Granddaughter's Upcoming Quinceanera

I have a granddaughter who will be having a quince in about a year and 4 months.  Right now, believe it or not, is the time to start planning.  First of all, at this stage of the game,  it's too early to pick out a dress, because of course, you want it to fit....but you CAN start planning on colors, themes, start a notebook with ideas of how many people you will be inviting,  writing down their names so you can get a head count on how big of a place you will need to rent for the upcoming event. Most event locations like to have a year notice, especially if it's a place that gets booked up quickly. Plan on calling around places in your area, remembering that you need to be able to have the quinceanera in a location that's not too far from your home area so that your daughter's friends will all be able to attend. Once you get your notebook started, keep track of how much the event locations are charging, write it all down, even how much the deposit is. If you and your daughter can come up with a theme for the quince, you can start looking around for decorations on sale. I suppose I will once again start getting ready to help, especially since I went through one just nearly 3 years ago with my own daughter (the youngest).

Quinceanera Checklist--- A Double Check

Here is a second checklist of help when planning your daughter's quinceanera...........

1. Make sure if she or her party is changing for different dances that they have all their clothing packed and ready, packed in a small bag for easy location.
2. Good communication is important with your band or DJ especially if you are making your own CD of music to make sure your CD will play in their equipment, and if not, make sure they know what songs you want played, especially for the dance.
3. Talk with your photographer to make sure they know exactly what pictures you want.
4. Don't over order the cake because not everyone wants a piece and you will have left overs.
5. Ensure that the location you are renting has ample room for the quinceanera and her party to dance....it takes more room with more damas and their partners.
6. When deciding on food to serve, make sure you do not serve foods with alot of messy sauce that may be spilled easily.
7. Balloons make excellent decorations, especially on a budget.
8. Make sure the quinceanera's party knows what time you expect them there.
9. When decorating the hall yourselves, make sure once youv'e made your decorations, you pack them up in boxes that will make it easier to carry into the hall.
10. Don't forget to have fun, because it is alot of work.

My Daughter's Quinceanera---Looking Back

Now that my daughter has an official driver's permit and is learning the ins and outs of driving in the real world, I have stopped to ponder back at some of her growing up moments. Looking back at her quinceanera last year, I have to say that I am so glad that I did that for her. It's a very special moment in a girl's life and she will have that memory with her forever. My daughter is not one who has to have the designer jeans or the expensive shoes....she's just about a teen, living in the real world, understanding that parents just cannot afford all those expensive things in life all the time. She does have her preferences about her clothing, though, so I will give her that. She is a pure and natural beauty. I am glad that her quinceanera gave her a celebration with her friends and family, enjoying the glamour of wearing a crown and a beautiful gown, high heels and being the center of attention. Just make sure that if you give your daughter one, you get some good pictures and video, that will last a lifetime. My how my teen is really growing up fast.

10 Things I Really Enjoyed About My Daughter's Quinceanera

Things I enjoyed most about my daughter's quinceanera......
1. I really enjoyed seeing the big smile on her face as she greeted so many guests.
2. I loved the fact that we rented a bear costume and our nephew came out in it and danced with all the kids, giving the young ones something to have fun with as well. My daughter was wonderfully suprized.
3. The cake was beautiful and I am glad that we went with the Martinez Bakery because they did an excellent job.
4. I asked all of my daughter's court of honor to sit together while eating and they were great. Not only did they stay together most of the night, they danced with each other and their parents, really being a part of the whole night. It was so nice.
5. Our choreographer did an excellent job with the court of honor's dancing. I am so glad we got him for the job.
6. I used a smaller company for the limo services with ALOT of research finding him but the limo was brand spanking new and he was on time and very courteous.
7. All of my grown kids were right there to help me out with serving the food and making guests feel welcome.
8. Jessica got 2 really special suprize gifts that she really has been wanting for a long time and that was a blessing right there.
9. Even though my daughter's real dad did not show up like he said he would, her step dad really stepped in and took over, which really eased her mind and made her feel more comfortable.
10. I am SOOOOOO GLAD IT'S OVER !!!!!

Quinceanera is Finally Done !!!

Now that the quinceanera is over, things are starting to settle down some. The party was a huge success, although there were some things that happened that were not in my control. Our DJ didn't inform me of the time he was going to start hooking up his equipment so I ended up paying the hall for 3 extra hours..... then, the cd's that I copied for the court of honor to dance to as well as the father/daughter dance weren't readable by the DJ's equipment.....thank GOD for my oldest son who was there with his laptop and able to plug into his equipment for that. I totally forgot to bring the oil for the chocolate fountain so we had to put the fruit out on skewers, which worked but wasn't what we had planned. Anyway, all in all, it turned out really good and we had a gigantic crowd. The court of honor and our daughter danced so brilliantly and I was so pleased with how the food and the cake came out. I can now breathe a sigh of relief that it's all done. Geez, school will start next week so here comes another chapter in the life of my darling teen.

