When writing this review, it is hard not to get emotional. I proposed to my wife in May at the…read morebeginning of the pandemic. We first spoke to Barbie a month later. The first available date in 2021 was in April where Comber Hall and our church were available.
Barbie gave us some initial ideas and we assembled a rough contract. Barbie put up with my constant worries about the pandemic and whether our wedding would be the wedding my wife deserved. The guest list constantly changed, which altered our amenities at the reception. Barbie never took issue with this, and was always agreeable to changes we wanted to make.
In December, we tasted the food and cake, decided on tables, chairs, silverware, linens, and flowers. Barbie was wonderful in providing us all the different options and giving us her recommendations.
As you can imagine with the initial distribution of vaccines starting in December, January through March was extremely hectic with respect to our guest count. Barbie, as always, was extremely patient with us and worked with us on all the changes. In the few weeks leading up to the wedding, Barbie took over coordination with our vendors: photographer/videographer, saxophone player for cocktail hour, and Salty Donut (party favor).
By the time of the wedding, we were set to have about 100 people. We got married at the Church of the Little Flower, right next door to Comber Hall. Because Barbie has such a good relationship with our church, she attended our rehearsal the day prior. She didn't have to, but she did because she wanted to do everything in her power to make sure we had the perfect wedding day.
Before the ceremony began, Barbie was in the church helping the groomsmen and fathers with their boutonnieres. She worked with the photographer and videographer on getting all the pictures I wanted before the ceremony. My wife got ready at the Biltmore Hotel down the street. When the ceremony was over, Barbie's focus was completely on us, making sure we got all the photos we wanted.
We had our cocktail hour on the first floor of Comber Hall. During cocktail hour and after all our pictures in the church and outside were complete, Barbie took us to the second floor where the reception would take place so we could see it. We were greeted with a welcome drink (mojito) and hors d'oeuvres.
Here are our comments with the various components of the reception.
1) Music. The DJ (UBIS Music & Lighting) was fantastic. Our reception started around 4:30 and ended at 10:30. The dancing began at around 6:15. People danced the whole night. We provided the DJ with a few must play songs and let him run with the rest of it.
2) Percussionist - La Hora Loca. THIS IS A MUST. This was the best 30 minutes of the reception. I completely recommend it. Everyone was having so much fun with the party light sticks. The percussionist had me and my wife playing the drums. My dad was even shaking a morocco. There are tons of videos now of us having the best time with our closest family and friends. I will cherish that memory forever.
3) The food. This is A Fancy Fiesta's staple. The hors d'oeuvres were incredible. For dinner, we had churrasco steak or chicken with a mango salsa. We even had a mushroom tower vegetarian option. We also had chicken fingers for kids. Barbie also provided 3 highchairs for the smaller children. We loved the food when we tried it months prior. But the guests raved to us about the food, and frankly we are still hearing about the food. Around 9:00 pm, we had cubanitos brought out with plantain chips for those that needed a late-night bite.
4) Tables and Flowers. Barbie knew just how to make my wife's image--of how she wanted everything to look--come to life. Everyone has their own preference, but I was in awe of how beautiful the flowers and tables looked.
5) Market Lights. Because our guest count was a little lower than what we expected, we added the Market Lights. If you're interested, ask Barbie to show you a picture of how it looked. IT WAS GORGEOUS. At one point, I was on the fence about whether to add the market lights since many of the photographs were going to be taken when the sun was still out. But even in the daylight, it was beautiful. It put the ambience of the reception on another level.
6) Cake. Barbie uses Edda's for the cake. We did a semi-naked vanilla rum cake. It was gorgeous. Once again, our guests said the cake was absolutely delicious.
Not very many days in life are perfect. It was perfect for me because I married my best friend. Barbie was an integral part of making sure our wedding reception matched my feelings. I cannot thank her and A Fancy Fiesta enough.