Advice from our 2012 Quinceanera covergirls

Our 2012 Quinceanera covergirls want you to learn from their first-hand experiences to make the best out of your celebration.

They have graced the cover of Quinceanera.com Magazine and represented a Quinceanera covergirl with uniqueness and class. Claudia Avila, Shelbi Byrnes, Arlene Valdes, Stephanie Guzman and the new addition to the Quinceanera.com Magazine 2012 cover girls family: Kenia Robles, have experienced the stresses of planning their party. Now, our 2012 Quinceanera covergirl team shares with you their tried and true tips for planning the Quince of your dreams.

Also, Jazzel Garcia, the 2012 Image of Quinceanera.com, shares how a party-planning miscommunication didn’t go unnoticed during her religious mass. Read and learn, ladies. Read and learn.

Jazzel Garcia
2012 Image of Quinceanera.com
The morning of my Quince everything was going just fine and I was very excited to finally put on my dress and accessories. But then we realized that the florist dropped off all the flowers at the venue, including my bouquet along with the damas’ and the chambelanes’ boutonnieres! So for the church none of the girls or myself had their bouquets and the chambelanes didn’t have their boutonnieres either. The lesson to be learned is that you need to make the proper arrangements with your florist to have them drop off the flowers at the correct place, or have one of your family members help you with those type of details.

Claudia Avila
2012 San Fernando Cover Girl
I was supposed to have my Quince this year. But since we started doing everything with very little time, it was difficult to save money and find everything I needed for my party. So now I’m going to have a Sweet 16 next year, which is still nice but I would have liked to have a Quince. What I learned from my experience is that you need to start planning and saving early so that you can have your party by the time you want it.

Angelina Rodriguez
2012 Bakersfield Cover Girl
The best part of my Quince was the father and daughter dance. I don’t get to see my dad too much so I was very happy to have spent that moment with him. The whole day I was really stressed out about wanting everything to be perfect, but when I was dancing with him I just relaxed and enjoyed the moment. I think girls need to keep in mind that the day is going to go by so fast that it’s important to enjoy not only the big moments, but also all the little details.

Shelbi Byrnes
2012 Los Angeles Cover Girl
My Quince was this October and my mom worked really hard to get all the details finalized. She’s really good at planning and being organized. One of the main parts that I was responsible for was choosing my damas and chambelanes. Even though my mom and I planned for months now, I didn’t pick the members of my court or my chambelan too early into the planning. I think it’s better this way because it gives you time to really think about who you want to spend that special moment with you. It’s an important decision so it’s best not to rush into making it.

Arlene Valdes
2012 Orange County Cover Girl
All sorts of people will show up to your party, some of which you won’t even know. Trust me! The important thing is to greet everyone. If your parents are busy doing something else, take the initiative to greet your guests by saying: “Welcome to my Quinceañera. Thank you so much for coming!” They’ll feel all the more comfortable to eat, socialize and dance the night away. I did it and it worked out very nicely. And if you do it sincerely and are really happy doing it,  then everyone else at the party will be happy, too!

Stephanie Guzman
2012 Ontario Cover Girl

The most stressful part of my Quince was learning the dances that my court and I were going to dance. It was difficult to get everyone to practice on time and to make sure they knew the steps for all the dances. The only bad thing that happened at my Quince was that while I was dancing the waltz, the music suddenly stopped and then a couple of seconds later the DJ started the song all over again and we had to start the dance all over again, too. I should have made sure the CD we were using was working properly. Lesson learned!

Kenia Robles
2012 San Diego Cover Girl
My Quince was the best day of my life! 400 guests attended my bling-themed party. I wanted everything to sparkle, including my dress, cake, invitations…everything. So when I first went dress shopping I had in mind to purchase a pink dress with a lot of diamonds. I went to about five stores and tried on a few dresses before I tried on an aqua, strapless gown. As soon as I saw it and tried it on, I fell in love! It was perfect for me. Although originally I wanted a different color, for some reason that dress felt like it was for me. I think it’s a good thing for girls to go dress shopping with a dress in mind, but it’s also important for them to be open minded and willing to try other styles or colors as well. That’s what I did and my poofy, aqua dress was just perfect for me!

Photography: Max Pro Elegance Photography

This post is also available in: Spanish