Games for a Sweet Sixteen Party

Games for a Sweet Sixteen year old party can be fun and entertaining. Games are an excellent way to break the ice and help your daughter's guests get to know her and the others a little bit better. They'll all have fun at the same time too while they're giggling, laughing or trying to beat the other team!

Ideas for Games for a Sweet Sixteen Party

Charades

A classic game, yes, but you can tailor it to fit the teens attending the party. Make up your own version of charades before the guests arrive. Write several topic ideas on index cards - ones that teenagers would take an interest in and want to act out. Include popular music, movies, television shows, books, and Hollywood stars if that fits your crowd. The guests are separated into two teams. One person from each team has to draw an index card and act out what is on the card in traditional charade style - with no words! Have prizes for the team that wins the most rounds.

Fashion Fun

Head to garage sales and thrift stores and find inexpensive dress up clothes and silly or outrageous accessories. Ask friends and family if they have items they would be willing to donate too. The object of the game is to see which one of your daughter's friends can create the most interesting and fun outfit. Ask each girl to "walk the runway", snap photos, and judge the outfits. You may want to ask a family member to be the judge ahead of time. Decide how many winners and runners-up there will be and have prizes for the winners.

Scavenger Hunt

Who doesn't love a good scavenger hunt? Teenagers are no different! Tailor a scavenger hunt to their interests and make it interesting. You could set up clues throughout the house, in the yard, or even a different setting like the mall or park. Whoever finds the "prize" at the end of the hunt wins!

Themed Games

Create games that go with your overall theme of the party. For example, if you're hosting an indoor party with a masquerade ball theme, the games should match that theme. Perhaps a fashion show, costume contest, or guess who is behind the mask. For an outdoor party, try traditional fun games like the limbo, hula-hoops, or even the relatively new game, corn hole.

Karaoke

Come up with categories for prizes such as most outrageous, silliest, most creative, and the like. You'll need a karaoke machine or CD player. Each girl lip syncs or acts out a song and prizes are awarded based on how they do!

Games for a Sweet Sixteen year old party don't have to be complicated, just engaging and fun. Just think of the things your girl would like to do and you'll figure out which games are the best fit for your daughter's party.

While you are planning your sweet 16 party, consider decorating with pink, purple or clear mini lights. You can find them online all year - they will definitely add sparkle to your daughter's special night.

Shellie Gardner, owner of http://www.christmas-light-source.com, has a passion for Christmas lighting and enjoys helping customers make every occasion special with lights. With more than 500 different light sets and bulbs to choose from, check out her website to find one of the widest varieties of LED and traditional Christmas lights and installation hardware available on the web.

Sweet Sixteen Fancy Dress Costume Ideas

You've waited fifteen long years for this day to finally come and jubilation is hardly the word.

The time has finally arrived for you to shed your adolescent skin and cross the threshold into young adulthood. But before you make that transition, you must first throw the biggest and most spectacular sweet sixteen party this world has ever seen!

The first thing you'll need to do before ordering the white tigers, ice sculptures, and chandeliers is to find a stunning dress to sport. Hopefully you already have your measurements and have given yourself a little bit of time, no matter how short the window, to find the right fantasy dress that works.

One good idea that you may want to consider is dressing up as Maleficent, the villainous character from the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty. A black corseted velvet gown with a touch of silver on the silver panel, sheer sleeve drapes, an attached veil and a crown headpiece is a nice dark look that is guaranteed to turn heads.

Another suggestion would be to time travel back to the 50's (Mom and Dad will enjoy this) and dress as a poodle babe. This is as simple as a one piece red and black dress- or another color of your choosing- that reaches down to your ankles, with a poodle applique and a sequin belt. Add to the costume some nice dancing shoes and you will be ready to hit the dance floor to cut-a-rug for the party.

Or if you want to be a bit controversial, perhaps dressing up as a moll gangster will give you that rebellious edge you are searching for. A pinstriped jacket, pants and black tie is what you will need. Grab a hat, some matching shows, accessories (If you want to add them) and a fake Tommy gun and you will be ready to outrun the coppers in no time.

If the gangster look is not what you want however, consider getting 'batty' this year and go as Bat Girl! A mini-dress with a yellow bat logo, gloves, an eye mask, attached black cape, yellow vinyl belt and black knee boots will have you ready to fly through the city of Gotham looking to protect all the citizens from that pesky joker.

An Atlantis Queen is also another unique and fun fantasy dress option. Become the Queen of the seas while wearing a gorgeous silk gown with gold accents and flowing, cut-away sleeves. Add to it a headband and your appearance will be most stunning.

Hopefully these sweet sixteen party dress ideas will help you in your quest for the perfect costume to wear. These are just a few of many dresses and/or costumes that are sitting inside many shops right now, lonely, and just waiting for your arrival. Once you find what works best for you, its time to put on your number, go to the party and enjoy being newly sixteen!

Teen Fancy Dress Costumes. For Halloween costume ideas, or fancy dress theme party suggestions, check out our Halloween Costumes for Teens.

