Regardless of how the tradition originated, regardless of the relentless onslaught of gringo culture prevalent today, the celebration of the quinceañera remains as the rites of passage that keeps the bonds of the Mexican family firmly cemented. Its fancy frills and frosting abide as rich ingredients for a niña’s sweet dreams. While the quinceañera deposits her bouquet on the altar or in a niche honoring the Virgin Mary, after the mass younger sisters, cousins and friends pass out bolos to those in attendance, most often that of the ubiquitous Virgen de Guadalupe.
You see, flanked by her parents and padrinos, she is specially seated at the foot of the altar throughout the service. Certainly, she should be accompanied by up to seven damas and as many chambelanes, selected from among close family and friends. For example, the birthday girl arrives decked out in a fancy ‘full length’ dress -frills, pastel nes and matching hats or headdresses prevail. I know that the most important component of the celebration is invariably a Misa de acción de gracias. While village folks are more inclined to set up rented folding tables and chairs in a freshly cleared and swept huerta or corral, urbanites frequently lease banquet halls for the dance.
Now look, a host of padrinos and madrinas might be invited to sponsor, respectively, the dress, the music, the locale, the bar, the cake and the table favors, with the intention to cover the multiple expenses.
Nowadays young women of all social strata generally choose the party, complete with live band music, while a trip to Paris and similar European destinations was once the rage among the well heeled.
Actually the quinceañera traditionally has the option of further celebrating the occasion with either a viaje or a fiesta. By the way, the degree of opulence of the event is directly associated with the economic means of the girl’s parents and godparents. That said, this was truly a great day for this brave young woman. Then, her mother was delighted with how happy her daughter was with her extraordinary day. She said Cinthya never stopped smiling, and it was truly a day the family will remember for most of their lives. Now pay attention please. While saying it was perfect, cinthya could not been happier about her Quinceanera. Other indispensable highlights include a customary ast and the cutting of a ‘multi tiered’ birthday cake.
Cumbia and salsa tunes tend dominate throughout the event, the culminating moment comes when the festejada and her in the p chambelán dance to a traditional waltz, while raucous banda. Dripping in meringue frosting and decorated in hues to match the quinceañera’s dress, the cake might be of such monumental proportions that the door leading into the party locale must be removed from it hinges.to accommodate it! Her 15th birthday was quickly approaching, and she wanted nothing more than to have a beautiful Quinceanera to share with her friends and family. Right before her Wish Granters were about to leave, however, she softly said she really wanted a Quinceanera party.
Wish Granters worked long and hard making sure all the details for Cinthya’s Quinceanera would come gether exactly as she envisioned it, and made sure everything was ready for her big day!
Cinthya was very excited to meet with her Wish Granters and ok her time going through the different ideas she had for her wish.
Shy but brave 15 year old, Cinthya is battling hydrocephalus and spina bifida, both of which have left her wheelchairbound for most of her life. She was overjoyed and began describing her perfect 15th birthday celebration, when Cinthya found out her wish will be coming true. Besides, the celebration is a way to acknowledge that a young woman has reached sexual maturity and is thus of a marriageable age. From a northoftheborder viewpoint, it might be seen as a cross between Sweet Sixteen and a debutante’s coming out party. Then the transition from childhood to womanhood is a significant passage for adolescent girls in almost all cultures. In Mexico, I know it’s marked with the celebration of the Quinceañera, or 15th Birthday. For a full English translation of the passage Advice of a Aztec Mother to her Daughter see William Prescott’s The Conquest of Mexico.