You guys would be clutching your pearls

[agnes]

My coworkers are talking about a quinceanera coworker 1 is going to this weekend and one that coworker 2 is planning for her daughter.  

- Coworker 1  JUST got the fancy invitation last night for this weekend's quinceanera, the RSVP date is today.  
- Coworker 1's invitation says to donate to college fund in lieu of gifts.
- Coworker 1 is bringing her 12 year old daughter and 2 year old granddaughter - the invitation says "No children under 14 allowed"
- Coworker 2 took the dress inspiration from the TLC show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.  (I'm so excited to see this dress!  It's super expensive and giant.)
- Coworker 2 is inviting 200 people but is only providing seating and food for 100 people because "not everyone will show up"
- Coworker 2 gave the Spanish speakers fancy $7 multi-insert invitations and English speakers $2 post-card invitations 

Not even all of it, but I'm enjoying all the qunceanera talk this morning.  

[UnderProtest]

THIS IS GOLD. You MUST give us the play by play details before and after the event!

[drloretta]

Oooh, I love quinceanera dresses! My parents see them every weekend, as the park across from their apartment is a big photo op spot.

And yes, I'm clutching my pearls. Except maybe for the dress. Unless she can't afford it

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 11:10:39 GMT -5 drloretta said:

Oooh, I love quinceanera dresses! My parents see them every weekend, as the park across from their apartment is a big photo op spot.

And yes, I'm clutching my pearls. Except maybe for the dress. Unless she can't afford it

Coworker 2 is using all of her savings and "tax return" to pay for the quinceanera.  The dress alone was 3k.  

Well, and then there's the "Sponsors," which I don't know if it's a cultural thing or what.  The Sponsors have been family members who pay for things like the mariachi band, cake, etc. 

[dexteroni]

Holy shit. This is amazing.

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 11:23:42 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Holy shit. This is amazing.

You have no idea!  I have been hearing about it (coworker 2's quinceanera) for months and enjoying every bit of it.  It's going to be beautiful!

[UnderProtest]

Are you going to the event?? Puhlease say yes. I need more distractions this weekend.

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 11:29:31 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

Are you going to the event?? Puhlease say yes. I need more distractions this weekend.

No, this weekend is coworker 1's friend's quinceanera.  

I don't know yet if I can go to coworker 2's quinceanera.   I have family coming in to town around that weekend next month. 

[zitiqueen]

May 19, 2015 11:17:50 GMT -5 agnes said:

May 19, 2015 11:10:39 GMT -5 drloretta said:

Oooh, I love quinceanera dresses! My parents see them every weekend, as the park across from their apartment is a big photo op spot.

And yes, I'm clutching my pearls. Except maybe for the dress. Unless she can't afford it

Coworker 2 is using all of her savings and "tax return" to pay for the quinceanera.  The dress alone was 3k.  

Well, and then there's the "Sponsors," which I don't know if it's a cultural thing or what.  The Sponsors have been family members who pay for things like the mariachi band, cake, etc. 

I'm almost certain the sponsor thing is cultural.

[UnderProtest]

May 19, 2015 11:33:16 GMT -5 agnes said:

May 19, 2015 11:29:31 GMT -5 UnderProtest said:

Are you going to the event?? Puhlease say yes. I need more distractions this weekend.

No, this weekend is coworker 1's friend's quinceanera.  

I don't know yet if I can go to coworker 2's quinceanera.   I have family coming in to town around that weekend next month. 

Sorry, reading fail.  Must go take more cold medicine.

[agnes]

Oh oh! And Coworker 3 came in!
- She's throwing her daughter a baby shower next month as well.
- She recently ordered 2 sets of favors. The "nice ones" will go to certain people. The cheap ones will go to the rest of the guests.
- She'll never have to throw a baby shower again because the rest of her kids are boys.
- She has complained very loudly about her daughter and the father's choice of baby name. "If you name him that, I'm not going to use that stupid name."

