No More Garden of Love
[Guest post by DRJ]
There’s one less wedding chapel in Las Vegas NV as the City Council unanimously voted today to revoke the Garden of Love wedding chapel’s business license on the ground it is a nuisance.
Apparently part of the allegations against the Garden of Love involved the use of overly aggressive handbillers, people who stand outside the marriage license office and hand out handbills in the hope to win business for a specific chapel. Competing chapels claimed the Garden of Love handbillers had used assault, harassment, and intimidation to corner the wedding chapel market. The City Council found the competitors’ claims persuasive, although the Garden of Love owners tried to turn the focus against one of its most vocal critics, Cliff Evarts.
Read the whole thing. It sounds like something from out of a comedy but I’m sure it’s not a laughing matter to the participants since wedding chapels are big business in Las Vegas.
— DRJ
I would have thought the Elvis chapel would have had the market cornered.
dave (0606c0) — 10/23/2007 @ 2:11 pmThree years ago, the Las Vegas marriage license department was open 24 hour per day. On our way back to our car, my girlfriend and I happened to walk by the courthouse about 2 in the morning. Thinking we were getting married, representatives from about 3-4 wedding chapels came out of the shadows offering us wedding deals and discounts. They were aggressive and very skeptical that we were not getting married.
Perfect Sense (b6ec8c) — 10/23/2007 @ 2:27 pmVegas was so much more fun when the mob ran the casinos instead of the wedding chapels.
Steverino (e00589) — 10/23/2007 @ 2:48 pmThe allegations of wrongdoing seem borderline compared to what I would expect to justify pulling a business license. I think there must be more to this story.
DRJ (fb1a22) — 10/23/2007 @ 3:17 pmCheryl Luell used to work for the Tropicana Wedding Chapel and was terminated. She applied for a consultant position at a Wedding Facility I was managing. She put the Tropicana as a reference and of course I called them. They told me she was NOT eligable for rehire the only information they could give me by law. Because of the bad reference I did not hire her. For 2 weeks after she harrassed me, telling me she was more than qualified for the position and that there was no reason she should not be hired. So with that said… I believe she did what they are claiming and she should NOT be in the Wedding business at all. Vegas or no Vegas marriage is sacred and I wouldn’t want her to be a memory of my wedding…………
Jane (40eab9) — 10/24/2007 @ 9:16 amGarden of love looks like it went to being too much bullying
krazy kagu (6cb3c5) — 10/25/2007 @ 7:00 amA curse on the house of Luell.
Cheryl Loser (10caeb) — 11/5/2007 @ 3:58 pmWhat a shame that the hit and run driver didn’t kill them when he had the chance.
Rot in hell, Luells.
Rot in hell!
I booked our wedding back on September 22, 2007 and was dealing with Cindy at The Garden of Love. I paid for the wedding and Cindy was great and available to except our moneys, but once she had the “green” she turned mean. She never sent me a receipt for the moneys I paid as promised and she didn’t return any of my calls. I finally got her on the phone after 6 messages I left for her, and 2 emails. Her response was she didn’t know I called and left her messages and she didn’t receive my emails. I told her I needed my receipt she promised me back on September 22nd along with the details for the wedding. She promised again she would email all of the information I have requested (which I should have gotten from the time of payment) to me by 12 noon the next day; which was on October 23rd and I still have not received anything from her.
It’s my understanding they are now under new management (Thank God)our wedding is now
5 weeks away and everyone (including myself & husband to be) are from out of town (MT) and we aren’t sure if our wedding is going to happen at this point; although we have already paid in full for their services (including the reception for 85 people). The Garden of Love did very poor business and deserved to have the business license revoked. I have been in the Hospitality Industry for over 24 years as an Executive Marketing & Sales Director and never conducted business in the manner they have. Neither myself nor any of my staff would ever conduct business that way; and if I got word of any mishandling they would have been terminated on the spot. When dealing with brides you need to have the utmost ethical operations, as they pay the most moneys and have the highest expectations. You only get one chance to make it perfect for the Bride & Groom.
