Saturday, January 21, 2012

Elegant, Inexpensive Quinceañera Celebration

Before I started working in the Spanish Immersion School...I had NO idea what a Quinceañera was....but now happily I do....
And a couple of weeks ago a friend and I had the opportunity to help a lovely young woman and her mom decorate for this important occasion.

Quinceañera (lit. meaning One (f.) who is fifteen), sometimes called "Fiesta de quince años", "Fiesta de Quinceañera", "Quince años" or simply "quince", is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday!

 Come along and see how we transformed the church fellowship hall into an elegant party venue....
on a budget of course....!
 The decorating plan got under way with "THE DRESS"!
Kudos to Mom for finding this gorgeous black and white dress at a thrift store!
You would never know....would you?

The color scheme was obvious!
Silver, black and white....with touches of seasonal greens!


With some twinkle lights of course!
We did some careful shopping at the dollar store....and the Sweetwater Shelves!
We recycled the Christmas trees for greenery.....

 

 

 

When we arrived to start decorating.....
We felt a bit like "church ladies"....so like any good "church lady" ...we got to work!



The table centerpieces were simply a dollar store mirror, a floating candle in a wine glass, some silver eucalyptus and greens....with a simple white bow......
(Maybe a total cost of 5 dollars for each of the tables!)


 

From the Sweetwater Shelves....

remember my last minute centerpiece using those hurricane lamps with the wine glass and votives?



We used them on the food table.....with the greens, eucalyptus and white ribbon...
with some silver trays from the Sweetwater shelves!






It only took $20 worth of grocery store flowers....in the Sweetwater Silver.....


They looked amazing on the cake table.....



The cake was a splurge well worth it the money!
The bakery copied the design from the dress....
Yummmm!

The decorations were great....
but it was the special touches that made the evening special!

Each table had cards with simple statements....
I remember when T... 
The funniest thing about T is.....
Pens were provided so people could add their memories and thoughts about the birthday girl....
PRICELESS!

The brother of the birthday girl and a couple of friends performed a traditional Mexican Dance....Sabres and All!

It is traditional for the guests to receive a small token gift at a Quinciñeara...usually a little toy!
At this party guests went home with a photo card of the birthday girl in her gorgeous dress!
Classy....and relatively inexpensive!


The birthday girl put together a memory poster for each of her 15 years....they hung on the columns around the room....
Again....Priceless!

These flags give a nod to the heritage of the birthday girl!

It was so much fun to help make this fun evening a success!
Add the great food and wonderful friends....and it really was memorable.


Just a funny little aside.... These photos are of the arrangements from the cake table....
2 WEEKS after the party!

Amazing....
Have a great weekend!
I am going to do report cards and try to figure out something to use up so I can keep my challenge to myself going!
Maybe some of the wine we got as hostess gifts.....nothing makes report cards go faster than a glass of wine! (JUST KIDDING!)


Link Parties

Six Sister's Stuff
504 Main
Funky Junk Interiors 
I Heart Naptime 
A Marvelous Mess 
My 1929 Charmer 
Savvy Homemade Monday 
Everything Under the Moon 
Days of Chalk and Chocolate



8 comments:

NanaDiana said...

Mary- You did a great job decorating on a budget. Wasn't that cake just wonderful, too? Nice job! xo Diana

Kathleen said...

I knew , as I had Spanish speaking students in my school. My principal was married to a Cuban, and they had a party like this for their daughter.
The tables look lovely, and how nice you helped make such a wonderful memory for the lovely young lady.
Have fun with those report cards, I sure don't miss that! 33 years was enough!

mari said...

That is so sweet of you all to get together and help throw this 15th for this young lady. It's a pivotal point in a young Latinas life.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful event, and that cake was amazing! Good luck with the report card, I know how you feel. Our school re-open next week and we will all be back in the thick of it too:) God bless x

Chatty Chics said...

Love the flowers and the cake table! Beautiful! Also love the idea of the note cards as she can keep them in her memory book! So special!
Melody
ChattyChics.com
PS come show this off at my place on Wednesday if you can!

Partycraft Secrets said...

Great ideas. I love that the dress was the starting point for everything from colours, to patterns, decorations and cakes... would you mind if I put a facebook link to this blog post? I love sharing other people's success stories.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Partycraft-Secrets/239045209469228

cathy@my1929charmer said...

How wonderful that you helped make this event so special for a 15 year old girl, one she will never forget. Love the flowers and the cake is amazing. You really gave such special attention to all the details. Thanks for sharing you creative inspiration at Sunday's Best party!

Libby said...

Quinceañeras are so much fun to attend! I've gone to several over the years for former students and/or their cousins. Each one has been totally different from the other; some elaborate and some beyond elaborate. This one that you have shown us is so beautiful and it's great to know ways to honor your tradition and not break the bank! I'm sure the girl being honored had a blast!

(Visiting from the Everything Under the Moon link party.)

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