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'Wedding Nightmare' Couple Gets Offer of Help from the Onion (Not a Joke)

By Alisa Hauser | August 17, 2015 9:47am | Updated on August 17, 2015 9:48am
 Onion Productions will be opening a production house at 2155 W. Hubbard St. in September.
Onion Productions in West Town
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WEST TOWN —  The Onion is offering up its new studio to a Bucktown couple chasing a $12,000 refund from a catering contract — a twist of events because the satirical news group now rents out the loft that Deanne Fornelli and Nick Dilly had planned to get married in on Sept. 12.

"It had everything: an outdoor space, an exposed brick indoor space, access to multiple rooms and the flow looked really well. I thought, a Saturday in Chicago that's not booked, let's do it," said Fornelli, who  booked Hub Studio Loft at 2155 W. Hubbard St. in West Town.

The couple had been working with an event planner from Pure Kitchen Catering, who also took couples on tours of wedding venues through Revolt Events LLC.  Both Pure Kitchen and Revolt Events are owned by Joshua Yates, state records show.   

Just a few weeks after being pressured to pay a $12,000 catering contract upfront, the couple was told by Yates that the venue was closed.  Though they did get a $2,000 deposit back for the venue deposit, Yates has allegedly refused to refund the $12,000.

The building's owner Dennis Vulich, who told DNAinfo Chicago that he had been "snookered" by Yates after months of talk about converting the spot into a venue, ended up renting the first two floors of the 4-story industrial building to Onion Studios.

Alisa Hauser details how the couple lost over $12,000:

Yates has not respond to multiple requests for comment but Peter Nabhani, a lawyer for Yates, said 13 couples had been signed on for fall weddings at Hub Studio Loft and Fornelli and Dilly were the only ones who did not accept offers of alternative venues.

An executive from The Onion heard about the couple's situation and decided to help.

"I know what it's like to plan a wedding, my wife and I went through it 7 years ago.  We will let them have the spot for nothing on Sept. 12,"  said the exec, who asked not to be named.

Onion Studios is currently building out the loft for a studio that will augment the company's main headquarters at 730 N. Franklin St. in River North. The new studio features a "white screen" for clean backgrounds in photo and video shoots, the executive said during a tour last week. 

Onion staffers who create video for ClickHole, A.V. Club and the Onion's website can use Onion Studios, which will also be available as a production house for rent to other TV, film and video producers when it opens in September.

Informed of the offer by The Onion, Fornelli said, "We are thinking about some of the offers but aren't sure of anything yet. We appreciate the support and will extend our gratitude to The Onion/Dennis [Vulich.]"

Onion Productions, set to open in September at 2155 W. Hubbard St. [Photos by DNainfo/Alisa Hauser]

Onion Productions' new headquarters.

 

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