Maya Washburn / Staff Writer
Two FIU Hospitality classes came together to gift a complimentary wedding to a local couple who postponed their ceremony due to the pandemic.
An October 2020 study by Brides Magazine found that two of every three couples postponed their wedding due to COVID-19. Thanks to hospitality students and faculty, Juana Guzman and Adrian Cameros’ wedding was rescheduled for April 7, 2021, at the FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus.
The project was led by FIU Hospitality professors Bill Hansen, John Noble Masi and instructor Cristina Moguel who worked with their students to coordinate the festivities.
“When [Hansen] approached me to see if our class could help with the food aspect of [the wedding], I thought it was a great opportunity for the students to do something a little different, to help out a colleague and to do something really nice for this well-deserving couple,” said Masi.
Masi and Moguel trained their advanced food production class for eight weeks, and Hansen was planning since the beginning of the spring semester. Resources and funds were donated by the school and local businesses to plan every aspect of the wedding.
John Noble Masi with his advanced food production class on the wedding day. Photo courtesy of John Noble Masi.
Masi emphasized the positive impact the project had on the couple, students, professors and Miami-Dade County.
“We’re trying to create a sense of community, not only within the university itself, but within the community that we serve and partner with,” said Masi. “It’s great to give back to a deserving couple and it’s great that the students see that we’re doing stuff like that.”
A video contest was held to select a couple who would win the wedding giveaway. Guzman and Cameros heard about the contest and submitted a video entry sharing their story.
“We didn’t expect to actually win, and it was the start of a train of really good things happening,” said Guzman. “In terms of the pandemic, it’s nice to have something hopeful after a long period of things going wrong.”
The couple submitted their video the night before Guzman’s immigration interview. She said that she was soon approved for permanent residency and returned back to Miami-Dade College’s physical therapy assistant program, around the same time they won the complimentary wedding.
Guzman said she and Cameros began dating in their senior year of high school and endured immigration, financial and living situation struggles together.
“Things were pretty dark back then, [but] the first good place we went to was a Flannagan’s,” said Guzman. “Two years later when things were a lot better, he proposed to me at that same Flannagan’s, and that was a new chapter of life that we were entering together.”
Juana Guzman and Adrian Cameros smile together in a limousine on the way to their wedding. Photo courtesy of Juana Guzman.
Flannagan’s and other vendors ended up donating food to the wedding. These companies, along with 40 hospitality students and staff, worked together to plan every part of the wedding.
According to Guzman and Cameros’ wedding website, menu choices included pan-seared corvina vera cruz fish with olives, tomatoes, peppers, onions and fresh herbs or roasted pork tenderloin with wild mushroom cream sauce.
The bride’s place setting with salad prepared by hospitality students. Photo courtesy of Juana Guzman.
Uyen Le, a senior studying hospitality management, said that she helped wherever was needed on the day of the wedding. Le and her classmates were responsible for preparing and serving the food.
“[The project] gave me a lot of experience because it was my first time doing a large catering and doing a wedding,” said Le. “There were a lot of steps to prepare and get ready, but when I got into the wedding, I waited for the chef to instruct me. Everything turned out pretty good and was a lot of fun.”
She noted social distancing and CDC guidelines were enforced at the in-person event. Le added that the unique hands-on experience enhanced what she learned in class.
The COVID-19 safety protocol included required masks, satanizing stations and P3 app questionnaire completion for attendees, according to the couple’s wedding website.
Guzman said that the team of hospitality students and faculty planned the wedding with her and Cameros since January through weekly meetings over Zoom.
The couple married in court on May 20, 2019, but were unable to celebrate a ceremony with friends and family due to the pandemic. Guzman expressed what winning this wedding ceremony meant to her.
“I had a very rough upbringing [and] it was not easy. A big part of it was realizing that a lot of things are out of my control, but also having a hope that things can get better,” said Guzman. “And then the impossible happens sometimes… you win a wedding, and you have a fairytale ending despite thinking that you would never get to this point.”
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