UPDATES: Ceremony conundrum and Quinceañera surprise

Just a few updates on previous posts:

In Ceremony conundrum, my fiance and I still didn't have a Catholic church to hold our ceremony at.

Well, not too long after that posting, we finally heard back from St. Benedict Catholic church in Montebello and got the thumbs up. The most humble and honorable Father Maguire will assist us in our marriage vows.

Despite the little bit of panic on our part for waiting so long, we are relieved and very happy to be married at St. Benedict, which was where my fiance originally wanted to hold the ceremony since it has been his family's church for many years.

Only a few more months to go.....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In this Quinceañera posting, we got a mother's perspective on planning for this big 15th birthday tradition.

With all the hush-hush and sneaking around, surprisingly the birthday girl still had no clue up until the time she reached mom's driveway, which served the entrance to her big surprise party.

As mentioned in the previous posting, the quinceañera didn't want a big fancy bash but rather a smaller kid's party at the park. But of course, this princess did want a fancy dress to take studio pictures in.

Well, she got her dress and took her studio pictures, then held the party at the park.   

But after that fun celebration, we convinced the birthday girl to get back into her dress to take more photos with her grandmother and aunts who came in from out of town.

After a little hesitation, we dressed the birthday girl up in her dress at a separate location (away from the surprise party). We finished with a quick swipe of makeup and then headed to mom's house to "take pictures."

As we drove up to the house, balloons could be seen and loud music could be heard, coming from mom's driveway.

Though the birthday girl noticed that, she didn't think it too strange. She thought it was just stepdad blasting his ranchera music while hanging out with brothers and neighbors, relaxing after work.

Then she opened the driveway gate and saw a row of family and friends, all dressed up, waiting to greet her, and she could see the party decorations behind them. The shocked look on her face was priceless.

After the last song was danced, and the last piece of cake was eaten, I know my mother thanked everyone who helped in putting the surprise party together.

But I believe my mom deserved the greatest recognition for being the genius who beautifully coordinated the whole surprise, making it a fun, unforgettable celebration.