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Fairy-Tale Fifteenths
The 'Quince' Marks a Big Rite For Latin
Teens and Marketers
By AMY CHOZICK, Staff Reporter, The Wall
Street Journal
Yessenia Franco got the royal treatment
for her 15th birthday: a horse-drawn,
pumpkin-shaped crystal carriage with
liveried servants in powdered wigs, a
silver tulle ball gown and a gala at
which 260 guests danced until dawn in
the shadow of Sleeping Beauty's castle
at Disneyland. "My daughter always
wanted to be a princess," says Mabel
Franco, Yessenia's mother.
Like an increasing number of Hispanics
in the U.S., Ms. Franco, a San Francisco
office assistant, and her husband,
Ismael, a sanitation worker, decided to
spare no expense for their daughter's
quinceanera, or 15th birthday party. The
cost: $30,000. It was "a dream come
true," says Mabel Franco. The Francos,
both of whom immigrated from Mexico,
have told Yessenia's 11-year-old sister
that if she wishes, they will book the
Walt Disney Co. theme park for her, too.
In Latin America, the quinceanera, a
celebration dating back to the Aztecs
that commemorates the spiritual and
physical coming of age of a 15-year-old
girl, is typically observed with a
ceremony in a Catholic church and a
backyard party for family members. Piety
and a priest's blessing are the main
ingredients for the usually modest
events.
On this side of the border, the
tradition has taken on a momentum of its
own, melding cultural pride with
conspicuous consumption. Savvy marketers
with an eye for the growing Hispanic
population are starting to catch on. The
result: homemade dresses are giving way
to designer gowns, streamer-festooned
patios to Royal Caribbean cruises.
"To Latinos in the U.S., the quinceanera
serves as an important tool to preserve
culture," says Cordelia Candelaria,
editor of the Encyclopedia of Latino
Popular Culture in the U.S. That hasn't
stopped it from evolving from an
intimate religious ritual toward a
lavish secular celebration, often
costing more than a wedding. "A lot of
times it's a simple case of outdoing the
Joneses," Ms. Candelaria says. Or, in
this case, the Garzas.
A girl celebrating her quinceanera
(keen-seen-yerah) typically invites six
to 10 damas, or single female friends,
to serve as her attendants, plus dozens
-- sometimes hundreds -- of other
guests. That means marketers have the
chance to target not only the birthday
girl and her family, but a slew of
teenage girls planning their own
quinceaneras.
In California, Disneyland Resort has a
team of event planners who craft
customized quinceanera events, which it
began offering in 2000. The parties,
which can feature Mickey and Minnie
Mouse dressed as mariachi, can also
include park tickets, balloon sculptors,
acrobats and fanfare trumpeters, and
start at $7,500. With about three
high-end quinceanera parties a month, up
from just six a year in 2000, such galas
are the resort's fastest-growing event
category, after weddings.
It isn't a new phenomenon for an ethnic
group's spiritual traditions to become
more commercial as the group gains
economic power, says Rabbi Jeffrey
Salkin, author of "Putting God on the
Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual
Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat
Mitzvah." He believes Hispanics are
confronting the same issues as Jews did
in the early 1960s, when bar and bat
mitzvahs became increasingly flashy,
secular and expensive. "These rites of
passage are a way for a minority group
to demonstrate that they have succeeded
in America," he says.
Daisy Marilyn Vargas, a ninth grader in
New York, says she has been planning her
"quince" for a year. Having already
procured a custom $500 strapless gown
for the occasion, she is keen to have
"all the space I can get" for her
400-plus guests. "We'll serve Mexican
food from 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. until
everyone drops! Plus an after party at
my house!" she squeals. "Oh, we also
have a church ceremony at 10 a.m. and
I'll just get blessed."
Such quasireligious hoopla helps to
explain why marketers are duking it out
for any part of the quinceanera
windfall. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
works with travel agencies to push its
$900 to $1,600 a person quinceanera
cruises, which include the use of
theaters that hold as many as 1,200
revelers, an ice-skating rink and a
disco. This summer, almost all of its
cruises embarking from South Florida had
a quinceanera group on board.
At David's Bridal, the nation's largest
bridal retailer, $200 to $600 frothy,
floor-length quinceanera gowns now
compete with prom dresses at 41 of the
chain's 240 stores. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
now sells specially designed quince
dresses for $24 to $30 at 200 of its
3,200 U.S. locations.
Mattel Inc. has a limited edition
Quinceanera Barbie (available as a
blonde or brunette); Hallmark CardsInc.
reports that two of its three top
selling Spanish-language cards are
quinceanera cards. J.C. Penny Co. is
marketing itself as an affordable,
one-stop emporium for all things quince,
from shoes to jewelry to personalized
portraits for the big day.
Despite all the accoutrements, the
ritual is hardly limited to the rich.
Families of modest means, such as the
Francos, save for years to afford the
pageant-like parties, often relying on
godparents and extended family for
contributions. Sometimes, the soirees
get priority over other expenditures,
including mortgages and college. "Poor
or rich, Mexican or Cuban, everyone
spends on a quinceanera," says Erika
Prosper, director of strategic planning
at Garcia360, a San Antonio business
consulting firm.
Zenia Sigler, a 43-year-old housewife in
Miami and her husband, Carlos, a
dragline operator, both born in Cuba,
recently gave their daughter, Melissa, a
seven-day cruise for her quinceanera.
Cost: $1,600 a person. At the moment,
Ms. Sigler says she isn't worried about
college bills. "Melissa is very smart,"
she says, "We know she will get a
scholarship."
According to the Department of
Education, Hispanic students are twice
as likely as blacks and three times as
likely as whites to drop out of high
school, and cite a lack of funding as a
major reason for not continuing their
education.
"You're always going to see people with
their priorities messed up," says Alma
Morales Riojas, president of the Mexican
American National Association, an
advocacy group for Latinas, who says
most families don't spend money on the
quince at the expense of higher
education.
As cultural tastes shift, it is unclear
whether the quince will continue to
resonate with future generations. Aryani
Montes's parents gave her a choice
between a big 15th birthday party or a
used car when she turned sixteen.
Breaking with tradition, Ms. Montes
opted for a 2000 Mazda Protégé. "Some
girls went all out," says Ms. Montes,
who attended several parties in the
Austin, Texas, area. "It was fun. But
being 17 and reflecting on it, it seems
like a big waste of money to go over the
top like that." |
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