Quinceanera
Celebrate with panache!
Those of you over 50 may remember the “Sweet 16” parties of yesteryear.
Young girls wore pretty sherbet-colored pleated dresses with lots of crinolines. (If you have to ask, you’re too young. You won’t understand). It was probably held at home or, if you were lucky, the larger, nicer home of a wealthy aunt or grandmother. Well, the Sweet 16 is coming back around again, but in a whole new way. It’s been reinvented.
The Hispanic community has long celebrated its own version of the Sweet 16, however, and it’s rooted in history and faith. The Quinceanera, the name of the event and the young woman being feted, is actually more of a Sweet 15.
Williamson County resident Haley Michelle Rogers recently held her celebration at the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville, and while there was lots of dancing as you would expect, event planner Traci Phillips worked in all the traditional aspects as well.
Those traditional facets to the celebration include a blessing and the presentation of gifts, such as a tiara (to symbolize that the young woman is a princess before God and the world), shoes (to symbolize her transformation from a girl to a young woman) and a doll (to represent the last toy the Quinceanera will receive).
There was a lot of room for fun, though, as Rogers and Phillips planned this celebration.
“I always spend considerable time interviewing and getting to know my client before I start to design their event,” Phillips says. “In this case, I needed to get to know Haley since this event was all about her and things that she loved. There really are no rules, and no right and wrong when you start to design an event as long as it means something to your clients.”
Rogers’ bubbly personality and vibrant style is what Phillips keyed on during the planning process for this celebration. The event was traditional in all the essential aspects, but Rogers didn’t want to have a cookie-cutter event. Just because a celebration is rooted in history doesn’t mean it needs be stodgy.
“Since this wasn’t a wedding, we had a lot of leeway with color,” Phillips says. “The idea was to bring this wonderful tradition in the Latino community up a notch with vibrant color and loads of fun. Haley was looking for a really fun time for her family and friends so we took her love for the beach and incorporated it with bright, bold colors. This event is traditionally a black tie affair so we needed to keep it formal but really fun.”
Phillips decorated with sand and shells to bring in the beach aspect that Rogers loved so much. Bright tropical colors were also incorporated through the bright colored vests and ties the young men wore with their tuxes and the colorful candy bar guests could sample from.
The candy bar, Phillips notes, is always a hit with guests at events.
“The candy bar is really a fun touch for younger parties, but I have found that adults love it as much as the kids,” she explains. “The idea is to incorporate the bold colors that we used throughout the event. Use different size glass cylinders and fill each with one solid color of candy. “We used personalized clear bags with monogrammed circle stickers to seal the bags when our guests filled them with the candy of their choice. It’s a great idea for any event.”
Ultimately, Phillips was able to integrate the tradition of the event with Haley’s style and vision and create an event to remember. And isn’t that what our celebrations should all be like?
FOLLOWING UP
Event planner Traci Phillips can be reached at
615.599.3999 or at 414.2059. You can also visit her Web site
at www.traci-phillips.com.