Ten Steps To An Easier Quinceanera

Here are some things that I have learned along the way, while planning my daughter's quince. I still have yet to learn more as we approach....counting down we have just under 7 weeks left to go.
1. Always plan ahead and make sure that if you have a boy (chambelin) cancel out, you have someone to back his spot up.
2. If you get the girls(damas) and their mothers together when picking out dresses, things seem to go more smoothly. My daughter and I picked the top 4 dresses, then let the mothers and damas get together and decide upon the final top 2 choices. That worked out great for us because they all came in, got fitted and put a down payment on their dress, which helped us alot, and they were all happy about the choice in dress.
3. You don't need to pick out the most expensive tux's for the guys because more than likely, if it's too much, they won't be able to get it, and another thing is they don't keep the coats on very long.
4. Look for bargain prices and half off sales when going to get your quinceanera decorations and paper ware for eating. There are alot of bargains to be had at such places as Party City and Hobby Lobby. I found alot of great sales out there, but I also did this months ahead of time to allow for time in finding sales.
5. As for the Doll, if your daughter goes with a standard color of dress of pink or white or perhaps baby blue, you can find those pretty easily, but if she goes with anything else, like my daughter did in picking out a royal blue dress, most likely you will have to buy a doll and have the dress made, which isn't always cheap. You can find dolls for pretty cheap and if you know someone who sews, it shouldn't cost as much.
6. Getting the damas and chambelins together is a group effort, so you must be able to offer rides to those who need them when it's time for the dance practices and take plenty of drinks for them as they practice, especially if it's in weather such as summer. We are having our practices at 6-8 pm on Sundays so it won't be as hot, but I will still take a cooler full of drinks for them.
7. Important things to stay on top of after you have secured your party spot is the cake, your sponsers, decorations (getting those done ahead of time so you don't have to scramble at the last minute), your dj/band and the music you want played, the doll's dress, the food menu.
8. Invitations can be done at home on your home computer with as much kits they have to offer in the craft stores, or you must allow plenty of time if you are ordering someone else to do it, in case of an error in printing.
9. Talk, talk, talk, and I mean keep your mind sharp about what all you've got going on and make sure to write it all on a tablet so you can keep up with everything.
10. Give your sponsors a choice of the toast, especially if you have some that don't drink. We are going to offer sparking white grape juice as well as champagne and tie different colored ribbons on the glass to decifer which is which.

Quinceanera Update

Here we are nearly 4 months away from my daughter's quinceanera, and time is really moving quickly. We have an appointment with a choreographer over the weekend and went to one of his quinceanera's to see his work and we were very pleased. Finding a choreographer wasn't easy. I found that by asking around, I found several to choose from. I was also getting a little worried about my daughter not having all her damas and chambelins, so I decided to tell her that we needed to order the girls dresses. Now, for me, it was important to do early so that it would give the families plenty of time to pay on the dress in installments. My daughter called all the girls on her list, told them to meet us at the dress shop around 1 on Saturday, and much to my suprize, all but 1 were able to make it. The mothers came with them to help choose a dress, something appropriate, also something that can be worn again. This worked out so well and I was very pleased. I also called around and found the wishing well that we needed for people to put their cards in at the ceremony, and found one for only 6.99, which I have to decorate, but was happy for the bargain because the one across the street had one for 14.99. What a bargain!

Back To Quinceanera Planning

As I go over this list for the quinceanera, I am writing all of it down. I have been so busy lately with my father being ill and going out of state to see him through surgery, but now I am back on track. I made the first payment on the quince dress yesterday, which brought our total down to $200., which is good. Thank goodness for places that offer layaway.
The cake is going to be paid for from my stepson, THANK GOD for him. The reception area is being paid by my other stepson and wife, THANK GOD for them too! Now with those things out of the way as far as having them paid, I am setting my concentration on finding padrinos (people to help pay for) the band/DJ that we are having. Since the singer of the band is my brother-in-law, he has set us up with a nice package through a friend of his. We are excited about this. More than likely, my other sister and brother-in-laws will help us with some of this cost.
Now, on to the photographer. If I could, I would be the one taking pics. I love doing that, but since I must set my sites on the event, I have put an ad on craigslist to get some prices. Let's see how that goes. We still have a little less than 6 months so, I think we are in good standing right now.

Quinceanera Checklist

Here is my checklist for what we will be needing and things we need to address now that we have the dress and the reception hall:
1. cake
2. invitations
3. music/band/DJ
4. security for the reception
5. food to be served for the reception
6. pictures or video, most likely, both
7. decorations
8. plastic ware for the food and cake
9. drinks
Those are things that need to be addressed now that I have some all important decisions made. My daughter also has to get confirmations from her court of honor to see who we can depend on to dance with her.