Help Planning "Sweet 16" - Ponca City,OK

Just a thought about food-you could set up booths like at the fair (depending on how much space you have) and serve things like nachos, hot dogs, pizza, funnel cakes (if you can find someone who knows how to make them) and other 'fair' foods-kids love that kinda food. You could also have 'fair' type games (popping balloons with darts, throwing balls thru hula hoops etc)that would be fairly inexpensive, but you would need lots of volunteers who would be willing to work for nachos. This would be a good theme esp if there are going to be boys and girls.

Well, this has nothing to do with the colors she likes, but I thought it might help.

I attended a Sweet 16 party for a family friend. It was a Mexican Fiesta. The place was decorated with a Mexican flare and even the host was dressed in Mexican style clothes. The food was even mexican-themed and they even had virgin margaritas. They had a sign up table with a picture of her that everyone signed the frame and they had pictures of her growing up the decorate that table. Her mom made a video of her of baby, childhood, and recent pictures and played it for everyone.

Hope this helps!

My daughter planned her own party.
We were fortunate in that the grandmother of one her best friends lived in a condo with a clubhouse. She was able to get the clubhouse for us for $20. Since my daughter's birthday was in March, the pool was closed, but that wasn't really a problem. Ground rules were pretty simple - stay inside the clubhouse, put your garbage in the bag marked GARBAGE, put your soda cans in the bag marked RECYCLE. Parents were given a specific time to pick their kids up, since the condo had a rule about the hours the clubhouse could be used, plus we had to clean up after, and we didn't want to be there all night. Perhaps we're extraordinarily fortunate in my daughter's choice of friends, but many of them helped us with the cleaning up while waiting for their parents to arrive. Some of the parents even pitched in when they got there.
She invited the people she wanted to come, and told them to bring their favorite cd's. We bought pizzas, chips, and sodas. A lot of her friends are in theater, so they pretty much made their own entertainment. At one point, my daughter put on the soundtrack from "Rocky Horror Picture Show," and suddenly there was a whole roomful of teenagers dancing the Time Warp.
Because Jazz Fest was coming up shortly after her birthday, we gave her the schedule and let her decide which day she would best like to go, and gave her two tickets for the day she picked - one for her and one for a friend, plus a bit of pocket money for refreshments and souvenirs. Seeing two of her idols - Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco - on the same day was a huge thrill for her.
At Jazz Fest, we picked out a meet-up spot, and she and her friend were allowed to explore the fairgrounds without us as long as they met two conditions - they were never to separate from each other, and they had to meet back up with us every two hours. My daughter her friend had their cell phones with them as well, and, a couple of times, they had been standing in a long line for food or drinks and were almost to the head of it when it came time to meet up. So she texted me to let me know that they were in line, and would be heading for the meet-up spot as soon as they got their items.

Here are some websites that might help you out:
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party_preteen.htm

http://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Teen_Birthday_Party_Ideas

http://childrens-parties.suite101.com/article.cfm/fun_tee...

Good luck and have fun!

One time i was managing a c-store and a lady came in and bought every flavor we had of bubblelicious. When i asked her what was going on she said that her daughter was born the day that bubblelicious was invented so she buys her every flavor for her birthday.

Hi C.,

Kudos to you for starting your planning early! I guess it depends on your daughter's interests. One of our friends rented a couple of hotel rooms (with pool). Everyone checked in, swam for a while, had lots of pizza for dinner, had a MaryKay consultant come in. After they were all dolled up, it was off to a movie and ice cream afterwards. (The movie and ice cream was the only part that the boys were allowed to come to). My youngest daughter wanted something a little more simple. She only wanted her best friend with her. So I sprung for dinner and a play at the local theater(tickets were about the cost of a movie($7-$10). My oldest daughter had a cookout and a bonfire and everyone just hung out.

Love the colors that she picked! Kind of reminds me of a masquerade party. Whatever she decides on, I hope she has a blast!

Good luck,
R.

