Sweet 16 - Houston,TX

Well, my girls are 13 soon to be 14. They want a quincenera for their 15th--without the traditional dances etc--just a big party like that. For 16, they want a big party that they can invite all of their friends. I don't know if it will change in teh next 2 years. One thing they would love to do this next birthday is a salon trip where they get their brows, nails and toes done along with facials. They would each bring a friend. See if she would like that. Maybe even look into one of those packages where they come to the house if you have room for that.

My daughter just wanted to plan everything and hang out with her friends.

I guess it kind of depends on the girl.

My daughter loves parties and throwing parties...

We've had limo parties, DJ parties, spend the night at the hotel parties, you name it.

However, for Sweet 16 her focus was getting her DL and taking ownership of her car!! We took several friends to a Japanese restaurant and they had a great time and sleptover.

She just turned 18 on 12/27 and this time she and 5 friends got dressed up and went to a nice restaurant on their own. I reserved a private room in the wine cellar and they had a S. dinner, anything they wanted. This was her favorite Italian restaurant. Of course, we picked up the tab for everyone.

Then they went to another local restaurant (BJ's) for a dessert that they love (pazookie) or something like that. Again, we picked up the tab.

Then they all came back to our house, had movies, ate cake, and sleptover.

Daughter is 18 and I still have a house full of girls every weekend. She keeps it to 6 or less so everyone has their own bed and they have the entire upstairs to themselves. They usually come to the kitchen and cook as well.

Her BFF just had her 18th bday party at a salon and everyone was treated to mani/pedis and a brow wax. My daughter does not wear the fake nails but she got a traditional mani'pedi and to be honest, she was not happy when she found out waxing was in store but she was a good sport and went along. Her brows do look very nice.

Happy Birthday to your daughter!

What does your daughter want to do?
We had my daughter's sweet 16 in 2011 and as much as I wanted to throw her a big, themed party all SHE wanted was dinner with her best friends (7 or 8 girls) at Benihana, so that's what we did. She is a friendly, outgoing girl and loves parties (for other people) but she HATES being the center of attention.
Ask your daughter what she wants and go from there.

What great ideas! I LOVED planning my oldest dgtr's sweet 16! We went all out, the party was at our house but we rented round tables and plenty of chairs for seating outside. I did white tablecloths with black toppers and the centerpieces were small vases with fresh pink gerber daisies surrounded by 4 clear votive candles. We had pink, black and white plates, napkins, etc.

The kids played air hockey, basketball, sang karaoke, played indoors on the pool table, we hooked up the WII outside and had an outdoor fire pit for smores and hot dogs.

I had SO MUCH food! They ate a lot, but I went WAY overboard! We had most kids leave by 11:30, but a few stayed the night. I let her invite anyone she wanted to the party, which made me nervous! We ended up with about 50 kids overall, a very manageable number since they were both inside and outside (her bday is in November).

Memories!!! Thanks for letting me share!!

You could do a mother/daughter day...lunch, manis, pedis etc. Make it a "girls day" and have her best friend (or two) come along.

Have a big birthday party...music, dancing, food, cake, friends and family.

Take a weekend trip.

Really depends on your daughter, even if she doesn't know what she wants, she knows what she doesn't and you should know what she does like.

Depends on your daughter but here are some ideas:

1. Take friends to dinner/sleep over
2. Weekend trip (bookit.com has awesome deals)
3. A surprise party
4. A fun artsy paint your own pottery, paint your own canvas, cooking etc class.
5. Concert or just buying concert tickets for something in the future

My favorite would be the trip but I like to travel. :D

She might not know what you want to pay for or have to deal with, so she may be politely asking you what you are willing to do.

I would pick only the suggestions you are willing to pay for and do, and then present her with those options. Every kid is different. My daughter just wanted to have one of her girlfriends to come and spend the day with us doing fun things. My son wanted an outing with as many kids as we could afford to pay for. Other kids love a party at their home.

I'm sure that once she hears your list, something will jump out at her. If not, ask her if there is a reason that she doesn't want to celebrate being 16.

A friend on FB posted pics of her daughter's sweet 16. They rented a limo that took the birthday girl and a couple of friends to dinner downtown.

I know this is going to sound pretentious, and you don't know me, but we really aren't! Actually the farthest from it! But we have had a dining membership at a local country club for 9-10 years so that's where we had our daughter's Sweet 16 party. We split the cost with her BFF's family because the girl's birthdays are actually just about a week a part so we had a combined party.

They invited the whole class, (small, private school so only 45 kids). We had cake and kid friendly foods like pizza, chicken fingers, fruits and veggies. Hired a DJ and got a photo booth. The DJ was amazing and the the kids literally danced the entire night. Well, when they weren't in the photo booth. The photo-booth was a last minute decision because we knew someone who gave us a deal since they were trying to get their business up and going. When the parents dropped off or picked up the kids, they too enjoyed the photo booth!

We justified the party because we do not do big birthday parties otherwise. As a matter of fact the last 'party' she had was her 2nd, which we also shared with another friend. And my husband told her that's IT until she gets married.

What's your budget and what is she into? Sweet 16 at a hall will cost you at least 15,000. Perhaps a trip to Disney or the Carolina's with 2 of her BFF's. Definitely cheaper. Perhaps rent a time share or house on the beach. Good luck.

It really depends what she likes...the sweet 16s my daughter went to really varied: parties at rented halls with DJs, house parties, dinner at a restaurant, dinner and a movie, pool parties (1 had a moonbounce!), backyard bonfire, overnight on a Battleship, overnight in Poconos - 1 day at waterpark 1 day ziplining. Her own event was small, she and her 4 bffs went to see a rodeo. She loves to go to parties, but for her own bday she wanted it simple, she does not like a lot of attention drawn to herself.

I agree to come up with some ideas and offer them up to her. Or give her a budget and let her plan it..

What is she into? Is she girly, does she have a favorite movie that would make a good theme, like Twilight or something? Is there a place she really loves, like the beach, that would set the party tone?
It's hard to know without knowing anything about her personality and taste...

At 16y/o all I wanted was a CAR!

Unless my daughter specifically asks for a huge party for her 16th, we plan on surprising her with a car and then handing her some cash and letting her go out with her besties for a nice dinner... in her new car!!

~Of course she will have to endure the same ol' 'Family Party' with the Grandparents and Aunties and Uncles somewhere in there too! ;)

We had a Sweet 16 for my daughter when she turned 16, a year and a half ago. It was in the party room at a local golf club - buffet, DJ, personalized M&M favors, a slide show put together by her best friend, How Well Do You Know Kayleigh game, etc. It was really great fun. There were about 45 people there, mostly teens but a few adults in the family and family friends. It cost a couple of thousand dollars, which I know could have gone into her college fund, but I felt that this was our one big celebration during the years we've raised her. We don't belong to an organized religion, so no baby naming or Bat Mitzvah, no christening, communion or confirmation.

I told her that she had other options - dinner with maybe 10 friends at a fancy restaurant like the Melting Pot, a Broadway show with maybe 4 friends, but she wanted the party.

Good luck and enjoy the planning.