Tanner Journal

In Latin America, when a girl turns 15, it's a big deal. Adriana wanted to have a quinceañera as is the custom here and we gladly obliged. I served a mission in California and saw a lot of the pre parties, limos, and all the fancy dresses for the celebrated girl and her court, but didn't really know all that went on behind the scenes.

I'm so grateful to have 2 good Ecuadorian friends that helped me with every detail and I am so grateful! Having never been to a quinceañera, I didn't know all that went into it and how symbolic it is. The other catch is that we were trying to decide what day to do it because there was a possibility that she could go to a church camp the week of her birthday. So we planned this whole party in about 10 days! And she got to go to the church camp which was great! She got back the morning of the party. :)

So this party is like our sweet 16 birthdays, but much more. It symbolizes a girl becoming a woman and this is the beginning. It was really fascinating to learn all about what each thing means. They have a program where they present each family member and then the special girl enters last. We all sat up front during the program. Mark shared a few words about her and then we did a toast. As part of the growing up process, we did some things to symbolize her growing from a girl into a young woman. I put some makeup on her and a nice necklace. She came in wearing special slippers and Mark exchanged her slippers for high heels. John was the cutest (ring) shoe bearer. :) All symbolic of her growing up.

After that, Mark and I played a song for her that Mark wrote. Then they got to do a special dance. Earlier she picked out 14 girls to represent each of her years that have passed. They each held a candle while she and Mark danced. Throughout the dance, she blew out all the candles as those years are now past. She represented the 15th candle, or year. Then we danced and had dinner. I had put together a slideshow of pictures of her growing up and we showed it during dinner. It was so fun to see her through the years. It was a great night and she looked beautiful! It was a lot of work, but such a fun memory.

We had some snacks at the beginning that she liked (chips and salsa, strawberries, and grilled cheese sandwiches) and then we catered the dinner which was so nice not to have to worry about. And we found a good deal for just $2.50 a plate. The party ended at 10 and some were worried it wasn't enough dancing time. The decorations turned out so well! I'm so grateful for my friends Leti and Sandy who made sure I didn't forget any detail. This was especially important because I didn't even know all the details. We went out most of the days the week of the party getting all the supplies, decorations, tiara for Adriana, making sure we knew where we wanted to put everything in the room, getting the DJ, lights, caterer, etc. We got a bunch of flowers for all the tables, her hair, the cake, and on the tables and the totally cost was $20! (4 dozen roses, baby's breath, and 2 small arrangements of a variety). Won't find those prices in the US.