A family-owned coffee shop in Indiana thought it was business as usual on December 31 when a bride, groom, and bridal party unexpectedly showed up at the café. Mansion Society in Indianapolis sits next to a wedding venue, so seeing guests in fancy attire isn't a new thing. But when a wedding ceremony reportedly began inside the shop, employees were stunned.
Mansion Society called the event a "pop-up wedding" and alleged that no one told employees the wedding party was coming, they didn't help clean up, and they left as quickly as they showed up. The coffee shop's post about the event went viral, but the couple has a different take.
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Mansion Society claims it was a typical Sunday afternoon.
In a series of images shared on Facebook and Instagram, Mansion Society explained its side of the story. The coffee shop owners, Ana Lezama, 31, and her mom, Zorayda Lezama, said employees noticed a "downpour of patrons" walking in. Seeing people dressed up isn't unusual, but when a bride and groom walked in, it became suspicious.
Ana Lezama quickly realized that the wedding party intended to use her coffee shop as the venue.
She told IndyStar that about 20 guests had begun humming, and the next thing she knew, the bride was walking down the aisle.
"The officiant literally said, 'We are gathered here today,'" Ana Lezama said. "So there was like no time for a reaction or anything. They literally walked in for the wedding to start."
Per social media, coffee shop employees did their best to keep up. Still, the entire space was overtaken by people involved with the wedding, including guests, the couple, the officiant, and a photographer.
The space is available for private parties, but supposedly this couple had made no prior arrangements.
Mansion Society decided to post on social media to prevent this type of thing from happening again.
The coffee shop didn't name anyone involved but wanted to be clear that the alleged "pop-up" wedding was a surprise. Renting the venue is fine, but "showing up and taking control of our small business with no notice or any sort of monetary prearrangement" was not OK with the owners.
The couple allegedly took over, which didn't sit right with Ana Lezama.
"They were asking us to take their stuff, not in a rude way, but in a way as if the space was theirs," Ana Lezama told IndyStar. "I think that they thought that the bride did have some kind of agreement or arrangement with us."
The couple, however, says that wasn't what really happened.
IndyStar contacted the couple via email, who directed them to an anonymous blog post countering Mansion Society's story. The couple reportedly contacted Isaac Barrow, director of operations at Indy Collective Property Group, which oversees Mansion Society's lease.
"Accusations of encroaching on a local business are serious, and we empathize with your reactions, given the narrative Mansion Society has spun," the blog post reads.
Barrow told IndyStar he had spoken to the couple but allegedly never got any paperwork from them, although he was reportedly there during the "pop-up" wedding. It was a surprise.
"It was just a total state of shock," he said. "Like, I can't believe what's actually happening right now."
He added the shop had no reason to expect a full wedding ceremony.
"Maybe in their mind when they said, 'We're gonna sign some wedding documents,' we should have been prepared for some sort of wedding proceeding to go down," he said. "But that's definitely not what was communicated."
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The couple reportedly attempted a peace offering.
Mansion Society shared email screenshots from the owners to the couple requesting $500, the average rental fee for a weekend. The couple reportedly offered a donation of $200, which Mansion Society declined.
"We stopped communicating when it came to our attention that Mansion Society had taken to social media prior to even initiating private conversations with us. It was clear that the private discussions were not being held in good faith to come to an amicable resolution," the blog post explains. "It is incredibly unfortunate that such an important moment in our lives has been colored and scarred by this social media rampage, when it could have been easily resolved in private."
Friends of Mansion Society launched a GoFundMe to help cover expenses for the unexpected wedding. It has raised nearly its $750 goal.
"We hope to move forward — and not be known as the coffee shop people had a ceremony in," Ana Lezama told IndyStar.
