16Th Birthday Party

Maybe have her pick 1-2 friends and go to dinner and stay at a hotel- local or a reasonable car trip away. If you were in AZ, I would suggest Sedona. You could get adjoining rooms and let the girls have their own room, give them some junk food, let them stay up all night :)

S.,

Have you asked your daughter what SHE wants?? This is HER birthday, not yours.

If she doesn't like a lot of attention on her? Then having a big ta-do will only serve to make her uncomfortable.

Find out what she wants. Look at your budget and see what you can afford. What if she just wants a spa day with a few friends??? Are you doing this for HER or are you doing this for you??

It would help to know if this is what she wants, what she likes, etc.

My daughter did NOT want a huge party when she turned 16. She wanted, of all things, to go bowling!! LOL!! with a few friends...that's it. she did NOT want some huge party.

So ASK HER what she wants and what SHE is expecting...get her involved...this isn't a surprise party, is it?

Start with a budget. Decide that BEFORE falling in love with any theme or plan. Then be honest with your daughter about what is reasonable and what is out of bounds. Being summer, she may want to do a trip with a few friends rather than a big party with everyone.

We kept it simple and inexpensive.
A friend (the grandmother of one of my daughter's friends) reserved the clubhouse at her condo. We provided pizza, soda, and other munchies. No cake, because my daughter doesn't like cake.
We brought a boom box, and my daughter told everyone to bring their favorite cd's, and they ate and danced all night.
My daughter and many of her friends were theatre kids, and at some point, the Rocky Horror soundtrack got played, and we had a room full of teenagers doing the Time Warp.

we rarely go overboard for events such as this....1st Communion & H.S. Graduation get the Big Billing!

We did a Road Trip for my younger son's 16th. He gathered some friends & we went to his favorite climbing/hiking park. The boys took off, & my husband & I just roamed at will. Our only job for the day was feeding the herd!

The day was so much fun that my son & his friends have repeated it....several times over....without us. :)

Ask her what she wants and then do that but keep it simple.Once you discover what she wants then you can plan better and we could offer up simplistic but awesome ideas.

Good job being on top of things. time does fly by.

Ask her what she wants. Where I live 16 is just another birthday. "Sweet 16" went out long time ago.

What does SHE want to do?

I would start by getting ideas from HER to see what SHE wants to do for HER 16th birthday.

Around here it is a huge deal to go to the DMV to get your drivers license on your 16th bday.

What type of event do you think she will want, what is your budget, make sure you keep it about her and what she wants. Some teens don't want a big blowout, some do.

ETA: Now that we have an idea.. A lot of kids are opting for a nice dinner. It seems to be a big deal. The last 4 yrs. my daughter has gone to a nice restaurant with a few friends. We've been able to get a small private room sometimes which is nice, other times just a large table in a good spot in a restaurant. What types of restaurants does she like? I know a popular one is the Japanese Hibatchi types and it is entertaining as well. Have fun!!!

Not knowing her it's hard to say. My older daughter HATES being the center of attention so for her 16th we just did a simple dinner at Benihana with her best friends (her choice.) My younger daughter likely will want to do something similar.
I think you should ask your daughter what SHE wants and go from there. Once you have a theme or specific activity in mind it will be much easier to plan.

What are her likes and interests? Does she enjoy lots of people paying attention to her? Or would she prefer something smaller with her best friends? Do you have the budget for a huge party with a DJ and caterer? Or are you looking for a backyard BBQ type of thing?

My daughter did not want to have a party b/c she avoids drama and there's always drama with them. She chose to do a family dinner with grandparents and cousins at a restaurant followed by shopping, Caribou and going to a movie she really wanted to see. We stopped for some fun appetizers on the way home. She thought it was the perfect day b/c it was all about her and her favorite things.

Aw...that's cute.

I'd talk with her about what she'd like. Get ideas from her. And pose the option of doing something other than a party.

I would ask her what she wants to do with her friends.

An idea could be renting a limo for a few hours to take them to dinner a
either a really nice place or a super fun place.

Again, I'd ask her what her idea of fun would be.