Author: Sharon Frederick

Web Article Release

December 1, 2010

Plan a Sweet Sixteen party that will create lasting memories for your daughter and her friends.

Your baby girl is growing up! It's hard to believe, but her sixteenth birthday is right around the corner. You don't want to get too close to crunch time before you start planning for the most important teen birthday party of her life.

The key to planning a great party is to ensure that each aspect of the party works together as one cohesive theme. The location, decorations, invitations and party favors each will play a role in the theme you choose. Keeping track and staying focused during the planning process may be difficult, so we have laid out a step by step guide to make certain that your daughter's sweet sixteen will be one to remember.

1. Choose the type of party you would like to have. The possibilities are endless but here are a few ideas to spark your imagination: pool party, hotel party, theme party, ice skating party, slumber party or a surprise party. Once you make this decision everything else should fall into place.

 

2. Decide on a location. Determine whether or not your home would be suitable for a party. If you don't have the space or if you're not comfortable with a group of teenagers running wild in your home, consider another venue. Is your yard adequate for an outdoor celebration? If not, choose a park. The type of party you are having will play a large part in the location you choose so be sure to keep that in mind when scouting out different places.

 

3. Establish how many guests you'd like to invite. Sit down with your sweet sixteener and have her create two lists, a "must be invited list" and a "possible" list. You can then pair down the lists based on how many guests your venue can accommodate or how many people your budget will allow.

 

4. Pick out the decorations. Make sure they coincide with whatever theme you choose. If you are celebrating at a location other than your home, visit it prior to the party to plan how you will decorate. Next, you will want to purchase all the appropriate materials depending on your allotted budget. Along with decorations you should pick out some personalized sweet sixteen party favors, candy is always a great choice.

 

5. Send out invitations. Choose an invitation that is consistent with the theme of the party or go with something trendy and age appropriate. You will want to grab the invitee's attention with a catchy or humorous slogan or add some personalization with a photo on the invitation. If you are planning an outing like going to a ballgame, movie or amusement park you'll want to map out directions, contacts and work out the transportation. Make sure to include this information on the invitation so that the other parents will know what is going on.


 

6. The next step is the cake of course. Regardless of the type of celebration that you choose, it's not a birthday party with out cake. You'll want to order this plenty of time in advance. Think about the type of cake (white with chocolate frosting, chocolate with vanilla frosting etc.), how you would like it decorated and what special message to the birthday girl you would like the cake to display.

 

7. As the party comes to a close, sweet sixteen favors can leave your guests with a sweet taste in their mouth. Have something special that your guests can take with them. Customized wrapped candy bars make great party favors. You can add the guest of honor's picture to the wrapper, or maybe a picture of Justin Bieber would be even better.

 

Looks like you are ready to have some fun with this very special teenage birthday party. Be sure to have a video or digital camera on hand. The partygoers will want to share their experience with their Facebook friends and of course, your daughter and family will want to go back and relive this special day for years to come.