Ideas for Sweet Sixteen birthday party

[Crafty Amanda]

I know that this thread hasn't been active in quite a long time, but my daughter brought up the fact that she really wants to have a sweet 16 party. I never had one and never went to one either, much like many of the people who have posted here.

She's 14 now, so I have some time, about a year and a half.

I know that I don't really want to have it here at the house, not enough room. Bowling, skating, all that stuff is out too.

I am going to have her help plan the party, I think that will really help her learn some responsibility AND will teach her some budgeting skills. I told her we would set a budget and stick to it, and really keep track. Of course I don't have a CLUE what the budget should be, but I don't want to spend a lot, I just can't afford to, and frankly, don't think anyone should feel they have to.

I know that she will want her guests to be able to dance. It will have to be inside, her birthday is March 2nd. So the weather could be snow, rain, cold, or a combination!

I like the idea of renting the clubhouse at the golf club. I should probably check into that before summer is over. I think our golf club here in town keeps their restaurant open all year, AND I know they have a Karaoke machine, so that might be a good thing to rent to. The restaurant also has a dance floor, a small one, but big enough for her friends.

There's also a banquet hall right here in town. They have lots of wedding receptions there. So that's an option too, but I think it might be too big.

Also, whoever mentioned the church idea, that's a good one. We have several churches here, so I think that would be a good option as well!

I think we can definitely make a lot of the decorations and all of the invitations ourselves. And I love the idea of having parents and family bring food.

I am totally open to more ideas. Please!

[mom2-4]

Yes Amanda this is an old thread! This was meant for my DD when she was turning 16! She just turned 20, 2 weeks ago!

She ended up trying to get greedy! And we ended up just having a simple little family and close family friends party for her.

[ezlivinginvt]

One thing our foster daughter loved for her 18th bday (but could be adapted to 16)was we had a "scavenger hunt". Her girlfriends came over (but could easily be a mix of boy/girl) and they drew colored bandannas out of a box dividing them into 3 groups. The list consisted of ODD items; pair of striped tights, cloth diaper, wig, etc. About 20 items. They have to go door to door (pending how close your neighbors are is how well this will work, since she was 18 they had licenses and were given 4 hours and a certain mile radious, 16 yos just have it within walking distance.) Give them a certain amount of time, say they start at 4pm and have to check back in with all finds at 7pm when a BBQ or pizza is planned. Each team shows their finds, each item depending how hard you think they'll be to find has a point# next to it, ex; orange striped tights 3pts., grape lollipop 1pt. Tally the points each team has collected and that team gets...gift certificates for a creemee or something cheap. Make sure they have put the donaters name next to each item they've borrowed. You could even have this party earlier in the a.m. say 9am so after lunch they return all the items or an even easier idea; if you have digital cameras they could take photos of them holding the items. Make sure they are in the photos with the item or these tech savy kids can just pull up pics by googling.

Have fun!