How to Choose Sweet Sixteen Party Themes

Pick an engaging theme for your birthday event.

For many eager soon-to-be-16-year-olds, the first step to creating a compelling party is the selection of a theme. By selecting an exciting theme that perhaps deviates a bit from the norm, you can create an engaging party for teen guests. Because the theme you and your teen ultimately select is so pivotal to the success of your event, you should put time, effort and thought into this step in the party planning process.

Instructions

1. List the teen's interests. Because the event is a celebration of the teen, a sweet 16 should ultimately be a reflection of the teen's interests. Instruct your teen to compose a list of roughly 10 interests on paper so that you can reference it as you move through the theme selection process.

2. Take themes of the birthday girl's friends' parties into account. While your teen doesn't necessarily have to abandon a theme option just because a peer picks a similar concept, many teens want their event to stand out from the rest. Ask your teen to reflect on the themes that have already been used by other partyers, and consider throwing these themes out of the mix.

3. Set your budget. Some themes are less expensive to achieve than others. If, for example, your child wants a designer purse theme, you may have to spend quite a bit of money capturing the quality of these expensive handbags. Review your potential themes, thinking of ways to capture each theme and consider how expensive each option could potentially be.

4. Look over your party space, and consider what theme may best fit the environment. If you are holding your sweet 16 event in a classic space with elaborate accents, a princess theme may be a good fit, as the space could easily be transformed into a castle. Similarly, if your space is a modern dance club, you may want to go with a pop star theme, as your party setting is already conducive to this choice.

5. Narrow your list, and make your ultimate selection with the help of your teen. Continue to cross options off your list as you consider all the aspects that go into theme selection. Keep your teen involved in the process from start to finish to ensure that the theme that you end up with is one that she can be happy about.

References

• Party411: Sweet Sixteen Themes
• BK The DJ: Sweet Sixteen Planning Guide