Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen: A Practical Guide for Planning and Celebrating a Sweet Sixteen

By Rosa Rodriguez and Alana Lively

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, a practical guide to planning and celebrating a sweet sixteen, is a fun and practical book on how to plan and celebrate a Sweet Sixteen, teenage girls and their parents no longer have to go to a wedding planning book and then adjust it for a sweet sixteen party.

In Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, party planner and events consultant Rosa Rodriguez tells you the secrets to throwing a fantastic birthday bash. Backed with her extensive experience in organizing events and her creativity, she shares an exciting and easy to follow guidebook that will let you and your guests have the time of your lives on your special day!

From the conceptualizing stage to making the celebration unforgettable, this book will be your treasure trove of unique ideas and effective planning tips! And unlike wedding planning books it has wonderful whimsical pictures by Alana Lively which makes the book fun to look at while you are reading and learning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781481702386

Rosa Rodriguez

Rosa Rodriguez has a certifi cate in Travel and Tourism from New York University which included learning how to plan and celebrate parties and events. She has also attended numerous seminars on wedding and party planning, and she reads up on it to keep current. She has practical experience planning and celebrating Sweet Sixteens and Quinceañeras having planned and celebrated numerous parties. Serve as advisor to mothers seeking advice on how to plan and celebrate a Sweet Sixteen or Quinceañera. Also, as an Administrative Assistant to high level executives she planned business breakfast and lunches. And while working at the public relations department of a large NYC law fi rm she learned the behind the scenes goings of planning a big event, assisted in the pre-event activities, during the event and with post event activities. She also has done volunteer work in numerous large parties and events. Alana Lively is an illustrator, painter, writer and stayat- home mom. She grew up in Denver and attended the University of Kansas where she studied art and majored in English Creative Writing. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, Peter, and her two beautiful red-headed daughters, Katie and Ellie. She is currently taking fi lm acting classes and coproducing short fi lms with her husband. She enjoys running, going out for coff ee and organic gardening.

Book preview

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Contents

Introduction

The Big Decision:

What Type of a Celebration?

Yes, You Need

to Have a Budget

Who is Responsible for What?

The Invitation List

Where, Oh, Where are You Going

to Celebrate?

Invitations and

Party Gifts/Favors

Who is Going to Provide

the Music?

Photographing and Videotaping

Your Birthday

How are You and Your Court Getting to the Party?

The Dress and Shoes

Food and Beverages

The Cake

Decorations, and Table and Seating Assignments

One Month Count Down

The Big Day

After the Party

Odds and Ends

Conclusion

dedication_page_image.tif

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my loving mother

Diana Rodriguez

In loving memory of my father

Juan Rodriguez

dedication_page_image.tif

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my appreciation to the following girls for allowing me to plan and celebrate their birthdays with them:

black.jpg Evelyn Gutierrez

black.jpg Milagros Gutierrez

black.jpg Marisol Gutierrez

black.jpg Miguelina Gutierrez

black.jpg Jocelyn Morales

black.jpg Maria Rodriguez

A very special thank you to:

black.jpg My sister Racquel J. Colinares for having faith in me and this book, and lending me the money so I could get the book published

black.jpg My editor Jeanette Baik for making me look good with her editing

black.jpg My aunt Leonicia Vargas for sharing her experience in planning and celebrating her twin daughters’ Sweet Sixteen party

SKU-000456385_TEXT_FQA.pdf Introduction SKU-000456385_TEXT_FQA.pdf

This book is for all those girls who don’t have a daddy big bucks for a dad, or are not studio teenage princesses raking in money for the studio. And for parents who do not want to drain their savings or get a second mortgage to pay for a Sweet Sixteen party, yet still want to celebrate their daughters’ Sweet Sixteen in style.

When I was planning Sweet Sixteen parties and Quinceañeras, there were no books or shows that I could turn to for guidance. All the books I found and still see today are mostly for weddings and adult parties. They give suggestions for flowers, decorations, cakes, etc. that are usually expensive or require too much work for the planning and celebrating of a Sweet Sixteen birthday party.

Also, the shows for teenage girls are geared toward wealthy parents who spoil their daughters to the point that they are not teaching them good values. These shows teach the girls that it’s okay to be self-centered, selfish, and they encourage the girls and their parents to spend beyond their means and get into unnecessary debt.

Sometimes, both the wedding books and shows encourage girls and their parents to disregard their guests to an extent by encouraging them to serve the foods they like without regard to the foods most people are likely to be allergic to, or what their guests would like best. This can be a very costly mistake if a large percentage of the people do not eat the main course, cake, etc. due to allergies or just didn’t like the food that was served, since food takes up the biggest percentage of the party budget.

My book will help you and your parents plan and celebrate your Sweet Sixteen in a way that will keep you on-budget, practical, focused, and stress-free as the big day approaches and especially on the big day. Your celebration will be fun and memorable for all the right reasons, in which all the guests, including you and your parents, leave the party knowing that they had the time of their lives, and the guests give you a heartfelt thank you for being invited.

