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Sweet 16?

I was in Michaels yesterday, and while waiting in the long line i overheard the woman behind me talking abut her daughters sweet 16 party..."we have to look at venues, and she already knows who is gong to be in her 'court,' and we have to design the cake and pick the colors..." Am I the only one who thinks this is way over the top for a 16yr old? What the heck are these girls going to expect for their weddings, if they've had a PPD already??

Re: Sweet 16?

  • It's possible that they were talking about a quinceanera.  I believe those are conducted somewhat like a wedding (church ceremony, venue, DJ, bridal party/court, etc).
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  • They were very common when I was in Houston. San Antonio, I never heard about any.
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  • Sweet 16's in my area of NJ can be very big parties, but not all are. I've never heard of "courts" though and think PP may more right that she was really refering to a quinceanera, but that would be for a girls 15th birthday. My parent's attended one a few years ago that was thrown by an owner of a very sucessful mexican restuarant in our area. It was held at a venue that typically holds expensive weddings. They said it was more extravagent than many weddings they've attended in the NJ/NYC area.

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  • I am Hispanic and these are Quinceañeras. I've been to a few celebrated a year afterwards for whatever reason but yes, they do consists of a full Mass, followed by a reception and the girls do have a full court of either all girls (up to 14), all boys, or both. They will then perform a choreographed dance during the reception

    These celebrations DO have a father daughter dance along with some other traditions that symbolize the girl growing out of her "child phase".

    Shoe changing by dad. - He will put on a heel or something "grown u like"

    Crown - A "role model" places the crown on the quinceañera.

    Last Doll - Usually a child (similar to a FG's role) will present this to her and it's officially her last doll.

    I know these sound a little off and weird to people that have never heard of them but they are VERY common where i'm from.

    I had one btw and I believe my parents spent about 5K. The ONLY thing that bugs me is when the whole celebration is planned by mom and it's the complete opposite of the teens personality. My H cousin had one 7 years ago and she wanted to have a retro theme and very low key but her mom decided she wanted to throw a HUGE party and have her in a ball gown, poor cousin was not happy.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_sweet-16?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:8d944085-c8eb-4d90-9b33-5d8c45350336Post:e2749324-aa6e-4e2d-b13c-2212c565b2d7">Sweet 16?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I was in Michaels yesterday, and while waiting in the long line i overheard the woman behind me talking abut her daughters sweet 16 party..."we have to look at venues, and she already knows who is gong to be in her 'court,' and we have to design the cake and pick the colors..." Am I the only one who thinks this is way over the top for a 16yr old? What the heck are these girls going to expect for their weddings, if they've had a PPD already??
    Posted by Salsera29[/QUOTE]

    <div>Where I am, for both quince's and sweet 16's (same thing essentially), the girl will pick a 'court' of her friends that help her get ready. They usually wear similar dresses to the birthday girl, though not quite so large. It's a fairly common thing (and fairly new) that before the party the girls and their dates will get into their gigantic ballgowns and flounce around the mall. It's because there's a lot of people there and they get Ooh'd and Aah'd over more than they would at just their party. They stop into every single store so everyone can see them, they hold up foot traffic, and are usually pretty rude. I've seen several occasions where they demand free food from mall vendors because it's their birthday.</div><div>
    </div><div>It's a practice that I'm not fond of, can you tell? I've been to several quince's, and enjoyed them, but the way I've seen girls change and act over the past even 5-6 years astounds me. All of the 16's or quince's that I have been to were more lavish than my wedding. There's my two cents!</div>
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_sweet-16?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:8d944085-c8eb-4d90-9b33-5d8c45350336Post:22398fea-417d-410d-b335-ee86ea6edf29">Re: Sweet 16?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Sweet 16? : Where I am, for both quince's and sweet 16's (same thing essentially), the girl will pick a 'court' of her friends that help her get ready. They usually wear similar dresses to the birthday girl, though not quite so large. It's a fairly common thing (and fairly new) <strong>that before the party the girls and their dates will get into their gigantic ballgowns and flounce around the mall. It's because there's a lot of people there and they get Ooh'd and Aah'd over more than they would at just their party</strong>. They stop into every single store so everyone can see them, they hold up foot traffic, and are usually pretty rude. I've seen several occasions where they demand free food from mall vendors because it's their birthday. It's a practice that I'm not fond of, can you tell? I've been to several quince's, and enjoyed them, but the way I've seen girls change and act over the past even 5-6 years astounds me. All of the 16's or quince's that I have been to were more lavish than my wedding. There's my two cents!
    Posted by kmbryant2413[/QUOTE]

    Ew. The bolded part is stupid. My cousin did this for hers and I found it pointless, I couldn't find the meaning of it and I guess it's the attention. My mom thought this was odd too so she didn't encourage one.
  • My cousin's sweet 16 a few years ago was at a different part of the same venue where my wedding was in September.  I can only imagine what they paid for that party. . . . and what she'll expect when she gets married, goodness!!!

    When I turned 16 years old, I had a bbq in the backyard just like when I turned 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and you get the picture.

    It seems like parties in general are getting bigger and bigger.  I actually just saw pictures from an engagement party where there was a 5 or 6 tiered cake with a little bride and groom on top, a photo montage, huge favors, etc.  I can only imagine what the wedding will be since that engagement party was bigger and fancier than my wedding too!!
  • Salsera29Salsera29 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    edited March 2013
    I know this woman definitely said "Sweet 16"...I don't know why, but I side-eye that more than a quincenera. I don't know why...I guess I think of quinceneras as more of a cultural thing, but the giant elaborate sweet 16's just as a spoiled little princess thing. In the part of Jersey where I grew up, the rural part, we didn't do them. Now where I live it's common. When FI and I were picking a cake, there was a teen there with her mom planning a sweet 16, and I could. not. believe. how this little brat was speaking to her mother, who was about to drop at least $1000 on a cake. 

    P.S. In my next life I will come back Spanish with a natural ability to dance all Latin dances and the chance to wear a giant pink quincenera dress. 

    ETA: Oh and I forgot, the girl in the bakery was talking about what color she was going to "make" all her guests wear. *sigh*
  • I don't even remember my 16th birthday. I honestly don't know if it's because I was drunk or if it was that uneventful. I do remember 3 weeks later when my grandma sold me her car. 

    I live in a pretty Hispanic area outside Chicago and I used to bartend at the American Legion. We had a TON of quinceaneras. Even at our old, run-down, ugly hall, I was amazed at how elaborate and expensive some were. The families would go crazy and we eventually had to require that they pay for us to have security there. They were a big deal. 
  • Just another Sweet 16 in good old NJ. A lot of them are just as fancy as weddings. When we went on our first visit to our venue, the coordinator was telling us about a $200,000 Sweet 16 that was held there the week before. They had acrobats and tightrope walkers and all kinds of performers. They even have Sweet 16 expos in our area so they can meet DJs, florists, invitation vendors--just the same as a bridal show.
  • Ever since MTV's super sweet 16 I think these have definitely gotten bigger!!  I had a sweet 16 party, but NOTHING like a huge formal party.  I was just in disneyland this weekend and there was a quince party walking around downtown disney, taking pictures, etc.  I found it very akward and kind of laughed that they thought people were "admiring them," but pretty much everyone was rolling their eyes and talking sh!t.     
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