13Th Birthday - Girl

For our daughter's 13th, she dreamed of having a dance party with a DJ. SO, we had a dance party with a DJ and a lot of food and prizes at our country club. This was the last BIG party she had or asked for.

We expected something at 16 and 18 but by 16, her interest was all about the driver's license and at 18, it was all about being legal age. At 16, we took a few friends to dinner. At 18, she took a few friends to dinner, they got all dressed up, the restaurant put them in a private room and really treated them well. Each of these parties had about 6 girls total and of course we treated everyone 100% as far as picking up the tab, etc.

Before age 13, we did 2 limo parties that were a huge hit. The limo would pick each girl up at her home (not more than 10 total), then ride them over town, etc. The first year, they came back to our house and slept over. The second one, the limo dropped them off at a nice hotel... I had a suite so they could have their own space but were properly chaperoned......we enjoyed the pool, shopping, dinner, ice cream, late night movies and late night room service (6 girls).

It just depends on what your soon to be teen wants to do? has she given you any ideas? When is her birthday?

We also did a costume party in our back yard with a DJ once that was a lot of fun.

One thing I highly recommend if you have having teen parties... PAY an off duty police officer to be there. It is not much money and it keeps things under control. For instance.. our rule.. (a common rule in our area) ... if you leave the party for any reason.... you are not allowed back in....you stay out and parents are notified . This rule was CLEAR to parents as well.

At all the school dances, proms, etc in our area....this is a basic rule... It keeps the good kids good and it keeps the kids who were planning to bring in alcohol, drugs, etc.. on notice because at school events, the drug dogs are used as well.

Have fun and I hope your daughter enjoys!

It might be fun to do a hotel party. Get adjoining rooms or a suite and let your daughter invite a friend or two to sleep over in the hotel too. Go swimming, let them rent a movie on pay-per-view, stay up late, etc.

At any age, I think it's important to ask the child what they want. Depending on the child, there are several options. Also, what type of budget do you have?

Lots of girls this age enjoy inviting 1 to 3 girls for a special day of eating out, shopping, or a mani-pedi. Although, I've never know anyone who's done it, I've seen several posts about doing a "hotel party", letting the kids (you in an ajoining room) stay at a hotel with a pool for an overnight.

Some girls enjoy having a larger group of girl friends over for the traditional sleep over.

If she's a social butterfly with a lot of friends, maybe you'd want to rent a hall and have a DJ.

For my daughter's 13th, we took her and a group of friends (maybe 7 or 8 girls) out for pizza and to the movies. A few of the girls - 3 or 4 of them, slept over and I took them to the water park the following day. I loved when the kids were old enough to do outings as their "party." I think it must have been her 14th birthday when her party/present was taking her and her best friend into the city for a Broadway show. Good luck in planning!

I'd let my daughter have a sleepover with her closest friends. Maybe even take them bowling, to the mall, movie or some other fun related thing.

When my girls turned 13 we told them we'd splurge on a party. My oldest wanted to go to CocoKey so we booked online and she invited 8 friends. It was great. They had a deal going on and we took it. The girls got to swim, with their dad and I, with their friends and then they provided cake, pizza, drinks and a $5 spending card for the arcade. They all had a blast. My youngest wanted a Build a Bear party and had 8 of her friends join her. They had an absolute blast. They were all 13 or fixing to turn 13 and the gal their did what they do for the little kids. All of the girls had an absolute blast. We had cupcakes and icecream and opened gifts. Then the girls went around Zona Rosa and played in the water fountains. They had a blast too.
We told them we wouldn't spend more than $200 on the party and we didn't. My oldest just turned sweet 16 and we had another party. This one was a Hunger Games theme and we played 12 games and the girls were put into districts and competed against each other for the prize, their "lives" and a gift card to Starbucks. Again, all had a blast. That party didn't cost more than $200 either.
Our girls don't have parties anymore. They were given the choice when they were younger to either have a party or have a really nice gift from us. If they chose the party they didn't get an actual gift from us, the gift was their party. We told them 16 was the last party they would have until graduation. Then they were on their own. They are okay with that. My youngest turns 16 next year and we are planning a sweet 16 trip to Disney with some friends.
I hope this helps some. You don't have to go big to have fun. Good luck and God Bless.

I love what TF Plano said but if you can't do that here are some ideas:

-take them to lunch, shopping and pedicures
-a limo ride to lunch (just book 2 hrs if you can). 4-6 friends, they dress up