact us. And all you need to do is provide your receipt or credit card statement showing that you purchased a dress from there [Love Story Bridal], and we would be more than happy to help you out in any way that we can.”
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