Here Comes the Quince Girl.

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Author: Juarez, Vanessa

MAGAZINES

Larysa Gonzales of San Antonio, Texas, has been poring over fashion magazines to plan her big day. With a budget of $10,000, she's already picked her gown (strapless) and her limo (classic white stretch). Now she just needs to wait to turn 15. Gonzales isn't a child bride--she's planning a quinceañera, a celebration of a 15-year-old Latina's transition into womanhood.

Now there's a new magazine, Quince Girl, that's targeting girls like her. More than 400,000 Latinas in the United States turn 15 every year, and many of their parents spend as much as $10,000 on gowns, photographers, cakes and limos to celebrate. "I've had many people tell me they'll spend more and go all-out more at their quinceañera than at their wedding," says Will Cain, the magazine's publisher. Quince Girl looks a lot like a bridal magazine: between pictures of gowns, there are editorial features on destination quinceañras and tips on the best music to play at the bash. (The magazine's editorial director, Amber Matassa, worked at Condé Nast's Brides before launching Quince Girl.) Three hundred thousand copies of the magazine hit newsstands this month with a focus on Hispanic markets; Cain plans on expanding the title from one issue a year to two in 2007.

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By Vanessa Juarez