HOUSTON – Your wedding day: It’s supposed to be something magical, something you dream about from the time you are a kid.
The crowning moment of the wedding? The cutting of the wedding cake.
But now, an ever-growing list of Houston-area brides and their families say they shelled out hundreds, even thousands of dollars, but never got the wedding cakes that they ordered from Adam Longoria of Edible Designs Cakery and Desserts.
“Where is this guy at? Why is he not returning phone calls, emails? Where is he?” said Amanda Stafford, who paid Longoria over $600 for a wedding cake.
“I am a person that is filled with sincerity, love, hope and compassion,” Longoria said from a prepared statement.
“I’m not the kind of person who would do this to a bride," he said.
After weeks of KPRC 2 Investigates trying to track down the once successful and well-known cake maker, Longoria sat down with us in an exclusive interview to give us his side of the story.
Here's a portion of the interview:
KPRC 2 investigative reporter Bill Spencer: “What can you say to all these brides and grooms whose hearts were broken, whose weddings were destroyed?”
Longoria: “To find out that there were brides who expected so much from me and didn’t get it, didn’t get anything, nonetheless, get something they didn’t even order. It was very hurtful because I can just imagine the pain they went through."
Spencer: "The biggest question all these brides want to be answered is what happened.”
Longoria: "The most that I can say is that this is not my doing. I have been counseled not to speak out until this situation has been fully dealt with. However, I can say that it was my belief that all the cakes were being covered by another baker who was working, who took over my position."
Longoria claims he doesn’t own Edible Designs and that his employment with the company ended on June 30, before any of the problems began.
The official Harris County certificate of ownership, obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates, shows Longoria as the sole owner of the business.
In fact, his name is the only name on the form.
To date, KPRC 2 Investigates has identified 24 different couples who said they gave Longoria money for wedding cakes.
Here's more of the interview:
Spencer: “What has happened to the tens of thousands of dollars that you took from all these brides? Where is it?”
Longoria: “That I can’t get into either.”
Spencer: “Why can’t you get into it?”
Longoria: “Because it hasn’t been fully dealt with.”
In the end, Longoria said he's terribly sorry and said he wants to help the brides whose weddings were ruined and those with weddings yet to come who ordered cakes from him.
“If there is anything I can do for you, please, please just let me know. I want to do my best to, you know, refund their money back to them. My sincere apologies go out to all my brides,” Longoria said.
Longoria is asking all the brides that did not receive the wedding cakes they ordered, and those who are supposed to have wedding cakes delivered in the months to come that they have already paid for, to contact him at this email address: theedibledesignshelpcenter@yahoo.com.