Certain people have a flair for fabulous parties and Brigitte Nachtigall Aixala is one of them. So it’s no surprise that her 48th birthday bash was truly epic. She pulled it together in two weeks after returning from a summer spent traveling through St. Tropez, Portofino, Santa Marguerite, Ligure and Nice with her husband, luxury home builder, Mike Aixala, owner and president of Interscope Contractors, and their four sons. These are trips she deems necessary so the boys become world citizens, learn about and respect different cultures and religions and realize how important it is to speak different languages.
The party came at the request of several girlfriends, who wanted a reunion of sorts, so of course, Brigitte complied. About 150 friends, the crème de la crème of society, business and philanthropy from various countries, including Venezuela, México, Argentina, Guatemala, Salvador, Spain, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and a large Miami crowd, descended upon the Grand Bay Club for the celebration. At the party, there were friends from as far back as elementary school in Colombia, others from college and those who began as real estate clients and have become friends, including Miami-Dade State Attorney, Kathy Fernandez Rundle.
Brigitte and I became fast friends in 1995, during the photo shoot when we were both featured in a fashion spread in the Miami society bible, Selecta Magazine. At the time Brigitte was a top realtor for the Ocean Club, a luxe condo development on Key Biscayne. She went on to sell the Four Seasons Residences and currently works for Great Properties International Realty. A job she adores.
The Bogota-born beauty moved to Key Biscayne at age 14, where she’s lived ever since. She has a natural effervescence only surpassed by a fireworks display so any party definitely involves dancing. A lot of dancing. There was Latin music — Merengue, Cuban Salsa and cumbia — and 80s hits. Plus her dear friend, Ana Cristina Defortuna surprised us all with a fabulous Mariachi band. The menu, accompanied by free-flowing champagne, was diet-conscious yet gourmet with delicious tuna and chicken salads and pasta stations so the dancing could go on!
As if all of this weren’t enough, Brigitte did not want birthday gifts, instead she asked that we all donate to Miami Children’s Hospital and the Wounded Warriors project. All our donations amounted to almost $16,000.00 for the two organizations. This selflessness is a big part of what makes us love this great girl. As she put it, “I’m a true believer that it is much better to give than to receive. We have to give back to our community. It was a celebration about life, health and to me specially friendship. I feel extremely blessed that so many of my friends came. I am really glad that I did it. I had one of the best days of my life and at the same time we helped others.”