ETA: I also just heard her say "Fustrated"

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 11:35:44 GMT -5 zitiqueen said:

May 19, 2015 11:17:50 GMT -5 agnes said:

Coworker 2 is using all of her savings and "tax return" to pay for the quinceanera.  The dress alone was 3k.  

Well, and then there's the "Sponsors," which I don't know if it's a cultural thing or what.  The Sponsors have been family members who pay for things like the mariachi band, cake, etc. 

I'm almost certain the sponsor thing is cultural.

This is what I was thinking.  She's going all out.  

[emilyinchile]

I'm not clutching because I'm too busy rubbing my hands together in glee. Please try to get a picture of the dress!

Also, if I'm totally honest, there's a small part of me that wishes I could someday wear a dress that ridiculous, just because it looks fun. I would probably last about 5 minutes though since they all complain that they're crazy heavy.

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 11:51:16 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

I'm not clutching because I'm too busy rubbing my hands together in glee. Please try to get a picture of the dress!

Also, if I'm totally honest, there's a small part of me that wishes I could someday wear a dress that ridiculous, just because it looks fun. I would probably last about 5 minutes though since they all complain that they're crazy heavy.

She's going to be in dancing the dress!  They have Bollywood themed dances.  She is going to be miserable.  But at some point she will change into a tutu like skirt that goes with her dress.  I hope it's before the dances where her chambelan will lift her. 

[raangoli]

This is awesome!

[mbcdefg]

Oh man. This is going to be nuts. 

I think our old next-door neighbor must have had a quinceanera. One Saturday we heard a loud song on constant repeat, and looked out the window to see her with a few teenage couples on the sidewalk in front of her house. She was clapping her hands and shouting 1-2-3-4 out loud to choreograph them while they went through their very awkward dance steps. She must have had them rehearse for at least five hours. Yikes. 

I ate lunch with three other girls in high school in sophomore year and one of them told us that we could all be in her quinceanera. Her family would buy us Calvin Klein dresses and we'd get paired up with cute boys and learn dances and stuff, and she'd give us more details once the details were finalized. I was so excited. Then she came in to school one Monday with an album full of photos from the quinceanera that we weren't even invited to. 

[ddi741]

I'm twitching just thinking about all of these things.

[itsme]

May 19, 2015 11:17:50 GMT -5 agnes said:

May 19, 2015 11:10:39 GMT -5 drloretta said:

Oooh, I love quinceanera dresses! My parents see them every weekend, as the park across from their apartment is a big photo op spot.

And yes, I'm clutching my pearls. Except maybe for the dress. Unless she can't afford it

Coworker 2 is using all of her savings and "tax return" to pay for the quinceanera.  The dress alone was 3k.  

Well, and then there's the "Sponsors," which I don't know if it's a cultural thing or what.  The Sponsors have been family members who pay for things like the mariachi band, cake, etc. 

It is a cultural thing.  I am only familiar with the Mexican quince celebrations though and there are sponsors (padrinos). 

[msmerymac]

May 19, 2015 11:17:50 GMT -5 agnes said:

May 19, 2015 11:10:39 GMT -5 drloretta said:

Oooh, I love quinceanera dresses! My parents see them every weekend, as the park across from their apartment is a big photo op spot.

And yes, I'm clutching my pearls. Except maybe for the dress. Unless she can't afford it

Coworker 2 is using all of her savings and "tax return" to pay for the quinceanera.  The dress alone was 3k.  

Well, and then there's the "Sponsors," which I don't know if it's a cultural thing or what.  The Sponsors have been family members who pay for things like the mariachi band, cake, etc. 

More than my wedding dress! Of course, some people cut down wedding dresses for quinceanera dresses. Until manufacturers got smart and decided to market quince dresses specifically. 

[Deleted]

I really need to buy some pearls because I need to do some clutching after this.

And yes, the sponsor thing is cultural. I see it a lot for quinceaneras and weddings.

[drloretta]

May 19, 2015 12:37:35 GMT -5 @forcuatro said:

I really need to buy some pearls because I need to do some clutching after this.

