Bakersfield, California Quinceañera Photography

Destiny is one of those girls that you instantly like.  Sweet, funny, responsible.

So it seems fitting that for her 15th birthday (aka) her quinceañera, her family went all out with a party of a lifetime.  Miss Destiny dressed up like the princess she is and celebrated her birthday in style. 🙂

When I arrived at the house to capture her transformation from Softball Queen to Beauty Queen, I found a home bustling with activity.  Guys hanging out while the girls ran around getting hair and makeup, putting on their own pretty dresses and shoes, laughter, teasing, oohing and aahing over the birthday girl…

Once Destiny emerged from her castle as princess, everyone went paparazzi on her. 😉  hehe

With preparations out of the way, it was time to head out… and these kids definitely went in style!

Before heading to celebrate with friends and family, we made a quick stop at the cemetery to visit and pay respects to a special man… one that was an awesome father figure in Destiny’s life and who she now calls her guardian angel.  He would be so proud to see the beautiful and talented young woman that Destiny had become.

As I was designing her invitations, her mom sent me a tribute that Destiny had written.  She requested that it be placed on the invitation as a tribute to his memory.  Yes, I cried when I was typing it in… I dare you not to sniffle…

Oh, just grab the tissues already.  😉

We took a moment to celebrate life.  What was, what is, and what is yet to be…

Check out this good looking bunch of kids!  Talk about stylish! 🙂  And seriously, what teenager doesn’t like to get photographed? 😉  They were a ton of fun to work with! 

Working at the venue… ran into this lil cutie!  Oh my, that face! <3

Nothing like LIVE mariachi! 

Father & daughter dance… so sweet!

After Destiny danced with her father, she surprised everyone with a very special dance that she secretly practiced… Recognize that frame?  Yup, this dance was another tribute in honor of the memory of Jose Baños.  Not.a.dry.eye.in.the.house.

A toast!  To the beautiful birthday girl!

Oh, what?  Another surprise dance… these kids can get down! 

Once the kids were done with their special presentations, it was time for everyone to get out on that floor and dance with them .  And let me tell you, they couldn’t wait… that dance floor went from empty to PACKED in 10 seconds!  hehe… It could very well be thanks to the amazing musical stylings of the DJ’s of the night…  Even I wanted to dance! 😉  Amazing music + electric atmosphere = party time!

All of the above happened thanks in part to the very generous and loving participation of Destiny’s padriños… each of these people played a very important part in the planning and execution  of Destiny’s very special birthday celebration.  <3

 

Huge THANK YOU to Alicja Burnette for assisting me on this one!  Much love!

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