From the Quinceañera's mom

By Elvira, the quinceañera's mom:

To start, I will say that my three daughters didn't want a traditional quinceañera party, you know, the big thing. They all just wanted a regular party like it was any other birthday.

With the youngest one, I asked her to at least have some pictures taken with a nice dress, something that I regret not doing with my other two daughters. At first, she didn't want to do it but once she thought about it more and went to a photo studio to look at pictures, she liked the idea.

So began the planning for the photo shoot and the party. My daughter asked my sister, who lives in Ensenada, Mexico, if she would be her madrina and get some "recuerdos", favor mementos, for the party at the park that she did ask for.

Then, she asked my good friend, a friend of the family that has known her since she was a baby, if she would be her madrina for her ring - a quinceañera ring - which of course, my friend said she would love to.

We went to downtown Los Angeles to look for a dress for the photo shoot. She wanted purple so she tried on a few dresses in different shades of purple and eventually decided on a lilac dress. It was also not too expensive (about $200) - thank God!

After she got the dress and other accessories for her photo shoot outfit, I got to thinking. I know she told me she wanted to have a kid-like party at the park, to have fun because she said "I don't want to grow up," but I want to show her that even if she doesn't want to grow up, a 15th birthday is the celebration of a girl becoming a woman (and she is, unavoidably), so I decided to throw her a surprise party, after the party at the park.

A big celebration complete with a dj and dancing, dinner and cake, and all that. Almost like the traditional quinceañera party but without the church ceremony or choreographed waltz dance. It would be hard to ask her to rehearse that without blowing the surprise.

Though I wanted to throw a great party for my daughter, with my limited funds being diversified for other things, I looked to my family and friends for help. They loved the idea and were happy to help.

I also decided to make all the decorations myself with the help of my co-conspirator/friend Rosemary. We made the flower arrangements for the table centerpieces. I first thought of using fresh flowers but with little free time on the day of the party, I went with silk flowers instead. We have all the decorations and other items hidden in Rosemary's garage for the time being and everytime I get something new for the party - napkins, decorations, etc. - I take them to the "secret hiding place" so my daughter doesn't see them at our house.

As the day gets closer I get excited and nervous at the same time. I'm hoping that she has a nice time on her birthday and that she likes the surprise party. Sometimes I feel as if I failed my two older daughters for not having a big party or a surprise party, but I know (and hope) they can see that the situation was different at that time, and so was I.

[P.S.: Mom, we are grateful for the memories you gave us, there is nothing missing. And it's always a great party when we're surrounded by family! - your eldest daughter]