And yes, the sponsor thing is cultural. I see it a lot for quinceaneras and weddings.

And baptisms

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 12:37:35 GMT -5 @forcuatro said:

I really need to buy some pearls because I need to do some clutching after this.

And yes, the sponsor thing is cultural. I see it a lot for quinceaneras and weddings.

I wish this was part of my culture.  

[irene adler]

Can we all agree to clutch our appropriately colored lanyards instead?

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 14:40:40 GMT -5 @songforyou said:

May 19, 2015 11:04:37 GMT -5 agnes said:

- Coworker 2 gave the Spanish speakers fancy $7 multi-insert invitations and English speakers $2 post-card invitations 

I would have clutched for everything on this list, but honestly, I LOLed at this.

i haven't been clutching any pearls. I think it's great!

But I do wish I got a fancy invitation. It was pretty!

[Pom]

So we live outside of SA and the quinceañeras  are like WAY over the top around here.   My best neighbor friend helped her friend with her daughter's.  It was a freaking blow out.  She wore a giant purple dress that she really looked spectacular in: beaded bodice, giant ruffles for days....and the cake was one of those old fashioned looking wedding cake monstrosities with the little plastic bridges that connected the layers...like a main middle cake with a purple colored fountain flowing and 5 cakes around it.  

When I saw the pics, I was like woah, 1975 called and it wants its wedding cake back. Seriously, I hadn't seen one of those in forever. Not since the days of weddings with colored mints and little pink wedding bells in the center of the ice cream square.  Anyone old enough to remember that shit?

There was a band AND a dj, a BBQ dinner for like 200 ppl, the cake, the dress, open bar.   Friend confided that the mother had patrons because she couldn't afford it (like at all).  And you know I was all    because well, I dwell here.  I kept my trap shut, but my friend was shaking her head and thankful she had a boy.

I only ever dealt with one other quinceañera but it was a little more subdued and at the Country Club where I worked on the other side of the state.  It wasn't as common around those parts.
 

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[Marmee]

Thank God this is not part of my culture...can you imagine 4 baptisms, quinceaneras & weddings. We don't have enough cash nor friends who would want to sponsor all that. Lol.

[Pom]

May 19, 2015 15:48:12 GMT -5 Marmee said:

Thank God this is not part of my culture...can you imagine 4 baptisms, quinceaneras & weddings. We don't have enough cash nor friends who would want to sponsor all that. Lol.

Right? If you had lots of girls, WTF does all that COST. I would be clutching my chest with anxiety, not my pearls. + Educations?  :::faints dead on the floor:::

[agnes]

May 19, 2015 15:58:15 GMT -5 Pom said:

May 19, 2015 15:48:12 GMT -5 Marmee said:

Thank God this is not part of my culture...can you imagine 4 baptisms, quinceaneras & weddings. We don't have enough cash nor friends who would want to sponsor all that. Lol.

Right? If you had lots of girls, WTF does all that COST. I would be clutching my chest with anxiety, not my pearls. + Educations?  :::faints dead on the floor:::

One of our coworkers had his daughter's quinceanera last year.  He paid over 30k. Well, he's still paying on it apparently. 

[pamela]

Sponsors are definitely culturally expected. We have been asked to be sponsors for one of DHs cousins. We decided not to go that route for our wedding, but we had lots of family approach us and offer. That is not pearl-clutch worthy.

And the order food for half the list may be about right. RSVP is not a Latino thing. Makes it hard to cater. I'm assuming she knows her family and their attendance rates. Not judging there either.

[soxin2]

May 19, 2015 11:39:20 GMT -5 agnes said:

ETA: I also just heard her say "Fustrated"

Ugh. My H does this. Drives me batty. I finally called him on it. He physically can't say it properly. If he concentrates it comes out like "fuh-rus-tuhr-rated" and all slow and strange. *nails on chalkboard*

But it makes it less obnoxious to know he's not doing it on purpose.