Preparing for a Quince involves many tasks. There’s attending to the decorations, invitations, souvenirs, and more. Luckily, a Quinceanera girl will have a lot of help from supportive friends and family to ensure that the entire event is planned well and goes smoothly.
So, where does that leave you, our lovely Quinceanera, after you’ve chosen your outfit for the big day? Truth be told, you’ll still have several important things to practice. Here are a few to get you started:
- Walking in Shoes and Gown
Your level of comfort in your gown and shoes will set the stage for your endurance during your wonderful—but long and tiring—Quinceanera day. Thus, it’s important to practice moving around to ensure maximum comfort for the duration of the big event. Even if you buy top quality apparel, you should still practice in case there’s something that needs to be adjusted. Breaking in your shoes several weeks beforehand is also important. Even if it’s a new pair, and you don’t want to scuff them, you should still wear them around the house—and wear a thick pair of socks to make the shoe material more pliable and to decrease the chances of blisters.
- Court Dance Choreography
Three months before the party, you should begin regular dance practice sessions several times a week with your damas and chambelanes. Guided by a choreographer, there should be enough practice sessions that the whole dance goes smoothly. Designate one final session to a full dress rehearsal, where the members of the court practice the dance in their assigned outfits and footwear. Included in the practice sessions should be the grand entrance by you and your royal court since this kicks off the reception.
- Father-Daughter Dance
Practice with your dad two or three months prior to the big day. If need be, get some help from the same dance choreographer who’s helping with your court.
- The Speech
After your parents make their toast to you—their little girl, now crossing the threshold to young adulthood—you, too, will be expected to give a speech. Make a rough draft of your speech a few months—or at least several weeks—before the event, depending on how easy or how difficult it is for you to write a short essay. Make sure it’s proofread and practiced in front of a small audience several times. Ideally (and fortunately), it shouldn’t be more than two minutes long. It’s simply a short speech to thank everyone for coming, is a chance for you to express your gratitude for the support you have received to make this big day come true, and allows you to share some thoughts about the meaning of your celebration and what it means to become a young adult.
- The Candle Lighting Ceremony
While it’s not necessarily recommended that you practice your candle lighting skills “several times,” it would be good for you to practice the sequence in which your 15 important people will be called. Also, write down and practice a short line or two introducing each of the fifteen, as well as mentioning their significance to your Quince.
- The Last Doll and the High-Heeled Shoes
These two traditions are straightforward and reasonably predictable. Nonetheless, they should be practiced at least once with your family to make them look elegant and meaningful. If you don’t practice the best way to hand over the doll to your younger sister, or how your father will help you into your high heels (especially if they have fancy straps) it might make these rituals either come across as awkward or perhaps far too casual. If you want to add a little something—a short comment or a funny move designed to make the audience laugh—that makes it all the more important to practice!
- The Rosary, Tiara, and Scepter
Practice how these gifts will be handed to you, how to wear or hold each item, and how to navigate with them. Practice at least once or twice to avoid any embarrassing missteps.
- Dancing Skills
After the formal reception program is over and done with, what remains is everyone dancing the night away. If you’re not really the dancing type, you should at the very least learn a few moves to get you through several dances. Otherwise, you might find herself sitting on the sidelines or making heroic attempts to go around and chat with everybody to kill time. The good news is that this type of dancing doesn’t require any formal choreography. A few trips to a dance club—or hanging out with your damas and some hot dance music downloads—should help you loosen up and learn a few simple moves for your big day.
- Other Additions
In addition to the beautiful old traditions, you might want to add something new or unique to your party that will require a little practice on your part or may need practice with other people. Decide how much time should be allotted for these new things so that adjustments can be made if necessary.
Remember: Practice Makes Perfect!
The bottom line is that each of these routines should be given a suitable amount of time to practice and to perfect, no matter how trivial or easy they may seem. With practice, come the big day, everyone will know how each part should play out. Many accidents and awkward moments can be avoided, especially those that can potentially ruin—or at least seriously dampen—any particularly moving part of the program. This can be especially embarrassing for a Quinceanera on such a big day! So, make sure you, our darling celebrant, gets enough practice in between all the other things that you have to do for your fabulous Quinceanera!
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