SOUTH WEST RULES, Florida (AP) – Courtney Wilson and Shenita Jones invited family and friends to their “dream home and estate” for their weekend wedding celebration: the ceremony Saturday, a brunch on Sunday.
There was only one problem: the couple did not own the 1,500-square-foot mansion and did not have permission to use it.
The suburban Fort Lauderdale estate had it all: a bowling alley, a pool with a waterfall, a hot tub, tennis courts, a garden house and a 240-meter bar. Wilson said it was God’s plan for the couple to get married there.
But despite the distraction of the invitation, the real owner, Nathan Finkel, never gave them permission to hold the festivities there. He was stunned when Wilson arrived Saturday morning to set up and he called police, according to the South Florida SunSentinel..
“I have people trespassing on my property,” Finkel told a 911 dispatcher. ‘And they hold me and call me. They say they are going to get married here and that is God’s message. I do not know what’s going on. All I want is for it to stop. And they are now sitting at my property at the front gate. ‘
Two officers told Wilson he would have to leave. He did so and no charges were filed.
“I do not want to talk about it,” Wilson told the newspaper.
Finkel, whose late father was an early IHOP restaurant franchisee, has been trying to sell the property for two years and now names it for just over $ 5 million.
Wilson, who pretended to be a potential buyer, toured the estate a few months ago, said Keith Poliakoff, a lawyer for Southwest Ranches, the luxury suburb where Finkel lives.
“A few months later, this man asked Nathan if he could use Nathan’s backyard for his wedding,” Poliakoff said. “Nathan said no.”
But that did not stop the couple from sending out extensive invitations, in which they set out their love story: 30 years after high school reconnecting and how he proposed pizza on Christmas Eve. The ceremony on Saturday afternoon is followed by a cocktail on the red carpet and a reception that lasts until midnight. Sunday brunch is from 12 to 4 p.m.
“The man thought it was a vacant house and did not realize that Nathan lived in another house on the premises,” Poliakoff said. “This man had no idea he lived there. Do you know the shock that must have been on his face when he arrived at the gate and the owner was home? ‘
According to Broward County, a marriage license was issued to the couple last week, but they have not yet registered as married on Wednesday.