Para Un Quinceanera!

Many different cultures celebrate coming of age (when a girl becomes a woman) with a party! There's a debutante party, which originated in France when a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family was introduced or “debuted” as a new adult.  This often times meant that the young girl was then ready for more responsibilities such as learning how to manage a household, taking care of younger siblings, and even marriage.  Other parties that stem from this idea of celebrating the coming of age are, for example, Sweet Sixteens, Quinceaneras, and Bat Mitzvahs.  MTV dramatized these sorts of celebrations in American culture with their reality TV series, My Super Sweet Sixteen, which aims to show off the lavish and sometimes extreme parties that families throw.  Some of their featured parties were actually Quinceaneras, parties for Latino girls who turn fifteen, marking their age of adulthood.   

Quinceaneras can be very elaborate because it is a special time in a young woman’s life.  Like a wedding, everything is taken into serious consideration: the perfect Quinceanera dress, the food, the music, the decorations, the guests, and the venue.  Planning a Quinceanera can be a lot of work, especially if you have a little princess on your hands.