To get the most out of this book, refer back to the book often during the planning and right before the day of the party. This will help keep you on track and organized, and refresh your memory on how to do things that were months away when you first read the book. You will have an overall experience that is much more fun and less stressful.

SKU-000456385_TEXT_FQA.pdf The Big Decision:

What Type of a Celebration? SKU-000456385_TEXT_FQA.pdf

Planning.tif

A Sweet Sixteen party is one of the most important and exciting events in a teenage girl’s life. A Sweet Sixteen is, in many ways, a coming-out party that tells the world that you are no longer a little girl but a young woman.

Once upon a time, it was simple, and there were few choices, but not anymore! Now, you have lots of options, including celebrating your Sweet Sixteen like you would any other birthday party, having a theme party, or having a party that rivals a wedding. The choice is up to you and your parents.

The first decision to make is what you want your party to be: a simple party, a theme party (for example, 1970s, 1980s, Hawaiian luau, or traditional party for your culture or country), or a fancy and large party. If you are planning a large party, you must decide whether to go it alone, with an escort or with a court (which is also referred to as the Sweet 16 court in this book). The best part is that you can be Cinderella on your special day without needing a guy to make it happen, unlike a wedding!

The best time to start thinking about your Sweet Sixteen is while you are 14 years old, especially if you plan to have a Sweet Sixteen that rivals a wedding. What? You are already 15 years old? Let’s get going and start planning — your Sweet Sixteen is less than a year away!

Before going any further, I highly recommend against having a free for all Birthday bash that is more like a club scene than a party. You are probably thinking, What’s the difference? The main ones to think about are shown below.

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Think about it. Why give a party where you may be totally ignored, and the guests may cause damage to the property, which may be your own home, and which will cost your parents? You want your party to be an event where your family and friends celebrate you turning 16 years old, honored, and everyone has fun without having to face negative consequences.

While you are deciding on what type of party you want, it’s important to consider your personality, your parents’ finances, and your family and friends. By doing this, you will come much more quickly to a decision that both you and your parents will agree on and be happy with. It’s also of utmost importance to avoid getting moody with your parents at any time, including before the party planning. Otherwise, you may end up with a party that is not like you want or no party at all! If you change your mind about wanting to have a party, or worse, keep saying No and having an attitude for weeks, and then, all of sudden, decide I want to have a big Sweet Sixteen party, your parents, for various reasons, may decide to stick to the decision you made before you came to your senses.

Parents, if your teenager acts like a teenager at a Sweet 16 Expo not liking anything and, all of sudden, not wanting to celebrate her Sweet Sixteen, be the adult and sit her down somewhere and make all the decisions yourself. She may continue to say she doesn’t want it for weeks. Just keep ignoring your teenager, and do what you know is best. Teenagers can be very moody, and in the long run, your daughter will be glad you ignored her and celebrated her birthday. Also, avoid using your daughter’s moodiness as an excuse to get out of celebrating her birthday.

If you decide to celebrate your Sweet Sixteen like any other birthday, or maybe fancy or with a theme but without a court, in other words you want to go solo, you made a smart decision and saved yourself lots of headaches. The decision to go solo is great because you it makes you the sole center of attention!

Below are reasons as to why you made a very smart decision by going solo:

black.jpg You can decide to have an escort or not.

black.jpg You have to be concerned only about your own attire, thus making life much easier on yourself.

black.jpg You don’t have to be concerned about who you are going to select to be in your court, or worry about finding enough teenagers who are willing to participate or whose parents are willing to pay for the expenses involved for their child to be a member of a Sweet 16 court.

black.jpg Neither you nor anyone else will need to manage a bunch of teenagers.

black.jpg It is less expensive, since there are no thank-you notes or gifts to be given to a court.

black.jpg You have to be concerned only for your own transportation.

What? You want a Sweet Sixteen party that rivals a wedding with a court? Having this type of party can be lots of fun. However, it involves as much planning as a wedding does, because it is, in almost every respect, like a wedding except that no marriage ceremony is performed. Some Sweet Sixteen parties also include a church service.

Although it is tempting to want a celebration with a church blessing, 15 maids and 15 escorts, with you and your escort being the sixteenth couple, it is wiser to be less extravagant for very practical reasons. I recommend against it for various reasons besides the expense (which usually ends up being more than planned or expected):

black.jpg Finding 30 teenagers who are willing to participate in your Sweet Sixteen can be a difficult task due to costs, scheduling conflicts and the need to get parental consent.

black.jpg Managing 30 teenagers is very challenging, and you must consider how the different personalities will interact.

black.jpg It’s very easy for teenagers to fall in and out of friendships over the silliest of things.

black.jpg There is the transportation issue: How are you going to get all 30 teenagers to the party site?

Which is why I highly recommend, if you are planning to have a court: to plan on only having seven couples in the Sweet 16 court, with you and your escort being the eighth couple. If you think about it, by having eight couples, the total number of teenagers will be 16, which is really what most girls seek when they want to have 15 girls and 15