Friday, July 31, 2015

Quinceañera business? Yeah, it's the Scene cover story.

Nashville Scene, July 23, 2015. Photo by Angelina Castillo.

The name of U.S. President Jimmy Carter standing in a tiny corner, the July 23, 2015 Nashville Scene cover (you've probably already seen it) features a full-size photo of 15-year-old twins Stephanie and Melanie Angel, smiling and raising glasses in the middle of their quinceañera birthday party, wearing matching aquamarine-colored dresses that their mother picked out for them. The debutante party market is booming in Hispanic Nashville, according to the feature with the straightforward title, Quinceañera!

Scene staff writer Dulce Torres, who won Conexion Americas' inaugural young writer essay contest in 2008, interviewed suppliers feasting on the strong and growing local quince demand - including photographer Dalila Duarte of Miyagui Photography and Video, Andrew Vallomthail of Bridal and Formal Wear by RJ, and Rocio Zenon of Coreografias Rocio Zenon. The price tag on these Middle Tennessee parties reaches the $10,000 to $20,000 range, so much that parents are offering to buy their daughters cars instead, according to the story.  Family members who treat it as a reunion are prone to defray the cost to the proud parents.  From the story:
"I tell my daughters that this will be something beautiful. Apart from your 15th birthday, the family you've never met will be reunited," Enrique says. He says many relatives are coming just to see long-lost family.
The business reporting is interspersed with a narrative window into the fraternal twins' dance prep, party theme compromises, and the chants of jubilant attendees cheering on friends and family.  Read the full story here, illustrated by Scene photographer Angelina Castillo.

Nashville quinceañeras used to be featured on the cover of HispanicNashville.com and are still featured in the pages of HolaTN. But a quinceañera cover story on the Nashville Scene - now that's the sign of a city growing up. Party, anyone?
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