Sweet Sixteen Masquerade Party Fun!

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Make your sweet sixteen masquerade party an event to remember. Whether you are a parent planning for your daughter's happy event, or you are the birthday girl and you want to get everything perfect, you can do it! A masquerade party is easy to plan and so worth the time. With a little help here, you'll be a pro in no time at all. Let's get started.

Choose The Venue for the Masquerade Party
Are you going to rent a hall, an apartment clubhouse, have the party at home, or have a backyard party complete with strings of lights, brightly colored lanterns, and tables and chairs? If you do opt for a home party, you can clear your patio furniture and use the patio or deck for after dinner dancing. The possibilities are endless.

Choose Your Color Theme
A sweet sixteen masquerade party should be colorful. Think Mardi Gras! Brilliant purples, iridescent greens, shining gold and deep ruby and sapphire are a few choices to think about. No masquerade party would be complete without masks. You could choose to make the all of the masks black with brightly colored feathers and beads attached, or you could go with white masks. Another option would be to use the masks as the party invitations and tie a ribbon onto a piece of paper with the party details: who, what, when, where. Ask your guests to decorate their masks/invitations and wear them to the party.

Costumes could be formals and dinner dresses from previous occasions. Bargains can be found at the thrift stores and often Good Will may have some offerings. Feel free to be as elaborate as you want. Decorations could be plastic top hats from the party store; these are plentiful after New Year's Eve celebrations, so remember to stock up if you can. Fancy masks can be found around Halloween and Mardi Gras.

Grab a handful of Mardi Gras beads and drape them over table cloths and around serving dishes. Greet your guests at the door with plenty of beads for them to wear, too. Balloons are another nice touch. You can scatter them around the room for splashes of color.

Food and Party Favors
The masquerade party menu can be finger foods or a buffet style meal. Grocery stores often have wonderful party platters. Local sandwich shops or pizza shops can make up a 3 foot or larger sandwich to slice and serve. If you want to do something nicer, cater a carving station with roast beef, juicy ham and all of the trimmings.

Party favors of chocolate mask lollipops can be made from specially purchased molds. You can order these online or purchase them through a local party supply store. Another idea would be to take a small pouch or bag pre-purchased from a craft store and fills it with candy coins.

Lastly, please don't forget the cake! Remember, the bakery can make something special if you ask. Use a decorated mask and colorful flowers in your theme colors. Spend some time brainstorming with one of the decorators. They have lots of great ideas gained from years of experience that can make your cake really stand out.

Planning a Sweet 16 Masquerade party? Learn about Sweet Sixteen Traditions and party theme ideas at Pamela Maines' birthday party blog.

Sweet Sixteen Birthday Invitations

How exciting it must be for you to be planning a sweet sixteen party?! This article is both important for you; the sweet 16 year old and your parents to read. There are many things to consider when purchasing invitations that you probably haven't even thought of up until this point. Most likely the birthday girl is just concerned with what amazing outfit she will make her debut in and the parents only have one thing on their mind regarding the party; "how much is this event going to cost me"? I won't take up much of your time but I will run down the list of important things to factor in when purchasing your invitations so that you come off being on top of things and with money leftover in your pocket.

Planning a sweet sixteen birthday party requires "grown-up" invitations. Long gone are the days of cute Crayola drawings and messy penmanship that your daughter concocted to her 7th birthday party. If you are like most parents that are planning a sweet sixteen party you are putting a couple of thousand dollars into this event . Now is not the time to cut costs by purchasing cheap Target bought invitations. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on your invitations either. You can purchase invitations online that will be personalized with all your sweet sixteen party details for about $1.00-$1.50 per invitation. That's not bad considering all the work is down for you. Gone are the days of messy handwriting, hand cramping from sitting down to fill the invites out and you can pick out beautiful cards to coordinate with your theme!

Is etiquette the first thing you think of when purchasing invitations for your sweet sixteen party? Perhaps; but I am guessing probably not. Then you need to make sure that you follow some simple rules of etiquette when purchasing your invitations, wording them and mailing them out. The number one question I get when it comes to the actual invitation details is: "When do I need to mail out my invitations"? You are probably used to mailing out birthday invitations 2-4 weeks in advanced. Because you have spent so much time planning this special event, treat your invitations like wedding invitations. Mail out your invitations 6-8 weeks in advance and it's a good idea to have a reply-by date to be about 2 weeks beforehand. If you are planning for a party that is going to be competing with prom season or other major holidays then this 6-8 week time line is crucial. In fact you may want to send out a "save the date" announcement 12 weeks in advance with your invitations following 8 weeks prior to.

The reply-by information should be the phone number of the main party coordinator although teens may feel more comfortable telling the birthday girl herself. It's still suggested to include the primary contact phone number. If you are concerned about shy teens picking up the phone to RSVP, then list the primary contact's phone number followed by the birthday girl's phone number too.

Sweet Sixteen Birthday offers the most unique sweet sixteen theme ideas, planning guides, low-cost ideas and recommendations that make your sweet 16 birthday party top-notch.