Blaring music, strings of lights, big beautiful ball gowns, and the smell of carne and rice. The heart-felt speeches, gifts, dancing with your parents, doing fun dances with friends for laughs, all so sentimental, yet so fun. A place where family and friends all join together for the celebration of a young woman’s special day.

A quinceanera is the hispanic tradition of celebrating a girl becoming 15 or a girl aging into a young woman. 

Quinces are more than a birthday party and planning one is similar to planning a wedding. There is the venue for party, seating arrangements, guests, DJ, security, and, of course, the dress. Dresses are more fun, bright and colorful, and of course, bedazzled. 

While today’s quinces are more like a “Sweet Sixteen” rather than a church ceremony, there are still many traditions that are held in both kinds of quinces. 

To be original you, of course, have the tiara for the birthday girl. The changing of shoes is the beautiful representation of a girl becoming a young woman. The last doll symbolizes the last doll she will receive as a girl because she is now being a young adult. Usually, the dolls are porcelain and wear the same dress as the birthday girl. 

Another tradition quinces hold are mother/daughter and father/daughter dances, which are always very sentimental for parents because their daughter is growing up. No one ever ends the dance without some tears. 

Rocio Mayorga is a 36-year-old mom who had her quince in 1998. On her special day, she held a church ceremony where she was baptized and had her first communion. 

When it came to the budget for Mayorga’s quinceanera, her parents made a list of things needed for the party, as well as the ceremony. 

They asked family members or family friends to pick an item from the list to help her bring together her perfect day. They are also known as her godfathers. 

Back then people’s quince dresses were white with a pop of color. Mayorga’s had a white dress with a lavender waist band and sash. 

Mayorga also worried about the number of guests she wanted to invite and who she wanted in her court, because the people she picked to be in her court needed to be reliable to show up on time for practices to prepare for the event. Mayorga said most of the money planning was arranged by her parents, like venues, seating arrangements, and the church ceremony.

A North Star student, who wished to remain anonymous, didn’t want a quinceanera because she really doesn’t favor a lot of attention and it’s a lot of stress. She is involved in a lot of activities and planning a quince would have gotten in the way of all that. She also didn’t want her parents to have the pressure of feeling like they needed to spend a lot of money on such a special day.