Cinderella Carriage

One of our favorite types of events is a "Quinceannera", which is a sweet 15 for Hispanic girls. This is a very elaborate ritual, one taken very seriously. It celebrates the girl's transition into womanhood, and we have yet to participate in one that does not rival, let alone surpass, even the most outrageously expensive weddings. When following tradition, the girl has 16 attendants: 7 girls, 7 boys, a very young girl, and a girl in her pubescent years. Each attendant is dressed to the nines, no differently from a wedding party. The procession from the girl's home to the church and/or reception hall is long and noisy - cars blare Spanish music, honking horns, ignoring all traffic laws! For this particular Quince on Saturday in Worcester, MA, we were escorted by a yellow Porsche, with another very fancy, tricked out car of indeterminate lineage speeding into the four-ways to stop traffic, regardless of the traffic lights. It all seemed to work flawlessly, however.

For this Quince we used the pumpkin carriage provided by Magical Affaires, a party planner in Rhode Island. Duke & Diesel pulled it. Although most girls celebrating a Quinceannera wear white like a bride, this girl wore a very ornate blue gown (blue is also a very traditional color for this event) - her attendants wore white instead. The two girls shown in this picture around the birthday girl, one in white & blue the other in red & white, were the traditional two "younger" girls - they represent the birthday girl's past. Click on the pictures in this blog to enlarge them.