In this journey of life, we all get to one of the best points in our entire lifetime, turning eighteen. Once we turn eighteen, life hits us hard with more responsibilities and maturity. Join me in this blog as we celebrated my cousin, Ann Valerie's eighteenth birthday celebration.
The Stunning Debutant
Here in the Philippines, if you are fortunate enough to host a party, turning eighteen is a grand celebration. We truly give time and effort to celebrate debuts. There are 18 Candles, 18 Bills, 18 Treasures and 18 roses. What's a debut without all these 18 amazing sets of roles?
As I witnessed on movies and international shows, in other countries, they are not making debuts as grand as how we do here in the Philippines. Nothing compares to how Filipinos hosts any types of celebrations.
The 18 Treasures
Here is the photo of the debutant's 18 treasures. Each of them needs to present a gift for the debutant. That is what an 18 treasure does. They were instructed by the event organizer to describe their gifts before they handed it over to the debutant. It was a fun way to witness such giving of gifts. Everyone had so much fun.
The 18 Candles
Imagine yourself being a candle,
you give hope and light to other people.
When there world seems dark and dusty, here you are the one to the rescue.
The girl seated in the middle is the debutant's mother, she served as the Mother Candle. All the 18 candles lit their designated candles from the Mother Candle.
This was a very heartwarming part. First to give her speech was the Mother Candle, followed by the other 18 candles - they were the debutant's closest friends and cousins. What a great choice indeed!
The 18 Bills
As the saying goes that "money cannot buy happiness", life these days evolve so much on money. The role of the 18 Bills is to give the debutant any bill of any amount. May it be a hundred peso bill, or even a thousand peso bill. It all depends on one's generosity. What an amazing gesture that will surely help the debutant on her future endeavors.
Then, 18 men came with roses to dance with the debutant. Included in the 18 roses are some of my cousins, my uncles, and the debutant's close friends. They all dance in front and they gave 18 roses to the debutant. Everyone participated well and we all can see their happy faces.
The last activity was the "18 shots" where everyone has the chance to ask the debutant questions, wherein, if she could not answer it, she would take one shot of tequilla and when the gets the correct answer, the person who asked the question will drink the shot instead. Happy legality, some shots of tequilla will surely not hurt.
The debutant danced with her friends and they probably one of the best nights of their lives. How I love to see younger people livinf their best lives. We all deserve to have fun and treat ourselves sometimes.
The Venue
My cousin's debut celebration was held in Caduawan Covered Court - Caduawan, Tabogon, Cebu. All the people closests to our hearts were all invited. Not to mention the bunch of friends and classmates my cousin had. It was indeed the time were friends and family got reunited. The motif of the celebration was the color pink so as you can see, the caterer had pink table napkins, pink table cloths and the designer had balloons and designs allover with the shade of pink. How refreshing to the eyes!
Every corner of the venue was picture perfect. It was designed accordingly to how the debutant wanted. There was pink everywhere. The guests took photos everywhere. We can really see everyone loved the venue. Almost everyone was dressed in pink too.
The Star of the Night
The debutant was seated in the middle where she get to enjoy seeing everyone - her friends, her family, and all the people closest to her heart. She was the highlight of the night, the star that shined the brightest.
She had two ball gowns for that evening. She first wore the pink ball gown, then the red ball gown. She looked stunning with these outfits on paired with her hair and make up.
But, not only was the debutant pretty that night, also everyone who joined the celebration. Everyone wore their best pink outfits and they all had make up. It is fun to see people dress up and look their best.
The night was filled with so much fun. There were dance presentations, song performances,and a live band. While enjoying the foods and drinks, everyone listened to the music presented by the live band that performed that night. What a fun night indeed!
It was a night full of great stories to share, good food to indulge and relaxing music to hear. It was a very organized event and they were able to follow their celebration program. Kudos to everyone behind this celebration. You all did a great job!
The Birthday Cake
A birthday will never be complete without a birthday cake. The incomaparable thrill and joy to blow your birthday cake and make a birthday wish prior to that. The debutant made a wish and blew her birthday candle. We all wish and pray that all her heart's desires will be granted.
I can only remember when I was younger, regardless if their wasn't anything fancy prepared, seeing a birthday cake already marks a birthday celebration. It is indeed a symbolism of celebrating one's birthday, being able to make a wish and blow one's birthday candle. It makes the celebration complete.
The debutant's immediate family members went infront and gave their pieces of advice to their beloved Ann Valerie. The beautiful girl that now turned into a beautiful lady. She is loved by so much people indeed.
Life may not turn the same for all people. Some may not be able to experience such type of celebration, but it must not be a hindrance for us to still remain humble and grateful. We must always be thankful we get to reach the age regardless if there is a grand celebration or not. Having a party is so much fun, but costly as well. But it only happens once in a lifetime, and it is indeed one event one will forever treasure.
Looking back,I did not experience having a debut celebration as well. That's not something I am ashamed of but also not something I can be very proud of. It could have been so much fun. It's like missing half of my early adulthood life. But it's not that much of a big deal,being invited to a lot of debut celebrations make me happy as much as the celebrant does.
To everyone turning eighteen soon, you may not have the grandest celebration, but know that you are a step nearer to adulthood which means greater responsibility. Whatever you choose to do and however you choose to celebrate, it's gonna be all on you. Just make sure to have a blast and enjoy your day. Cheers!