While Mexican's have many reasons for celebrations, perhaps one of the more important ones is when a girl turns 15 years old. She celebrates her birthday dressed like a princess at a Thanks Giving mass and typically a grand fiesta with music, food, dancing and a cake in the style of a wedding cake.
In some ways it is like a "debut" sometimes celebrated in Australia, in that it publicly announces a girl having become a woman. However, instead of sharing this occasion with other girls at a debutante ball, the 15 year old girl's "Quinceañer" is dedicated only to her.
The dress is very grand, again akin to a wedding dress, however instead of white it is usually in a bright colour of taffeta and tulle. There are probably as many shops selling these dresses and all the required accessories of tiaras, gloves, cushions, bags, shoes and the like as there are shops selling wedding dresses in Mexico.
The birthday girls may have numerous female attendants, like her bridesmaids and at her fiesta she will have a dance dedicated to her. The dance is called the "vals" and might be performed be her "bridesmaids" or by boys (as is probably the case for the girl in these photos) or by both.
It would not be uncommon for well over 100 guests to attend the Quinceañer. So with the dress, the cake, the fiesta, the band, the food and all other things
associated with the celebration can add up to a very expensive event for the family. So the girls
normally have God mothers and God fathers who are invited to pay for various parts of the fiesta on behalf of
the family.
These photos were taken outside a church where a Quinceañer was starting in the village I
was visiting on the weekend.
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quinceañera-a-celebration-of-budding-womanhood
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