Thank you,
L & J Cook (ec0ac2) — 11/7/2007 @ 9:46 amLisa
My husband and i got married at the garden of love and we were susposed to have a nice wedding i paid 701.00 for my wedding i called the chapel cause i was not happy with my wedding they told me that i would have what i wanted and i had nothing that i wanted i paid for a waterfall wedding and instead i had a sidewalk wedding they were susposed to call me back and see about a refund but they never called they avoided me for months now and still can’t get ahold of them i hope they get what they deserve they ruined my wedding and my dress i would not tell any one to go to them for anything thank you for not being the only one that did not like them and i still want my money back thanks Bobbie
Bobbie (cc28e3) — 2/5/2008 @ 4:15 pmWe travelled from Scotland and got married at the LV Garden of Love in May of last year. Booked online, followed up with a couple of calls. It was great. A catch on my dress had broken on the journey to the chapel and I was whisked away to have someone repair it. My flowers were gorgeous and we had a blast. Only downside was waiting outside in scorching heat for around 45 minutes to get our photos, but no biggie. Sorry to hear of others bad experiences but we had a wonderful day.
Fiona Dallas (3bf890) — 3/9/2008 @ 10:02 amThe Garden Of Love Chapel was one the best experiences that I have ever had in my life. Me And my husband were late arriving to the chapel. But we waited no longer than 30 min to be married, considering the chapel was full. I’m not sure of the allegations that other couples have made. But I see it as they expected TOO much for what they paid for. So maybe others shouldn’t bitch so much, and be happy. It could be worse. My sister was married at the Stain Glass Wedding Chapel, the girl that assisted with their wedding looking and acted drugged up. And that shouldn’t be a part of your wedding experience.
mono (f29995) — 3/9/2008 @ 10:08 pmI was married at the Garden of Love In December 06. I had a great time, Nice Hummer Limo escorted us to and from, and to the license place. My pictures were wonderful, and I have a video to cherrish for the rest of my life. The only thing I am sad about is, we will not be able to go back and renue our vows there…. I don’t think that this is the only company that is rude and bully’s…. I think that is the entire Vegas experiance overall. You are getting bugged and bothered most of the time by timeshare, card snappers and anyone looking to make a buck. including prostitues…. This is Sin city. The city where you can be in a cross walk, get struck by a car and it will be you’re fault… Come on people… This is VEGAS BABY!!
Melissa (26c924) — 3/23/2008 @ 7:23 pmI’m so glad that Cheryl Luell got her business license revoked………….She ruined my wedding
pissed_off_bride2004 (be3f05) — 5/1/2008 @ 5:53 pmon 02/14/04. Limo never showed to pick us up at
our hotel as promised……..i ordered a cake and cider reception that was supposed to feed 40 people and strictly told her no chocolate because my husband to be was allergic to chocolate…….i was outraged when i saw that suppose to be cake it looked like it was baked in a easy bake oven………my dvd video was given to me blank with no wedding footage at all……………Cheryl overbooked which caused us to be 3-4 hours late getting married. My husband to be saw me in my dress before I walked down the isle because of all the chaos…….i spent 1000 on my wedding dress not including my wedding party’s attire…….and accomodations at the hotel and accomodations getting to vegas from california for 30+ people…….wedding dress was totally ruined with grease from their run down parking lot………after we got married they put my guest outside in the cold and in the dark….and locked the doors and turned all of the outside lighting off…..if that wasnt RUDE…..I stayed in with my husband to try and get my money back because i was not happy about how they handled their business…….Cheryl called the police and had them sitting outside her place of business for protection because she knew that she was shady from the get go……She wrote me a personal check made payable to cash which I didnt realize until I went to cash it. I told Cheryl that I needed my refund because we were leaving after the wedding returning to California…..so I truly believe that she wrote me the check payable to cash thinking that she would never see me again. Thats where she was wrong. I went to The Garden Of Love the very next day and she hadnt opened and it was nearly noon……so we left .to come back to California…..the next morning I wrote to the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint……..A day after the complaint I went to my local court house and filed suit against Cheryl Luell and the Garden Of Love Wedding Chapel. I wanted to gut puuch her with paperwork and get it out there to the everybody that they are shady business people with shady business practices. I called up Montell Williams Show, Oprah, Judge Joe Brown, and Judge Judy……Within an hour after submitting my story producers from the Judge Judy Show contacted me and wanted me to appear on the show……..We flew out to LA and Cheryl got there and just lied left and right. I had evidence of my dress being ruined, limo not showing up, and also cake not being what i paid for. I had witnesses that came down to the show with us and Cheryl basically fast talked her way so we couldn’t produce our evidence. But I got that last te he he……..because Judge Judy wasn’t buying her fast talk and her sob story….In the end I won my case but I didnt recover all the money that was put out….and the memories of our wedding are a mess. I wish I could let Judge Judy see all of these complaints about the Garden Of Love…..she would have given me the 5000.00 max in a heart beat. Thank you all for listening, God Is Good And Cheyrl Got Exactly What She Deserved.
