My Daughter Is Turning 18

Not sure how tight of a budget you're on, and also not sure what the going rate is these days ... but my parents threw me a 16th birthday party (the only big party I had while growing up), and got a DJ. My friends and I had a GREAT time just requesting songs, dancing, etc. This was quite a few years ago (he he!), but I would think that kids that age would still enjoy that! We also had a DJ (instead of a band, etc.) for our wedding almost 8 years ago, and I want to say it was a couple hundred dollars max (for probably 4 hours or so). We had a BLAST again then dancing with our friends and family! ;) Good luck!

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Since you are on a budget... It depends on what her and her friends are into. I'm thinking have a makeover party. Find someone in your area...like a Mary Kay rep. that does makeovers and give her and say 2-3 of her best friends a makeover/demo of the products offered.

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If your daughter and her friends like to think of themselves as mature and sofisticated, I think a formal dinner party may work.
Anything that would be considered grown up or adult.
Good luck!

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If you have any friends or family who are good with being a dj, or if any of her friends like that sort of thing, maybe you could have a dance party. Sometimes karaoke is a hit, but you'll need someone brave enough to get it started.

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Hi. My friend's daughter turned 16 last year, and she had a "coffee house" party for her. She used a room at our church and had music and served several kinds of coffee and snacks. She also had a chocolate fountain with strawberries. Maybe this will give you an idea to start with. Good luck!

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Depending on her interests/hobbies and what she and her friends like to do, I remember at that age I wanted to be a grown-up. So for my 18th, I got a nice semi-formal gown and got to go out for a night "on the town." A nice dinner at a nice restaurant with friends, and then since we were all into theatre at the time, we took in a musical at the Orpheum.

Someone else mentioned a makeover party, which I think is fantastic. You could potentially bring someone in (cheaper), or treat them to a spa package at Gould's or another salon/spa.

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pot luck is what i did.when mine turnned 18 i was single and on a very tight budget, all of her friends brough differant dishes and dips drinks ect. music, helped with the decorations and we all had a wonderful time. we ate drank danced and had a very good time.

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Now days there are teens bands everywhere in every town it seems ........ this is what we did for our daughter when she turned 16 , a friend of mine has a son that is in a band so he and his band played for free . I rented our local boys and girls club gym but got the money back when I cleaned . we had one other local band that gave us a break on the price . The teens loved it and had a great time . My daughter's bday is the last part of Dec so we just waited till Jan when taxes came in to have the party . Hope this helps!! One point of advice about the bands and parties ......... they actually have a following and they try to come to the party as well uninvited , get a guest list and have someone stand at the door to let them in and if they are not on the list they do NOT get in . We had to turn several away becuase they thought they should be there .

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If you haven't bought her present yet you may look in to getting her an Ipod (they are getting pretty cheap lately) and letting her get a few of her favorite party music downloaded on it. Then you can hook it up to your stereo (ipod dock) and she can have music and her gift- plus she will get to use it later. Also for decorations, since its decemeber you can use all white christmas lights everywhere! These are just random ideas- hope they help. C.

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Well, without knowing your daughter's personality or interests it's hard to come up with a creative idea for you and I don't know much about the area you live in and what's available there but I can tell you for my 18th b-day I got a few of my closest friends together (like 6 of us) and got a cabin at a local park and we just had music (from a CD player) some food and drinks (my parents were pretty leniant and allowed alcohol since we were all sleeping at the cabin) we just hung out, talked, played some goofy bored games, and had a blast.... the adults were forced to leave at 10 and we just had a good time... The cabin (for 1 night) was no more expensive than a decent hotel (like $150 for the night) and it gave the party a really fun atmosphere... Now, keep in mind, my friends and I were pretty tame and my mom trusted that nothing would get out of hand (which it didn't) and the party really kind of gave me that feeling that I was an adult which is really the big deal about being 18 in the first place.
Whichever way you decide to go just try to keep your daughter's interests in mind and as long as her friends are there fun will be had! Good luck!

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