A debut is usually seen as an opportunity to give people a glimpse of your personality. But for Baguio City's Caitlyn Evangelista, it was also a great way to incorporate and showcase her family's traditions to their friends and guests.
"The idea originally came from my mom, since she's a Cordilleran. We wanted to celebrate my debut with a twist and choose a theme that's not too common,” Caitlyn says. “She watched a video featuring the first girl who had her debut Igorot-themed from The Igorot (the team who organized my debut) and thought it would be great if I celebrate my 18th birthday Cordillera-themed. We also wanted my theme to be ‘all about me’ and introduce our culture to my guests, since they weren't all Cordilleran."
Even her gowns and dresses were made from traditional material weaved by the Ifugao.
Some of the guests also came wearing Cordilleran-inspired outfits, too!
The menu was composed of eight different traditional dishes of the Cordillera region and was served on saha (part of the trunk of a banana tree) and bao ng niyog (coconut shell). They also danced the traditional Cordilleran dance inan-aninit at the end of the program.
Aside from showing her love for her culture, her parents are also very much proud of her decision to minimize the plastic waste used for her debut. Recyclable materials were used for the location’s décor and also for the souvenirs.
Caitlyn's debut proves that, sometimes, the celebration of becoming a full-fledged adult can be done by going back to your roots.
From The Candy Bulletin Community
