Author: Veronica Cota

Finding THE dress was quite the roller coaster! Beli knew EXACTLY what she wanted at this point in “our” quinceañera planning journey and the dress was next on the list. The venue was booked and the theme was set so we just needed to find the perfect dress. During our endless hours of internet searching, Beli found a quinceañera expo and made sure I bought tickets for us to go.

The expo day finally came! We walked in and felt an immediate sense of excitement and adrenaline! It was like Beli and I were kids in a candy store just waiting to try everything! Except it was dresses, photographers, make-up artists, prop designers, and even rent-a-courts! We stopped at every booth and soaked it in. I watched her eyes light up at the idea of her big day seemingly around the corner.

And in the midst of the loud excited chaos, she stopped dead in her tracks. The dress. There. Calling her name. I looked over to her and just knew….she found it.

I found out very quickly that you don’t just buy the dress and take it home. Those dresses are for display and there’s a whole process for actually getting the dress. First, you have to get sized, then you order it, then you wait! Eight long months! Until you get the call that the dress is in and ready for the FIRST fitting. I was exhausted! And Beli’s quince was still over a year away!

Beli had one thing in mind when we were deciding on the theme. “It has to be something that no one is doing right now.” That’s easier said than done considering quiceañeras have been growing in popularity over the last ten years. But I couldn’t tell my baby girl that! I wanted her to feel like a princess in every moment leading up to her big day.

”Blood red, not burgundy, and gold.” Beli and I ran with those colors and fantasized about every detail down to the silverware! We knew who was wearing what and what color the flower arrangements would be. It was perfect for about 10 minutes…until she changed her mind.

We went back and forth on the theme and colors for at least 3 months. Who knew that picking something that seemed so simple would be so challenging. It had to feel right for her and I had to stay patient.

After years of going back and forth, Beli was almost 13 when she finally said, “mom, I’ve decided I want a quince” and it was in that moment that I knew I had to start planning right away. Where do I start? Who do I ask? How much is too much? Deposits? It was overwhelming but I was sure of one thing. My baby girl deserved the best and no matter how stressful it was going to be, I knew I had to get it done.

First on the list was the venue! Everyone thought I was crazy for starting my search two years in advance but finding the right venue felt like an impossible needle in a hay stack type of search. So I did what I knew best. 

Instagram, Yelp, Google, Facebook, and recommendations from family and friends  consumed my lunch hours for weeks! Countless direct Messages, emails, phone calls, voicemails….I might as well have sent out smoke signals! Finding the venue felt nearly impossible with all of the endless search options. It was most frustrating when I wouldn’t hear back from some of the venues. They have 4 stars on Google but can’t call me back?! 

There had to be a better way!