Quinceañera
The Quinceaños, or la fiesta Quinceañera, is a rite of passage for fifteen-year-old Latina girls. It is a community and family celebration full of tradition and meaning when a young girl is symbolically escorted into womanhood by her family and the event is witnessed by her community. The word itself comes from the Spanish quince, "fifteen," and años, "years." The origins of the Quinceañera are often attributed to the ancient customs of the Aztecs, but the ceremony and meaning behind it are similar to other ancient cultural initiation rites that occurred throughout the world. Fifteen was the age when many young women left their family home to become wives and then mothers, and almost as though passing through an invisible door, a Latina enters her Quinceañera as a child but emerges as a young woman with new responsibilities. Those who know and love her will see and treat her differently from that day forward.
For Latinas from Latin American and Puerto Rico, this is an old and revered tradition. The celebration as we know it today in the United States became popular in the 1930s and continues, even flourishing in communities where custom and ritual rekindle ethnic and family ties. But Quinceañeras, like mostly strongly held traditions, is not a static event, and the ways it is celebrated are changing with the times. Now many girls have combined the "American" concept of "sweet sixteen" with what would have been their Quinceañera. A Barbie Quinceañera doll in some cases replaces the handmade ultima muneca, and families are beginning to celebrate the "coming of age" of their sons, too. These blendings of cultures can be found in many aspects of our traditional lives. Some have to do with the breakdown of traditional life, and some with a world of changing cultural mores. In whatever form it may take, a Quinceñera is a very special event happening only once in a girl’s life, so it is a time for rejoicing in the miracle of life and reaffirming one’s commitment to family, friends, tradition, and community.
The Celebration of the Quinceañera
The Quinceañera celebration has all of the grandeur of a large church wedding, and begins with the Misa de accion de gracias (thanksgiving Mass). The girl being honored ("quinceanera") arrives in church dressed in a fancy full-length gown, usually white or pale pink in color, together with a matching headdress and an elaborate bouquet. She is accompanied by her parents, godparents and members of her "Court", consisting of several young women called damas (maids of honor) and several young men called chamberlains (escorts).
At the conclusion of the mass, the quinceanera places her bouquet on the altar and the girl's family and friends pass out small commemorative favors to the guests in attendance. All then proceed to a banquet hall for a festive dinner and dance reception.
After a sumptuous feast, the music and dancing begins. The first dance is a waltz danced with the quinceanera and her father. Next, members of her Court are introduced and then the godparents have their first dance. The dance floor is then opened for all guests, with men taking turns dancing with the quinceanera.
It is customary for the quinceanera to receive the following traditional gifts for her ceremony, each of which have a special symbolic meaning:
- TIARA (symbolizing that the girl is a princess before God)
- BRACELET (symbolizing the unending circle of life)
- EARRINGS (reminder to listen to Gods word)
- CROSS, BIBLE & ROSARY (representing religious faith)
During the reception, there is a "crowning ceremony" where a parent or godparent replaces the headpiece worn by the quinceanera with the tiara. A scepter (emblem of authority and responsibility) is also presented to her, in recognition of her passage into adulthood.
At the reception, there is a customary toast to the quinceanera, and the guests offer her their congratulations and best wishes. This is followed by the cutting of a multi-tiered birthday cake decorated in a color matching the quinceaera's gown.
The celebration culminates with the festejada - a dance to a traditional waltz by the quinceaera with one of her chamberlains (escorts).
The Quinceañera has two parts—the mass and the fiesta—and both events are filled with symbolic gestures and moments. Like most celebrations, the extent to which the Quinceañera is celebrated has as much to do with social class and family status as the individual wishes of the birthday girl. But there are some aspects that are common to all Quinceañeras.
The most symbolic act during the Quinceañera is the changing of the shoes. The girl’s father switches her shoes, from the flats she arrived in, to the high heels she will leave in. Shoes and crowns play a pivotal role in the birthday girl’s transformation in the eyes of the community from girl to young woman.
Maintaining tradition takes a lot of work and we strive to do what we can to make a girl’s sweet fifteenth birthday a special one, including working closely with the girl and her family in order to provide the finest photography and video coverage available.