At 15, queen for a day

It had been almost two decades since Lillian Negrón had seen the photographs sitting on the dining room table in her Roxbury home. They show her quinceañera, or Sweet 15 party, in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico.

Negrón's mother, Lilliam Belmont, had just flown in from Puerto Rico and had brought the photos with her.

"I didn't have a quinceañera because we didn't have any money," Belmont, 58, said in Spanish. But when it came time for her daughter's quinceañera in 1986, she was determined to do what she could on the small salary she made as a school janitor. "I wanted to give my daughter what I couldn't have," she said.

Late last month, the tradition was passed to Negrón's daughter, Christal Torres.

But though the sentiment was the same, the celebrations had little in common. "Even though I had [a quinceañera], I wanted to give [my daughter] what I didn't have," said Negrón, who left Puerto Rico shortly after turning 15, referring to the day itself. "Just like my mother did for me."

The photos from Puerto Rico show a party held in a relative's garage. Negrón is dressed in a hot-pink pantsuit because the family could not afford a dress.

Torres's quinceañera, however, was an all-day affair, stretching from a church in Jamaica Plain to a banquet hall in Braintree. To some Latinos, the day provides just one more example of how a deeply ingrained Latin American tradition has been bathed in red, white, and blue.

"The culture has become intertwined with the American" culture , said Jesus Jimenez, 32, who owns Sonia's Bridal in Jamaica Plain, catering to the Sweet 15 industry for more than a decade.

As quinceañeras have become more elaborate, they have spawned a network of businesses that support them. And these affairs are no longer strictly Latino. Blacks and whites often attend the parties, and it is not uncommon to find a ceremony conducted mostly in English.

"It doesn't matter what language you speak or where you come from," said Jimenez.

Several of the girls in Torres's "court" were African-American, including Brittany Lee, who said this was her second quinceañera and that she hoped to have one of her own. "I want a big hall and lot s of balloons," said Lee, adding, "I think it's a great experience to learn about different cultures."

According to tradition, Jimenez said, Latina girls celebrated their 15th birthday as a coming-of-age party as they enter womanhood.

Quinceañeras across Latin America have been relatively simple and ritualistic, said Jimenez, a native of Puerto Rico. The day usually starts with a Catholic Mass, followed by a reception where the young woman is introduced to society. She wears a pink dress, is accompanied by a court of 14 friends and relatives, and dances a waltz with her father.

In the United States, however, quinceañeras have become flamboyant celebrations that sometimes cost more than $30,000 and are planned months in advance.

Such frills as limousines, caterers, DJs, MCs, photographers, and function halls have become standard and continue to drive up the price tags.

Jimenez sells packages combining these services. His Ultimate Platinum Package goes for $9,499 and includes live Internet streaming for relatives who cannot attend the party.

Negrón said her daughter's party cost around $10,000. She started saving for it more than a year ago and began planning in September. Family members helped decorate for the reception to save some money, and friends made party favors and centerpieces.

"I wanted to do something small with my friends and family," said Torres. Still, she did get her one special request: a Hummer limousine.

Like the limousine business, the fashion industry has benefited from the Sweet 15.

Not all girls wear the traditional pink dress, but instead choose from an array of colors. The dress that Torres bought from Jimenez, for example, was white.

Meanwhile, the dresses worn by the court are becoming skimpier and sexier.

"Now it is becoming more acceptable to come out and show a little more cleavage or have dresses with less fabric," said Jimenez.

Families have to be careful not to copy even the minutest details from another party -- that could put them on the wrong end of cruel gossip by other girls, and even parents, who meticulously analyze the events.

"They really like to compete with each other," said Marta Jimenez, 42, who works as a quinceañera choreographer.

All of these changes are spurring a dramatic growth of the quinceañnera industry in the United States.

In April, there was a Quinceañeras Show in Randolph, featuring more than 30 vendors, and dress manufacturers in this country have begun making items specifically for the Sweet 15 party, said Jimenez of Sonia's Bridal.

But while this may be good for business, not everyone looks at the celebrations quite so favorably, including some churches.

Torres's quinceañera Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Jamaica Plain.

Negrón said she had to ask the principal of her daughter's Catholic middle school to write a letter to the church, saying she was a good student and participated in religious activities.

Even then, Our Lady of Lourdes provided a deacon rather than a priest to conduct the ceremony.

The deacon who led Torres's Mass declined to comment for this article because he said the quinceañera is not Christian, but instead "comes from the Indians."

There is evidence that the ceremony originated in Aztec and Mayan cultures, but according to Sweet 15 photographer Anibal Ramirez, some churches are refusing to acknowledge the quinceañera for different reasons.

"I heard of one family who found out their daughter was pregnant during her quinceañera," said Ramirez. "The parents said, 'What happened? If we would have known you were pregnant, we would have celebrated your wedding and not your quinceañera.' "

Only a few people attended Torres's Mass, which was followed by a photo session at a park in Jamaica Plain.

Torres and her court then rode in the coveted Hummer to Emerald Hall in Braintree, where about 130 guests awaited her grand entrance and introduction to society.

The Cinderella-themed party, which included a carefully choreographed dance performed by the court, was conducted in both Spanish and English.

Guests enjoyed dinner and dancing that lasted well past midnight.

For Negrón, it doesn't matter where the quinceañera originated, how it has changed in America, or what people think about those changes.

All that matters to her is that she could pass along the tradition to her daughter.

"This is a way for me to reward my daughter for everything she has given to me," she said.