Cassandra's Quinceanera

Just like a wedding, a Quinceanera is filled with ceremony, pageantry, frills, and excitement. I was honored to create a gown for this lovely lady, Cassandra (we share the same name).

A Quinceanera

This rite of passage for 15 year old Latina girls is a celebration filled with great tradition. The young girl crosses over into womanhood with her family and a community of friends who act as witnesses to this important event. A Quincearnera is long associated with the Aztecs. 15 is the age a young girl will leave her home to marry and create a family of her own. From this moment on she is considered an adult and will be treated differently.
Today's Quincearnera's are very similar to American's Sweet 16. However, Clara (Mom) kept the traditions that were important to her family.
The event begins with a full Mass. There are 7 to 8 couples representing the number 15. They were all dressed in her favorite color. The men in white tuxedos carried white canes.


A young boy carries a pillow with her "first" high heels, she enters the church in flat shoes. A young girl carries a heart shape pillow with a crown on it. During the ceremony Cassandra's grandfather changed her flat shoes to the high heels and her mother placed the crown on her head. After the Mass, the Princess and her Court was then whisked away in a huge limo to the party. This was no simple little birthday party it was a catered event jammed packed with fun.

 
Like most teenagers, Cassandra had a vision. This included a picture of Beyonce and could I make that. Well, we had some revisions. However, her strapless dress was in a China silk that was tie dyed 5 different colors. The bodice was hand roused with a straight short skirt under. The removable overskirt had miles and miles of hand torn ruffles. This allowed her to dance later in a short dress. The dress took a little over 24 yards. I kept calling this the first wedding and you could say she married into adulthood. I asked her mother Clara "What are you going to do for the wedding". She said with a sigh and a huff "She's on her own!"

 Proud Mom Clara