A fainting uncle, temporarily misplaced rings and painful shoes were not enough to keep Adriana Sanchez-Lindsay from having her fairy-tale wedding.
Because of the Thomas Center, a historical building used most often to host venues, her wedding dreams came true, she said.
“Everything looked beautiful,” she said.
And Sanchez-Lindsay isn’t the only one who feels that way.
For the third consecutive year, the Thomas Center was recognized as one of the best wedding reception and ceremony sites by The Knot, a magazine for brides and grooms.
“To know that we are getting positive reviews from the people who use us is the most important thing to us,” said Erica Chatman, facilities coordinator for the Thomas Center.
Thousands of North Florida brides and grooms were asked to rate their vendors, from wedding photographers to bridal salons, according to The Knot magazine's Web site.
Sanchez-Lindsay said the center’s success probably stems from its combination of historical beauty and affordability.
“The building itself has so much character that it doesn’t require a lot of decorations,” she said.
Sanchez-Lindsay, whose father paid $3,000 to rent four of the Thomas Center’s rooms for 10 hours, believes she couldn’t have gotten a better deal elsewhere.
“Compared to other venues, I found that it was a lot more inexpensive,” she said.
The Thomas Center, which just celebrated its 100th birthday this year, hosts about 60 weddings annually, Chatman said.
It’s also used for business meetings and workshops, conferences, art gallery receptions, plays and other events.
Sanchez-Lindsay said she would recommend the center to other brides looking for their own fairy-tale wedding.
“Anybody can get married at a hotel," she said. "You can do so many princess fairy-tale fantasies at the Thomas Center."
