Correction: We incorrectly wrote that the co-owner told us that 15,000 tickets had been sold. Instead, only 1,500 tickets have been sold. We have updated that story to reflect the ticket number.
A highly anticipated Bridgerton-themed ball planned for Detroit ended up being a bust.
The Bridgerton Ball, put on by Uncle & ME LLC, should have happened on Sunday, August 25. But just days before, people learned their regency ball gowns wouldn't be needed, because the event is being postponed another month, and if you can't make it, you're not getting your money back.
I spoke with the organizer, who says the venue pulled out last minute. Now we're hearing from the people who instead of dancing the night away, are trying to find out what happened.
Being carried into her client's new Detroit home is the only action Terri Burch's Bridgerton Ball Gowns are going to be seeing. Same for Dolores Parson and her ornate custom-made gown.
"For the dress itself at least $250," Dolores said. "It's a one-of-a-kind outfit."
Dolores' niece is Terri's client, and they all share a few things in common: a love for the show Bridgerton, and a flare for dressing up.
So when Detroit Bridgerton-themed ball came on their radar, they grabbed some tickets.
"We were all looking forward to it. We all had bought our fancy clothes, our shoes, got my nails done," Dolores said. "I went overboard."
"It was an opportunity to indulge in a fantasy," Terri said.
"People were actually sending them to me from all over," Terri said. "This is happening in your city? From Pennsylvania, form Canada from the West Coast."
But that ball didn't happen. Instead, ticket holders got an email at 11 p.m. the Thursday before the ball, saying they're suddenly rescheduling the ball because of the event going viral.
"I said you’re kidding aren't you?!" Dolores said when she found out the news.
"The same day we also got a reminder from the event planners that the event was happening," Terri said.
Originally, Uncle & Me LLC planned the Bridgeton themed ball for August 25 at Castle Hall. It holds 450 people, and the ball quickly sold out, so they added Beacon Park as a venue, which holds up to 10,000 and sold tickets all summer.
Co-owner of the company, Chelsea Beard, says they sold just under 1,500 tickets.
"When we did do our in-person meeting we already had told them about ticket sales," Chelsea said.
You can see the Beacon Park event rental agreement Chelsea signed with the Downtown Detroit partnership on June 4th. Tuesday prior to the ball, Chelsea got the update.
"It expanded beyond what they were willing to accommodate," Chelsea said.
Downtown Detroit partnership told me in this statement, "The sudden change is due to the third-party promoters not meeting the basic obligations to secure the park". But when asked, they wouldn't expand on what obligations Chelsea didn't meet.
"That’s all they said. That’s the only reason they gave me," Chelsea said.
They rescheduled the ball for September 22 at the Harmonie Club. Chelsea's event company sent out this email Saturday. The email also notified ticket holders that refunds couldn't be processed.
"The policy is that all sales are final when you purchase your ticket," Chelsea said.
"When you see no refund in my book it’s like 'ok, as long as whatever’s been advertised is delivered then I would not expect my money back,'" Terri said.
Terri and Dolores saying that's not right, especially since Dolores, who lives in NYC, came to Detroit just for the ball, so for her, it is cancelled.
"I couldn’t come back," Dolores said. "Nor would I want to. I got a bitter taste in my mouth."
"Exactly, I couldn't enjoy it if I wanted to," Terri said.
"I apologize to all the customers and I just want to make sure that this event did happen," Chelsea told me.
Chelsea added they've even turned off social media comments because of the backlash. With the new date, Dolores won't be coming back to town, and Terri says even though she's local, she's out as well.
"Someone dropped the ball. I don’t know who did it. All the T’s weren’t crossed and all the I’d weren’t dotted," Dolores said.
"That’s the problem it’s just been kind of vague. Sorry you gave us your money, your 100+ dollars and you’re unable to attend our rescheduling and you’re just out of luck. That’s not enough," Terri said.
Chelsea said some refunds are being given on a case-by-case-basis. You can contact her at Hello@unclenme.com.