On 7-7-07 my wife and I were married at the Garden of Love Wedding Chapel and witnessed all of the chaos that went on that day and the way the management handled it. For us, our limo was late, they lost our paper work, they lost her flowers 3 times, they were supposed to do her hair and make-up (that never happened), we were supposed to get married at 3:00 pm that day, it was after 7:30pm when we did. Then comes the fun part, We were crammed in this building with no air conditioning and stuck in the middle of 3 physical fights that broke out between patrons and chapel staff. We paid a lot of money for this wedding which was supposed to have 60-70 professional photographs along with a DVD and a few other items. Never got the other items, only got just over 20 and they were dark and blurry. the DVD was pretty much the same.
Ryker (636d95) — 5/3/2008 @ 10:03 pmThen we went back up there on the 9th of July and wanted to be compensated for what we never got. Cheryl Luell then offer us a full wedding do-over at the Bellagio hotel on our 1 year anniversary. They said they do weddings there all the time. I told my wife that I had a feeling the we were getting snowballed. And from what I was reading we did for they are now shut down.
My wife and I are willing to talk about everything that happened that day or what we were offered by the wedding chapel.
If I ever meet this woman in public again I will strangle her then and there! Die BITCH! DIE!
Prison Time (507190) — 5/14/2008 @ 2:14 pmI’m sorry to hear the everyone had such a horrible expereince with the Garden of Love Wedding Chapel. My husband and I were married out at Seven Sisters in the Valley of Fire State Park in March of 2007 – all arranged through the chapel. We had a great time. Everything was on time, the limo driver was great, and the pictures are beautiful. A few minor complaints – the limo was dirty and the video is inaudible because of the wind noise. Disappointing, but not enough to ruin our day, or our memories.
As far as the aggressive tactics – when we left the Marriage of License Offices (along with our Garden of Love limo driver) – it was the other chapel handlers that were outside the office being quite aggressive. Our limo drive had to tell them to back off, as they were so quick to jump out into our faces. I’m not sure of they employ the same tactics, but I can attest, they aren’t the only ones.
Never met Cheryl Luell. I have no idea who she is. She is not part of my wedding memory. I’m sorry she ruined so many others’ special day.
Satisfied (4abc9d) — 5/27/2008 @ 5:55 pmI really hope Cheryl was smart enough to start over somewhere else. When I had meet her, she was very helpful in the events that were going on there at the chapel. I was not married there but can vouch that I had been there for many weddings and I can vouch that people dont understand that you get exactly what you paid for. Garden of Love was not the fairy tale version of any weddings. But Cheryl always went above and beyond helping these women and men get married. I can only hope the women and men whom have posted any comment on this or any other comment page realize that Cheryl even though you might not have delt with her, she is a very intelligent and was very successful in all that she did. You most likely recieved all that you paid for. In most cases. you must have recieved more than what was actually paid for. So why complain. Any chapel in Las Vegas honestly have had the same if not worse dealing with wedding that have conspired. The reason she lost her license is…She was the best. And there were alot of chapels that were threatned by her chapel. Look even now that she is gone. The Harrassment continues down where you get your license. Just last Thurs i was downtown. And I couldn’t count the number of various chapels that pushed there brochure in my hands. Offering discounts, limos, free flowers, free chapel use. The City when taking Cheryl’s license away said that when ‘The Garden Of Love goes away all this chaos would leave’. Guess what City of Las Vegas….It’s still there. Cheryl Luell didn’t deserve this. The City only made an example of her.
Monica J. (cd5566) — 10/6/2008 @ 4:12 pm