field observation, Gisel's Quinceanera, Dr. Wolfe.

1. NOTHING’S BETTER
THAN A
QUINCEANERA.
Denise Mejia
Anthropology 102
Dr. Leanna Wolfe
November 20,2010

2. THE DRESS.
This is Gisel’s dress and
bouquet for her special day.
Traditionally for
Quinceaneras, girls wear
white dresses to represent
their innocence.
Before putting the dress
and shoes on, Gisel had to
wake up early to get her hair
and make-up done. This is
usually the first day that
girls are allowed to start
wearing make-up because
they are now considered
adults.

3. GETTING READY.
In this picture Gisel is
getting help from her mom
to get dressed. During a
Quinceanera a mother is
always the one that gets her
daughter dressed. She is the
key element to the
Quinceanera because she
oversees the party planning,
the food, the dress and all
the other little details. With
the help of relatives, the
mother is usually the one
that makes the Quinceanera
possible.

4. THE PARENTS.
These two are the parents of
Gisel. They are the ones that
decided to have a Quinceanera
for her. Gisel did not want one
at first because she thought
that it would of been a waste of
money. Her parents decided to
throw her one because they
thought it was an important
aspect of their culture, every
girl in their family had had one
before. They felt as if Gisel
would of regretted not having
one. After seeing the whole
party and mass, Gisel couldn’t
of been happier that her
parents did let her have a
Quinceanera.

5. AND THE CHURCH
BEGINS.
When everyone arrives at
the church, the guests go
inside and take a seat while
Gisel, her parents,
godparents, and
chambelan(escort) line up
outside so they could make
their entrance.
Gisel’s chambelan is the
first one to enter the
church, followed by the
people holding the gifts,
followed by her godparents,
and finally Gisel is escorted
inside by her parents.

6. THE PRAYER.
During the mass, the father
asks Gisel to read an
excerpt from the bible that
reflects what she has been
through up to that point in
her life. He also has her
renew her faith in God, and
Gisel without a doubt does
it. As the mass continued
the father made sure that
Gisel understood what she
was saying as she renewed
her faith. He also explained
what being an adult meant
and what she had to do to
continue being on the right
path.

7. FLOWERS FOR MARY.
During the mass there is a
certain section that is
dedicated to leaving the
Virgin Mary a bouquet of
flowers. During this time
Gisel is accompanied by
her parents and the
person who gave her the
flowers and goes up to the
Virgin Mary to leave her
the flowers. Once she has
offered them to her, they
all say the prayer, ‘Hail
Mary’ five times and she
also gives thanks to the
Virgin.

8. THE END OF THE
CHURCH.
At the end of the mass,
instead of Gisel being
escorted out by her parents,
she was escorted out by her
chambelan. The chambelan
is a representation of the
father acknowledging the
fact that his daughter is
now an adult and she is not
able to date, although most
fathers are never okay with
their daughters dating at
any age. In Gisel’s case her
chambelan was her cousin,
Gerardo.

9. THE PRESENTATION.
Gisel is being presented
by her father to her guests
now that she has passed
from childhood to
adulthood. This is usually
done to present the new
adult in the family. When
presenting his daughter,
Gisel’s father started in
one corner of the room
and walked her around the
room so everyone can get
a good look at her.

10. THE WALTZ.
One tradition of all
Quinceaneras is the waltz.
Although there are different
waltz the most typical is the
father/daughter waltz, and the
one of the Quinceanera and
her chambelanes and court. At
Gisel’s Quinceanera they
started the waltz off with a
father daughter choreographed
danced. Shortly after Gisel’s
chambelan asked the dad for
permission to cut in and finish
the dance with Gisel.
Following their dance Gisel
danced with her godparents
and anyone else that would of
liked to dance with her.

11. THE TOAST.
Shortly after the waltz,
family and friends make a
toast in honor of the
birthday girl Gisel. They
say what memories
they have with her and
what kind of person she is.
This toast usually happens
right before the dancing
begins. In a way, the toast
sets the tone for the party.

12. THE PARTY.
After the toast was done, the
DJ began to play, from spanish
to techno to hip-hop to reggae
the crowd got up to dance. Not
one minute of the party was
wasted. The birthday girl Gisel,
did not sit down or take a break
throughout the night. She took
advantage of her party and
made sure that everyone else
did because as soon as the
music began to play she went
out into the crowd and began to
pull everyone out to dance,
although most of them did not
last as long as she did.

13. THE CAKE.
This cake was a gift from
one of the friends’s of
Gisel’s mom. During
Quinceaneras family
friends and relatives often
help the parents pay for all
the expenses. They often
give them what they can
with no expectation to get
the money back.

14. THE FINAL
DANCE.
At the end of the
night, Gisel and her
friends ended it
with a traditional
line dance called,
“El Caballo
Dorado.”