LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Nov. 6, 2021, was one of the happiest days of Jeni Nulty's life.
But just a few weeks before her perfect day in Harrisburg, Nulty was filled with anger. Her makeup artist, who she paid for in full, canceled on her, via text message.
"That text came in and the wind was just knocked out of me," Nulty recalls. "I was like, 'I cannot believe this, She is canceling? She's claiming bankruptcy, she can't refund my money?'"
She paid Holly Ann Kline, also known as Holly Boyer, $1,290 dollars. At the time, Kline owned Extreme Beauty Makeup, which had been in business for 12 years.
Nulty didn't get a refund from Kline herself, she said she had to ask a payment platform and her credit card company to get any money back. Then she had to scramble to find someone else to do her makeup just a few weeks before the big day.
"I instantly started to get angry. I knew how I felt and I knew that this had to be criminal."
Nulty started posting about what happened in some Facebook bridal groups in Central Pennsylvania.
"I knew I would be able to find other people who just went through the same thing as me," she said.
Nulty found dozens of people in the same situation, and they started the "Brides of Justice" Facebook group.
The group contacted law enforcement, convinced this was more than just a civil case.
"We have women from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, all these different places that experienced the same fraudulent behavior," said Nulty.
Earlier this month, Kline was officially charged in Lancaster County with 2 felonies and 34 misdemeanors related to deceptive business practices and theft. She posed bail.
FOX43 Finds Out talks to the makeup artist
"When I was reading the charges, I was like, 'Oh, this really looks bad, this looks bad on my part; if you don't know the story behind it or the intentions behind it,'" Kline said in an interview with FOX43. "It does look terrible and I can understand that."
FOX43 Finds Out asked Kline why she didn't do the makeup for people who paid in full. She said she did offer to do makeup for some brides after this all happened. Some say they didn't trust her to do that, others say she didn't offer it at all.
Kline claims it all started when people started canceling or rescheduling weddings almost two years ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It got to the point where we took out loans," she said. "I fought and I held on until the very end because I didn't want to disappoint. I didn't want to happen, what happened."
She says she applied for financing and it fell through. That's when she told some brides, like Nulty, that she was filing for bankruptcy.
"I had to let go," Kline said. "I knew that it was wrong the way it happened; it just happened so quick."
Some Facebook posts around this time enraged some of Kline's former brides. They say, the week she told them she was filing for bankruptcy, she was still trying to book other brides.
"That was advertising," Kline explains. "I did that a lot. If you're trying to build your business or make up for some income, that's not unlike anything anyone else would have done. That was before I found out I wasn't going to have the financing and again I can see how bad that looks."
Kline told brides she was filing for bankruptcy in the middle of October. Paperwork was not submitted until Dec. 19, 2021.
FOX43 Finds Out asked Kline what was happening in those two months.
"Anyone who understands bankruptcy knows it's not a quit turnaround process, you have to make sure you have all your ducks in a row because once you submit it, that's it," she said.
Recently, Kline started a new Facebook page under the name "The Beauty From Within."
When some of her former brides found it, they were furious.
"What she's doing is not right," says Nulty. "And I can almost guarantee you she's still doing it."
Wedding sites like The Knot and Wedding Wire have removed Extreme Beauty Makeup from their lists of vendors.
The Beauty from Within's Facebook page is also gone. FOX43 Finds Out asked Kline why she started another business in the middle of this.
"It was not a very smart thing," Kline said. "I wanted to continue doing this because it's all I've known for 12 years.
"I feel terrible for the way that things happened, I just hope that with the court hearing and some of the evidence coming to life will at least prove that it wasn't with intent."
Some of her former brides, like Nulty, predict this case will get even bigger.
"The word is definitely getting out and this is not the end," she said.
Kline's next court appearance is scheduled for February.
If you have a story you want Jackie De Tore to look into, FOX43 wants to find out. Send her a message on Facebook or send an email to FOX43FindsOut@FOX43.com.