INDIANAPOLIS— After a fire destroyed theSanctuary On Penn, the demolition of the building is now complete. However, couples who booked their weddings at the venue are still in limbo and waiting for answers.
Many community members and venues are reaching out to couples who are devastated that their “dream venue” is no longer a reality.
“I really just couldn't believe it was real at all and then it just kept going," said Charlotte Kinney, Bride to be. "I was crying for days because I've been looking at this place since I was 15."
The historic downtown wedding venue was demolished after a devastating fire on Christmas Eve morning.
The building was built in 1875 and was used as a church before becoming the Sanctuary at Penn.
Couples are still scrambling to figure out how to plan another wedding after putting money down.
“I saw online that a lot of brides were going and reaching out to the owners for bricks and like pieces of the sanctuary," said Kinney. "I'm going to take chunks of it and grind it down and resin it into cuff links for my groom to wear on our wedding day.”
With the piece of what was supposed to be her wedding venue, she says people have been very helpful in finding a new venue and vendors.
“I think everyone's just trying to deal with it the best they can and taking advantage of the list that the sanctuary General Manager made for us to reach out to venues anybody that wants to help," said Kinney.
One of those venues is The Garment Factory in Franklin.
“We know it's a really personal and significant milestone in their life, and having those plans derailed is really heartbreaking, and we really wanted to be able to help with that," said Brianna Brems, Garment Factory.
Brems says they are all hands on deck trying to figure out logistics for couples left out in the cold this January.
“It's kind of a case by case because each client is different based on what they want for their wedding," said Brems. "We were committed to offering the clients a matched venue rental based on what they would have paid at sanctuary depending on size and stuff.”
As for Kinney, she says many offered suggestions and that she went with a one in Broad Ripples.
We reached out to the Sanctuary On Penn multiple times and never heard back.
We did obtain the contract one of the brides has with the venue which has an act of god clause which goes on the say "A 100% in house non-cancelable credit will be extended to the bride and groom."