Hi C.,
I agree with the advice you already have (and mine isn't old enough yet to think about that...).
Good for you to be planning early!
I'd sit down with her and tell her the budget limitations (unless she wants a simple sleepover) and see if she wants to help you plan her sweet 16 party (that's what my oldest neice did-she even worked "odd jobs" for a few months before to help finance her dream birthday).
If you are really on a tight budget you could see if you could use a Church Facility (usually if you are member most don't charge for usage or if so the fee is minimal to what other venues would be), Fellowship Hall/Gym etc...
That would give you space, you could have a dance type party (unless the Church is against it) with music and serve party food.
I also like the hotel w/ party food.
You could also have (if she doesn't want a girl/boy party) a beauty consultant come in and do make up (like another Mom suggested) most do it for free...and if you live near/in a good sized town you could see if they have a beauty school and if some of the students would be willing to come a "practice" on the girls (maybe NOT let them cut, just style :-) for free, some cosmatology schools will also do maincures...to "practice"
They also have those "spa in a bag" kits for 4 or 5 people and your daughter might enjoy that.
Good Luck and I'd talk to her and see what she wants. In ANY event, I'm sure she will really appreciate that you are wanting to make it a special birthday for her and want to start planning MONTHS in advance to make that a reality.
:-) Good Luck!
C.

C.
Sweet 16 Must be a special party. Have you ask her what she wants? A lot depends on what she likes. My daughter is 12 and is already planning a 16th party. She wants very simple. She wants to have only two friends for a sleep over. We are going out to eat dinner the night before, and believe it or not, she wants to go to a movie and spend the day shopping.

I think I would sit down with her and get some ideas. As long as it is well supervised, there are many options. Some girls like to have a party with girls and boys, maybe a small dance with DJ's. A friend of mine rented a church gym for their daughters 16th. Once you were in, there was no going outside . All the doors were guarded by adults. They had a dance, food and a great time. It started at 6 and over by 11. Everyone had to have an invitation to get in and a phone number for a parent. If you acted up, your parents were called and you were asked to leave. No one left and the party was a huge success.

It is her night, ask her what she wants.

Good Luck
S. Miller

You have gotten some great ideas...just thought I'd throw in one more. My friend had a "coffee house" party for her daughter. They had live music by a band who are friends, but you could do CDs. They served several kinds of coffee/hot chocolate and had a chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, etc. Good luck!

Our oldest daughter turned 16 last year and I bought a few party supplies at Party Galaxy. They had sweet sixteen plates and wall decorations that were Hot Pink, Black and Silver. They were not very expensive and you could buy a few at a time until it is time for her party. We did a suprise party for our daughter. Her best friend helped me invite her other friends and I took care of the family. We ordered her favorite, three trays of enchiladas from her favorite Mexican restuarant. I made spanish rice and black beans and ordered some salsa and queso from the restuarant as well. We didn't have to spend that much and she was truly suprised and had a great time. (We had recently bought a Wii, so we bought some new games and she took turns playing with her friends. Like a tournament format.) But since it will be summertime you could do a cook out and play games outside. Water balloons or a savenger hunt would be fun!!

Good Luck

J.

Hi C.-- Congrats on your daughter's milestone next year. I wanted to let you know that I create personalized DVD's with pictures and music and you might consider having one done for your daughter. I have a website with several samples for birthdays and other memorable occasions. You could use pictures from the time she was born until now to help remember her special moments.

Please stop by when you have a chance at www.stcmemoriesfriends.ning.com. I will give you a 10% discount for mentioning Mamasource.

L.

Well, for what it's worth... The first birthday party I ever had was my 18th, when I was living with a family friend and their seven children. We had a cake and ice cream - nothing fancy, no decorations - and my immediate family came over, and six friends I got to invite. We played board games and watched "The Pirates of Penzance" and talked and had a great time. The only money spent was on the cake and ice cream, enough to feed 18 people, which was only something like one 9x13 cake and a gallon of ice cream. I think what makes a party special is who comes, and the atmosphere, rather than anything extravagant. It's been ten years since that party and I obviously still remember it!

I saw a cute theme at Celebrate Express, but my daughter is too young. It is a Pink Skull Party Theme! It is really cute, but I don't know if she'd be too old for it. Here's the website that should take you straight to the party pack - http://www.celebrateexpress.com/celebration/pages/product...

I ordered a just a few of the novely things for my daughter's birthday and then just accented with hot pink and light pink napkins and things. Hope this helps!

For my sweet 16, I had an outdoor BBQ. I had about 15-20 friends over with lots of loud music, all the beverages and foods we could ask for. My mom had a couple of her girlfriends over too so it was kinda a party for everyone. It started around lunchtime and it was dark before the last person went home. We just set up lots of lawn chairs and swings and we had an area under the patio awning to dance. Something you could have everyone do is fill out a note card with a story or memory about her and then read it aloud at the party while everyone is eating. This is great for a lot of laughs and really gets conversations going all over the place so it doesn't get too boring. Hope this helps! Good luck and have fun!
A.