Being wealthy is not all it’s cracked up to be. Yes, you can buy everything your little heart desires, but you will also fall victim to greedy, unscrupulous people who are determined to separate you from your money.
People such as Vicki Lynne Jordan dba Jordan Victoria, owner of Event Couture LLC, who, according to my sources, overcharged rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris to plan their wedding in Florida last year.
Friends say Jordan, who had no previous experience planning weddings, went over the budget by $290,000 to plan the star-studded nuptials in a mansion on Star Island in Miami, Florida on July 31, 2010.
Problems began to arise almost immediately after Jordan was hired: Tiny wanted an outdoor wedding. But Jordan insisted on holding the wedding inside the beautiful, but cramped and sweltering mansion (see picture of the mansion below).
The invitations (which were described as “tacky”) were sent out to guests a week and a half prior to the wedding. There was no rehearsal dinner. When Jordan arrived in Florida, she subcontracted the wedding to another wedding planner in Florida, which means she was paid twice for the same service.
She was given $80,000 to cater the reception for less than 200 wedding guests. Instead of lobster and filet mignon on their plates, the guests dined on chicken and Caesar salad at the reception.
Tiny paid $20,000 for linen for the reception. But Jordan allegedly kept the linen after the reception, telling the couple that she was having the linen cleaned.
Since the wedding in July, Jordan has refused numerous requests to turn over the wedding photos, videos or the thousands of dollars worth of wedding gifts that the couple received, including a Hermes blanket from local radio host Ryan Cameron (V-103).
Friends say Jordan told T.I. and Tiny that she had no idea what happened to the gifts — despite the fact that Jordan and her assistants were seen pushing 3 large baggage carts loaded down with gifts after the wedding.
Some guests stuffed as much as $1,000 cash and checks into envelopes as wedding gifts. The cash and checks are also missing.
The only wedding gift the couple received was from actors Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, who mailed their gift directly to the Grand Hustle offices in Atlanta.
The wedding photographer was Ray Santana of Ray Santana Photography, based in Florida. According to my source, a check for $8,000 was cut directly to Santana for his photography services (the source has the paid invoice to prove it). Yet Santana still refuses to hand over T.I. and Tiny’s wedding pictures and video.
The only photos the couple have seen from their wedding so far are the ones guests took on their camera phones, which angered T.I. According to friends, he paid thousands of dollars to Jordan for tight security to prevent pictures from leaking out. “She was supposed to take care of that and she didnt,” said my source.
According to my sources, Jordan told friends that T.I. and Tiny owe her less than $20,000, despite overcharging them $290,000 for her services. Sources say Jordan went on a shopping spree after returning to Atlanta. She allegedly bought a car, clothing and jewelry for herself.
According to my source, Tiny has hired an attorney and she plans to file a lawsuit later this year when her husband, T.I., who is serving 11 months in an Arkansas prison for a probation violation, is released in September.
“You don’t do that to somebody’s wedding. said my source. [Tiny] got one wedding gift and they’re holding her wedding pictures hostage. Who would do that? It’s a moral thing.”
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Photo of mansion by Ray Santana
Edited Feb. 19, 2011 @ 10:32 p.m.