NORTH COUNTY -- The reception hall and church are booked, the tuxedos and gowns have been fitted, and thousands of dollars have been spent for this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

No, this isn't a wedding.

It's a "quinceanera," a Latin American tradition that celebrates a girl's transition from childhood to womanhood on her 15th birthday.

Many North County businesses take advantage of the profitable quinceanera industry, from party supply stores to reception halls to bakeries, and, by all accounts, the quinceanera business is booming.

"It definitely is a whole industry," said Bill de la Fuente, the Vista founder of Comerciantes Latinos Asociados, or the Latino Merchants Association. "They use all the components of a wedding and also the church."

Reception halls and churches in the area often are booked each weekend for quinceaneras, which hundreds of family members and friends may attend. Quinceaneras are based in Catholicism and the traditions of pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas.

"About every weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we're usually booked for quinceaneras," said Ashley Estrada, program coordinator at the Fallbrook Community Center. "Mainly it's a huge ordeal and very fancy. It looks like a wedding. When you walk in there you think someone's going to get married, except, in fact, it's a quinceanera."

Linda Clermont, chief operating officer of Sophisticated Lady dress shop at Westfield North County mall in Escondido, has been selling dresses for weddings, proms and quinceaneras for 25 years. Not only does the girl of the hour wear an intricate and elegant dress for the event, but as with the bridesmaids of a wedding, so do her female attendants, in Spanish called "damas," which means "ladies," Clermont said.

Clermont has sold dresses for quinceaneras with as few as five damas to as many as 14, she said.

The birthday girl's dress might cost between $100 and $700, while the attendants' dresses may cost up to $200, Clermont said.

Demand for quinceanera gowns has stayed strong through the years, she said.

"If you're in the right area, which Southern California is, definitely there's a market for quinceaneras," Clermont said.

Latinos make up about 27 percent of North County's population, and the number of Latinos doubled in several North County cities between 1990 and 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

Escondido has one of the highest Latino populations of the area, estimated at 43 percent in 2006 by the San Diego Association of Governments.

That means good news for the quinceanera business, said Carla Keb, a Fallbrook resident who runs clothing shops in Vista and Escondido that sell dresses and rent tuxedos.

Working with a quinceanera is just like doing a wedding, she said.

"But the quinceaneras, they spend more," Keb said. "It's a big business. It's the best one."

On Friday at Keb's Escondido store at the corner of Juniper Street and Second Avenue, 14-year-old Miguel Rojas, of Escondido, tried on a long-jacketed zoot suit complete with hat and chain in preparation for his cousin's quinceanera the following day.

Male attendants, known as "caballeros," or gentlemen, play an important role in quinceaneras as well.

Quinceanera celebrants don't just look sharp, they often arrive in style.

Jeff Jacob, chief executive officer of Extreme Limousine in Escondido, rents limos for quinceaneras on a regular basis.

"Almost every weekend we're doing quinceaneras. At least one, maybe more," Jacob said. "They usually rent the bigger ones, the big SUVs."

Renting an SUV for one day can cost $600 to $700, he said.

In addition to the food, cake, decorations, dresses, suits, music and party that are part of a quinceanera, the celebration can be a deeply religious event for many families, which means churches get booked months in advance for the quinceanera mass, said Father Rich Perozich of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Escondido.

"The girl is reminded now that she is growing up, she needs to cast off her childish ways and her own self-interest," Perozich said.

Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.