Pioneer student’s quinceañera Tiktok goes viral
From left, Ashly Garcia-Hernandez, Cristian Sanchez-Romero, and Alex Sanchez-Garcia.
Sophomore Ashly Garcia-Hernandez, known on social media as @ashlygarcia405, posted a TikTok on Sunday, Aug. 21, from her quinceañera that received nearly a quarter of a million views and almost 50 thousand likes.
A quinceañera is the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood; the term is also used for the celebrant herself, and is often shortened to quince. The quinceañera is both a religious and a social event that emphasizes the importance of family and society in the life of a young woman. It is celebrated in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as in Latino communities in the United States and elsewhere.
The viral TikTok, which ultimately got 241,000 views, starts with Garcia-Hernandez and four of her “chambelanes” (male members of her quinceañera honor court) – Cristian Sanchez-Romero, Alexander Sanchez-Garcia, Kevin Sanchez-Romero, and Juan Pablo Bautista – at the quince rehearsal and transitions to them all dressed up at the party. It looks like a “quick change” video where they start in street clothes and seemingly “morph” into their elegant formalwear.
But, they did more than just party and make Tiktoks. “We had quince practices where we practiced the dances. We also had a quince rehearsal which was the day before, there we had to run through what was going to happen, the dances, and how it was going to play out,” said Garcia-Hernandez.
The sound for the video was made by TikTok user @rachelcuevass and contains music from the song “La Cuichi” by the group La Kumbre Con K. In the video, the quinceañera and her chambelanes filmed the first clip prior to the quince and then the second clip after they’d gotten ready. Garcia-Hernandez had other ideas similar to this one but she decided against those. “It was a trend for quinceaneras so I wanted to use it. I had various sounds saved but I wanted to do that one,” she said.
Cristian, Garcia’s boyfriend, described the quinceañera as a very eventful day that included eating, partying, and picture taking. “We got ready at our own houses and met up at Ashly’s house to take photos. After that we got on the party bus, drove to church and from there we had the whole ceremony. We got back on the party bus and went to go take some pictures at Michigan Stadium. Then we got on the bus again and we went to the mall to hang out a little bit. Then we went to eat, we ate at Chipotle,” he said, noting that the group wanted to stay out on the party bus as long as they could.
Garcia-Hernandez wore a lavender light-up dress covered in sparkles and flowers. Her four chambelanes all wore gray suits with lavender flowers and accents to match. Garcia-Hernandez said her dress was chosen for its originality. “I liked that my dress lit up because I hadn’t seen a lot of quinceañeras put lights on them. I had a cape, too, but I took it off. I really liked the lights especially at night because you can see it well and for my entrance,” she said.