Sisters pose for quinceañera photos in Lake Michigan in their ballgowns
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It is a milestone celebrated in several Latin communities; marking a young woman's 15th birthday with a quinceañera.
Jennifer and Sophia Orellana of Plainfield, posed for their photos in their quinceañera ballgowns last month, and they talked to CBS 2's Marie Saavedra about how using Chicago's natural scenery made their shots unforgettable.
"A quinceañera is a party celebrated to show the honor of a girl becoming a woman," Jennifer said.
"We basically knew what we wanted on our dresses. We had lots of ideas of what we wanted for our quince, how we wanted it to look and stuff like that," Sophia said.
Their idea for their quinceañera was unique: wading into Lake Michigan in their quinceañera dresses at sunrise.
"We got them in recently, and I just thought they were amazing," Jennifer said.
Saavedra: "I had two thoughts. Number one, how cold was that water? Number two: that big beautiful dress! It had to be tough to get out of the lake when you're in those."
Jennifer: "Definitely. Oh my God, from all the water it was so heavy. … Me and my sister had such a good time getting in that cold water, though. It was freezing, but it just was all worth it at the end, I think."
The sisters said their parents approved of their plan to take their ballgowns into the water.
"I think when I get older, as I look back on these pictures, I'm just going to really think of all the time, and the fun, and the hard work that my family put in for this," Sophia said.
"The dress, the photos, everything was just so perfect," Jennifer said.
It's unclear what the dry-cleaning bill was for the dresses, which themselves can run in the thousands of dollars, but Jennifer and Sophia probably won't be wearing them again regardless.
