Caterer nearly ruined daughter’s quinceanera, Fresno mom says. She fought back in court

Months of planning for Crystal Ballesteros’s 15-year-old daughter’s quinceanera celebration came to a crashing halt June 24, when the party planning company she was depending on pulled out of the event the day before.

Although Ballesteros, along with family and friends, still put on the party for 250 people, she remembers thinking she wasn’t going to let the business go unpunished.

Ballesteros, a single mother of three, took the company, Sofia’s Creaciones, to small-claims court and recently won a judgment for nearly everything she was owed, $4,510.

“I wasn’t going to let my daughter down and I wasn’t going to let this business do this to us,” Ballesteros said Monday. “We have been talking about her quinceanera since she was 8 years old.”

Sofias Creaciones on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno did not return messages from The Bee on Monday.

Quinceaneras are a rite of passage celebration in the Hispanic culture, mixing religious ceremony with a formal party and dance. It celebrates a 15-year-old girl’s transition into adulthood.

It also isn’t unheard of for families to spend thousands of dollars on a quinceanera.

Ballesteros’ total price tag for her daughter’s party was approaching $16,000.

She paid Sofia’s Creaciones about $5,000 for the rental of charro outfits, like those worn by mariachi musicians, catering, decorating inside and outside, centerpieces for the tables, waiters and a bartender.

But when she arrived June 24, the day before her daughter’s celebration, she was told she needed to pay more money for the outfits.

“They told us we owed $100 deposit for each suit and that added up to $600,” Ballesteros said. “I told her that I was never made aware of that. They also told us if we didn’t pay it we would have to bring the suits back, but I told them we need these tomorrow.”

Ballesteros was able to secure the charro outfits and the centerpieces, but not before a confrontation with the store management that also involved a visit by the Fresno Police Department.

She said the police helped sort things out, allowing her to take the centerpieces and the outfits. But the business owners refused to do anything more for Ballesteros, despite having been paid in advance.

That meant no food, decorations, waiters, or bartender.

“I asked myself, how am I going to do this,” she said. “But I am a strong mom and I knew I had to do this.”

Reaching out to family and friends, people donated the food and prepared it. They also served as the wait staff. The catered menu was supposed to include birria, chile verde ribs, rice, beans, macaroni salad, chips and salsa.

“We ended up making tacos, but I think it mean more to us because it was family who came together to make it,” she said.

One thing Ballesteros was especially upset about was the decorations were not what she and her daughter spent weeks planning. Her daughter didn’t realize her mother found someone the day before to do the decorations inside the Buena Vista Event Center in Madera.

“She honestly thought there were going to be no decorations, but she walked in and saw everything, she started crying,” Ballesteros said.

Ballesteros’ next challenge will be to collect the money she is owned from the business. She said she has called Sofia’s several times about the judgment and was told the company’s insurance company will pay it. That was several weeks ago.

“I don’t want to put a lien on her store,” she said. “But I am still getting the runaround.”