A Quinceañera In One Stop -
By Rudy Arispe (Special to the Express-News)  - Posted: 09/02/2003 

Planning for her daughter's Quinceañera three years ago, Priscilla Mora found the task far more difficult than expected. "l had such a hard time trying to find the right dance hall, crown, caterer and dress," she says. "These were very frustrating moments. I knew there had to be other ways to make this planning easier not only for myself, but for others." Adding to her frustration, there were no Quinceañera exhibits or specialty shows as there are for brides, so Mora and her daughter, Chantel, attended a bridal show to get ideas. "My daughter wore a sticker that indicated she was a bride," Mora says. "I felt uncomfortable because everyone kept saying how young she was to be a bride. My daughter didn't need to register for a trip to Cancun or look for an eight-piece place setting." Looking around at the services available for brides and under one roof, Mora wished the same type of event existed for young girls and their families planning a Quinceañera. It was then she struck upon the idea of starting a company that caters to the Quinceañera market. With guidance and assistance from her business partner, Beverly Braun, Mora in 2000 created PMM Promotions, which produces Quinceañera trade shows, where families can meet with local businesses to plan for their daughters' Quinceañeras with minimal stress. On a recent Sunday, about 1,000 people, mainly mothers and daughters, attended the third Quinceañera Trade Show and Fashion Show at the San Antonio Airport Convention Center. The trade shows, Mora says, highlight the 2,000-year-old Mexican tradition of celebrating a girl's 15th birthday, and they help families plan for a Quinceañera in a one-stop event. "When a young lady of Mexican descent has a Quinceañera, it's not only a celebration, it is a time to reflect on her life as she goes on to become a young woman," Mora says. And not only is the Quinceañera cause for big celebration, the Mexican tradition has also become big business, says Mora, who spent about $5,000 on her daughter's Quinceañera in October 2000. "One woman told me today she plans to spend $50,00O," she says. Esther Porter, a management service specialist for Friedrich Air Conditioning Co., attended the trade show with her 13-year-old daughter, Kathryn. Though her Quinceañera won't be celebrated until January 2005, mother and daughter were there to select a dress and bakery for the cake. "I'm planning now because it takes a lot of work," Porter says, who plans to spend $3,000 out of her own pocket, which she says will mostly be used to pay for a disc jockey. "It's like planning for a wedding, except there's no groom." People like Porter who will be shelling out big bucks for their daughters' 15th birthday celebrations are exactly who business owners, such as Danny Cassanova of DJ Express, are targeting. Cassanova was one of 42 vendors who set up shop at the trade show, offering photography, limousine, gown, tuxedo, cake, floral, catering and disc jockey services. Cassanova has been spinning records at Quinceañeras for 28 years and says catering to the market has become profitable. About 75 percent of his business is playing at Quinceañeras, and he expected to sign up at least a dozen new customers from the trade show. "Every time I (set up a booth), my phone goes crazy," says Cassanova, whose prices range from $375 to $900 a gig.

Priscilla M. Mora's Quinceañera almost 25 years ago was, relatively speaking, a simple affair. She wore a white flower in her hair, a white dress (no "poufiness," she says), and she curled her own hair. Still, her parents spent close to $5,000 on the event.

Yet in comparison to some of today's highly choreographed affairs — complete with limousines, hotel catering, 14-member courts of honor, videographers, memory CDs, money trains and wishing wells — Mora's special day was on the subtle side.

A young Latina's 15th birthday, or quinceañera, which can be both a religious and secular celebration, stems from a mixture of ancient Aztec coming-of-age traditions and Spanish Catholicism. It's a major milestone for a girl readying for the responsibilities of becoming a young woman.

These days, her quinceañera also can be an expensive milestone that businesses are recognizing.

On Sunday, Mora's PMM Promotions will put on its seventh Quinceañera Expo: A Coming of Age Celebration at the Airport Convention Center, 8505 Broadway, just outside Loop 410.

More than 40 vendors and 1,000 people are expected to attend the trade show. Mora says 250 to 300 girls planning quinceañeras will be there.

PMM also is announcing two new ventures: "Quince Años," a twice-yearly magazine that will debut next spring and a TV show on quinceañera traditions and products that they hope to air on public access TV.

The magazine will be sold on PMM's Web site, www.qe4u.com and, Mora hopes, at various retail stores. The glossy magazine will contain stories on traditional quinceañeras, new twists on tradition, do's and don'ts, financial tips and, of course, advertisements from businesses that cater to the market.

For Mora, 39, these new business ventures are all part of a long-range vision birthed at a women's conference. As part of a workshop, participants were asked to write down a major dream. "Mine was this show," Mora says. "I was told to put (the paper she wrote her dream on) in a fire, and let it go up to God."

Yet another event led to the expo's creation. When she and her daughter, Chantel Marie, were planning the girl's quinceañera a few years ago, they had to go to a bridal show for ideas and businesses that would provide services.

The down side: Her teenage daughter had to wear a sticker reading "bride."

That led to a series of events. Mora quit a steady job and launched an initial show in March 2002 that attracted 600 people. Last year's drew 1,200.

The growth of quinceañeras reaches beyond San Antonio, to Web sites, such as www.quinceanera-boutique.com, and www. quinceanera.invitations4less.com to books, including "Sweet Fifteen" (Pinata Books, $9.95) by San Antonio author Diane Gonzales Bertrand.

While businesses are discovering the market, quinceañeras have long been part of Latino life.

"In my family, a quinceañera was a family tradition," says Mora. "I had no choice in the matter. Either you were going to have a quinceañera, or you were going to have a quinceañera ."

"Now it's a career," Mora says, and a calling.

Sunday's expo will include products and services ranging from catering, DJs, venues and formal wear to decorations, photography and videography. A financial services company will be there for those seeking loans for their celebrations.

San Antonio singer Victoria Acosta will perform and promote her debut CD "Once Upon a Time." The first 100 girls will receive a goodie bag, which will include a planner and ticket to receive the magazine.

Since 2002, Mora says her Web site has received 6 million hits from girls all over the country. They want to know what colors their dress can be, for example. Some parish priests don't like quinceañeras in white, "because it looks so much like a wedding," says Mora.

She's quick to add that a quinceañera's Mass of thanksgiving is not a sacrament, and that girls can wear white, pink, blue, even multicolored dresses, "symbolizing youth and vibrancy."

Quinceañera courts are also doing choreography these days. Mora attended one in which the teens did a routine from "Singing in the Rain," complete with umbrellas.

But the biggest change the tradition has undergone is cost. Today, a quinceañera bill can reach $10,000 and some have reached the $50,000 mark.

"I can't believe parents are paying that much," she says. "But you know, quinceañeras are only once in your life."

Weddings, she jokes, aren't always forever. 

The expo is noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $6, free for children 10 and younger.