A friend of mine who is Mexican-American has a daughter who has recently turned 15 years old. I’ve been invited to a church service and reception that the family has arranged to celebrate the young lady’s birthday. I’m of Anglo background and am not familiar with the protocol associated with this event.
Should I bring a gift to the reception? If so, what is an appropriate gift? If it matters, I made a fairly generous donation toward the cost of the reception.
Thanks
It’s the equivalent of a “sweet sixteen” party IIRC. A nice age appropriate gift, not too intimate would be called for. No perfume, maybe something to do with one of her hobbies if you know it well enough. Maybe even a gift certificate for a shop she likes to go to if all else fails? Ask her mother what kind of things she likes, she might even mention something like “Oh, she’s got a hobby, and she’s been wanting this item for a while now”, or “She loves these music groups, and wants their latest albums.” Even something like a nice journal if you know she is the type to keep a diary might be appropriate. Good luck, I’d ask her mother or father what kind of gift if any is called for, they could tell you.
I’ve formed the impression, though I admit I may be in error, that this particular birthday is culturally a sort of milestone event, with a special name, quinceaños or something very similar. It’s a sort of “coming of age” ritual. Therefore, you would want to treat the event and how you act to recognize it with a touch of specialness. Perhaps something like a gift certificate to a “formal shop” or some other place that is for young women as opposed to early-adolescent girls would be the right sort of token.
You are correct; the quinceañera is an important event in the lives of most Mexicanas. They buy special dresses for it and plan the reception for months and generally make as big a deal out of it as Jews do the bar/bat mitzvah.
Google “quinceañera” to see what a big deal this is. I would elaborate, but I’m doing this on my PDA, and it’s not really set up for mass text entry.
While the event itself is formal, (apt description Bambi) I would say that since you are invited as a friend of the mother, you should ask her what type of gift would be appropriate. Probably something nice, I mentioned journals earlier, this or this is what I meant. Of course, if she doesn’t keep a diary then that idea won’t really work. Hmmm, something formal but not too intimate… I found this page that mentions formal gifts, but I’d wager most of those are already covered. However, it does mention photo albums, and there are many nice looking ones to be found. I don’t think she’d mind getting another nice album. Otherwise, maybe something along the lines of one of these suncatchers? Some of them can hold plants, and would be nice for taking to a new home for a new start down the road. They seem to me to also be appealing to a young lady who wants a pretty room. Good luck finding a gift that hits the right note, hope I at least gave you an idea or two.