Female empowerment at the heart of no-expense-spared quinceañera
Denise Toledo’s quinceañera was a lavish $120,000 affair. It took Claudia G. De Velasco, who owns local event planning company A Day to Remember, six months to plan.
That amount of time and expense for a quinceañera, a Latino celebration marking a girl’s entrance into womanhood when turning 15, is not uncommon, as tastes and demand for extravagance grows, she said. Such ceremonies, often held in all-inclusive halls for example, are now taking over
ballrooms at upscale hotels.
“It’s the way society is designed these days,” De Velasco said.
Parties she organizes can cost from $50,000 to more than $100,000.
“It’s like the MTV show ‘My Sweet 16,’ ” De Velasco said. “The bigger the better.”
Included in the bill are event planner’s services, from booking the venue to ordering the cake.
“It’s a lot of work and time,” she said. “It’s like planning a wedding from Mass to the celebration itself.”
Also similar to a wedding, the planning process begins from five months to two years before the big day, De Velasco said. “We start by asking the client’s vision,” she said.
For Denise, that was combining two ideas into one theme for her May 11 quinceañera: Disney’s “Into the Woods” movie and “Wonder Woman.”
“She’s into female empowerment,” De Velasco said. “We made it work.”
That included incorporating Wonder Woman emblems into the fabric of Denise’s custom-made formal ballgown and featuring a hand-painted “Into the Woods”-inspired silhouette on the $2,000 six-tier cake.
But that’s only a small part of the event planning checklist.
De Velasco booked the ballroom at Houston’s Hotel Derek as well as the photographer, florist and lighting. She also coordinated the caterer, baker, hairstylist, makeup artist and music.
For the music, De Velasco hired a DJ and a band. “Usually, the band is more for the adults, and the DJ is more for the kids,” she said.
The dance floor action transitioned from the traditional father-daughter waltz to a choreographed dance with Denise changing into a second stylish outfit and then performing with her court, made up of seven girls and seven boys.
“It’s our first daughter. We wanted to make it as special as we could,” said Denise’s mother, Pamela Toledo, a Houston resident who with her husband owns a construction firm. “We got more than we asked for. She loved it.”
Denise said she enjoyed dancing, spending time with her family and friends, describing the quinceañera as a “dream come true.”
“Having a quinceañera means you are growing up and becoming a woman,” she said. “To do that, you need courage. That’s what inspired my theme. I did ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Into the Woods.’ She’s a superhero, and I love Disney movies because they have a lot of princesses in them and people who show courage.”
Even with the opulence, the celebration never lost its religious aspect, including the customary quinceañera Mass.
Traditions such as the crowning of the birthday girl, the changing of her shoes from flats to high heels and the presentation of a look-alike doll were not overlooked.
“In the Latin culture, the parents hold fast to traditions,” De Velasco said. “They want to make them special for their children, but they don’t want the traditions to disappear.”