Seasonal Garden Cafe at Hahndorf to close, weddings cancelled as parts of garden is destroyed
The embattled Seasonal Garden Cafe in Hahndorf will close next week as its owner fights debt claims — at least nine couples have potentially lost thousands of dollars in deposits, and other brides-to-be may not even know yet.
- Seasonal Garden owner tells staff business has been sold
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Couples have potentially lost thousands of dollars in deposits and are scrambling to find a new wedding venue after learning a financially embattled Adelaide Hills cafe will close its doors.
Staff at popular Seasonal Garden Cafe at Hahndorf have told brides-to-be this week their dream weddings will not go ahead at the popular eatery, which will cease trading after Sunday.
This is despite owner Silvia Hart having previously assured staff and customers to the contrary.
The Advertiser understands couples paid deposits of between $3000 and $4000 with at least nine weddings booked for the 2019/20 season, which runs from October to mid-May.
Among affected couples are Daniel and Cara — who declined to use their surname — who paid a $3000 deposit last year for a November 23 wedding with 75 guests.
Daniel, 31, discovered his wedding reception would not be honoured when Cara rang the cafe on Tuesday to inquire about their booking.
“A cafe worker answered the phone and (she) had found out two nights before that they would be shutting up shop on Sunday,” he said. “She started crying and then Cara started crying.
“The girl said that (business owner) Silvia (Hart) hadn’t given staff any contact details for who had booked weddings.”
The Advertiser has been separately told that the cafe will close after Father’s Day trade on September 1.
ARE YOU AFFECTED? Contact the reporter at renato.castello@news.com.au
The Advertiser has sought comment from Ms Hart about the venue’s closure.
The venue’s event co-ordinator Nicole Radbone hung up on The Advertiser when asked what was happening with the weddings.
Daniel said Ms Hart had assured them in July their wedding would not be affected by legal action to wind up an affiliated company over an unpaid bill.
After The Advertiser also revealed Ms Hart was facing separate bankruptcy action, Daniel said she failed to respond to emails about the status of their wedding, prompting Cara to call this week.
He said guests were travelling from interstate and that accommodation had been booked in Hahndorf.
Ms Hart’s company Maerhuev Pty Ltd — which she has claimed has no connection to the Hahndorf cafe — was wound up last month after it failed to settle a $55,000 fruit and vegetable bill.
Daniel said liquidators KPMG told Cara that the company owed $750,000 and that there was little chance of the couple getting their deposit back.
The Advertiser has sought confirmation of the figure from KPMG.
On August 7 Ms Hart told staff that she had sold the cafe safeguarding their jobs and weddings.
Melissa Little, director of wedding venue co-ordinator Venyu, said Daniel and Cara were among two couples who had contacted her to try to find a new venue.
She said another couple, whose wedding is in December, also discovered their event was not going ahead after calling the Seasonal Garden Cafe.
“I’m really concerned there are other couples that haven’t been notified yet, these couples only found out by chance,” she said.
The wedding woes came after police were called to Seasonal Garden on Monday after reports people had cut down light poles and had torn trees and fixtures from a shared garden without authority of the landlord.
A witness to the incident said Ms Hart had told a local builder to remove the lights, fountain and “as much of the garden” as possible.
The builder confirmed to The Advertiser that Ms Hart had instructed him to undertake the work but said he did not “want to be dragged” into the dispute.
The landlord, who has been actively on site this week to protect his property, declined to comment publicly on the matter.
