Featured Quinceañera: Elsie Yazmin Marentes Date: August 30, 2008 Church Ceremony: St. Rafael Archangel 3915 Ocee St., Houston, TX 77063 Reception and Dance: El Porton Reception Hall 16211 Clay Rd. Suite 310, Houston, TX 77084 Photographer: West Houston Photography westhoustonphotography.com
Quince: Did you always know that you would celebrate Elsie’s XV with a quinceañera fiesta? ¿Siempre sabían que Elsie tendría una fiesta de quinceañera? Answer: Yes, within our family it is common to begin thinking of a girl’s quinceañera as soon as she is born. Si, entre nuestra familia es muy común que desde que nace una niña se sueñe con la planeación de una fiesta de quince años. Q: How old was Elsie when you began planning her quinceañera fiesta? ¿Que edad tenia Elsie cuando comenzaron a planificar su fiesta de quinceañera? A: Since she was 14 years old. Desde que tenía catorce años. Q: Did you have a set budget? ¿Tenían un presupuesto concreto? A: You always plan with a budget but once you begin to plan the event things pop up which change the budget.
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Siempre se planea con un presupuesto pero cuando se empieza a organizar surgen detalles que cambian ese presupuesto. Q: Who did the majority of the planning? ¿Quien hizo la mayoría de la planificación? A: My parents and I planned what we wanted for that special day. Entre mis padres y yo planeamos lo que queríamos para ese día tan especial. Q: How long before the fiesta did you - reserve the church? - reserve the reception hall? ¿Cuánto tiempo antes de la fiesta - reservaron la iglesia? - reservaron el salón de recepción? A: As soon as I turned 14 we reserved the church and reception hall. Exactamente cuando cumplí los catorce años fuimos y reservamos la iglesia y el salón.
Q: Elsie, how involved were you in the planning and decision-making process of the quinceañera? Elsie, ¿cuánta participación tuviste en
Q: What was the easiest part of the planning process? ¿Cuál fue la parte más fácil del proceso de planificar la quinceañera?
la planificación y toma de decisiones de tu fiesta de quince? A: I was involved in all aspects of the planning of my quinceañera along with
A: The easiest part was finding the reception hall and my dress. Lo más fácil fue conseguir el salón y mi vestido para mis quince.
my parents and baptismal godparents who were with me at every moment. Participe en toda la planificación de mi quinceañera junto a mis padres y mis padrinos de bautizo que me acompañaron en todo momento. Q: What was the most difficult part of the planning process? ¿Cuál fue la parte más difícil del proceso de planificar la quinceañera? A: Well, I wanted all of my cousins to be a part of my Court of Honor but they all lived away from the city. So we had to plan the event in a week where everyone could come so that the choreographer could teach us the dance. Como yo quería que todos mis primos participaran en la corte de honor y todos viven fuera de la cuidad debíamos organizarla en una semana donde todos pudieran venir y el coreógrafo pudiera enseñarnos el baile.
Q: Elsie, who participated in your court of honor? How old was the youngest participant? Elsie ¿quienes participaron en tu corte de honor? ¿Qué edad tenía el más chico del grupo? A: All of my cousins participated in my Court of Honor. The youngest was 10 years old. Todos mis primos participaron en la corte de honor. El más chico tenía diez anos. Q: Where was Elsie’s gown bought? ¿En donde compraron el vestido de Elsie? A: We bought the dress at Anna’s Bridal store. La tienda donde compramos el vestido era Anna’s Bridal.
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Q: Elsie, you and your court performed a variety of dances with elaborate moves and technique. Who came up with all these dances and who choreographed them? Elsie y su corte de honor realizaron una variedad de bailes con movimientos y técnica elaborada. ¿A quién se le ocurrió todas las danzas y quien hizo la coreografía? A: A gentleman named Armando choreographed the dance and he taught us every step with a lot of patience until it was perfect. El señor Armando fue la persona que realizo la coreografía y nos enseño con paciencia todos los pasos hasta que quedaran perfectos. Q: How long did it take you all to learn all these dances? ¿Cuánto tiempo les tomó a todos a aprender todas estas danzas?
A: The choreographer had the difficult task of teaching us the dances in 3 days in 4 hour sessions per day. El coreógrafo tuvo la difícil tarea de ensenarnos los bailes en tres días en sesiones de cuatro horas al día. Q: What was the name of the song you chose for the father-daughter dance? ¿Cuál era el nombre de la canción que eligieron para el baile de padre e hija?
Q: As parents, what is your fondest memory of Elsie’s quinceañera? Como padres ¿cuál es su mejor recuerdo de la quinceañera de Elsie? A: The moment when we presented Elsie to all our family and friends who joined us in celebrating her 15 year celebration. El momento de presentar a Elsie ante todos los familiares y amigos que nos acompañaron en el festejo de los quince años.
A: “El tiempo de Vals” de Chayanne. Q: Elsie, what was the best part of your quinceañera experience? ¿Elsie, que fue la mejor parte de tu experiencia de tu fiesta de quinceañera? A: To be surrounded by my whole family who accompanied me on my special day and when I danced the waltz with my dad. Estar rodeada de toda mi familia que me acompaño en mi día tan especial y cuando baile el vals con mi papa.
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Want to be featured in QUINCE
MAGAZINE?
Quince Magazine is currently looking for quinceañeras to feature in its upcoming issues. We want to hear from you if: You’ve had a quinceañera in the last 3 years. Have a unique story to tell about your quince fiesta. Are beginning your quince planning and would like for us to chronicle your journey. Contact the Editor at mdgonzalez@hispanicmeetingstravel.com to submit your name and information. A Quince Magazine staff member will follow up with you to work out the details of your feature. Quince Magazine | 5
… 3 years after her Quinceañera
Quince: Elsie you have now entered a new stage in life - that of a college student! As a freshman at Texas A&M University tell us a little bit of how your life has changed in the last 5 months. Answer: Being at Texas A&M has been a great experience everyone is so friendly and you meet many new people. It is very different from high school because now you are on your own and the classes are much harder but that just means you have to try harder to achieve what you want. Q: Has your college experience been what you had expected? A: For the most part my college experience has been what I expected except maybe that the classes are much harder than I
A: I didn’t really expe-
thought but not impossible and there are
rience any homesick-
always people there to help me. My college
ness of course I
experience has been great and I have really
missed my family but
enjoyed it.
I also really enjoyed
Q: Did you experience any homesickness when you first moved on campus? If so, how did you cope with it?
meeting new people and being on my own after always depending on my
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Q: What is your major and how did you choose it? A: My major is Mechanical Engineering. At first I didn’t know what I wanted to be but I knew that I wanted something to do with math. In my senior year, I heard many people talking about engineering and it was something that grabbed my attention. I researched engineering and found that it had to do with math and physics and those where the classes that I liked so I decided that I was going to do engineering. Elsie with her parents and sister the day she moved into her dorm. Q: What advice do you have for high school girls who are not sure if they can handle college life? A: College life is a great experience to have and you meet many new people that will probably become your friends. Although classes maybe hard there are always people there to help you from tutoring, talking to your professors or just studying with other people in your classes. Everyone here at Quince magazine wishes Elsie much success at Texas A&M, in her upcoming career and wherever life may lead her!
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