Sweet Sixteen Party ideas anyone?

well for my sweet 16, i wanted to do something completely unique and good for a budget so this is what i did: first off... my birthday is in january and i HATE pouffy dresses, makeup, and all that grandiose attention stuff so what i did was i waited until july and had a "sweet 16 1/2" (also we had some $ issues so we waited a while so we could figure it out and have the party in nice weather rather than in a catering hall with just dancing, food, and being all fancy... which i hate) i had a bbq in my back yard (you can always find a VFW or some picnic place or a family/friends place if your place isnt big enough) and the theme was old fashion/ victorian styled carnival. i made my own invitations with a carnival font on foggy see through-ish paper that i tied to red and ivory striped paper with ribbon and delivered them by hand. the color scheme was the old red (like a worn out red or light maroon-ish color) and ivory or any off white color and mostly in lacey patterns. i bought small lace curtains in those colors from the 99 cent store to hang around decoratively, put small electronic tea light candles in clear jars filled with either pretty rocks or crystals or seashells (decoratied with red and ovory ribbon and antique buttons). i had lanterns hanging, i found some red green and ivory vintage star lanterns which i put the electronic lights in and hung them in my trees. i wore a vintage looking sundress and the attire was casual summer party. i had homemade games and activities like a silly mirror put in a vintage frame we foun don the curb being thrown out and we painted a bearded lady and weight lifting man with their heads cut out for people to stick their heads in and take funny pics, we had some ring toss games and what not. they most costly thing was we rented a dunk tank, cotton candy machine, and popcorn machine. my friend and i do a lot of baking so we made a 3 layered cake designed to look like an old fashioned carnival tent with animal crackers. the party favors were homemade caramel and candied apples. it was really just all vintage, casual and family and friends :) we bought some food from a caterer but also made a lot ourselves. (its so easy to do a lot yourself and cheaply but make it look so professional too!) at first i just wanted to have a mini road trip with close friends... i wanted to go to this place called the TreePaad near lake george and have a sleep over their (my aunt is a co-owner) the place is almost like a kids fun birthday place like Qzar... there was a foam ball shooting jungle gym, rock climbing, lazer tag, jump shot (basketball on a trampoline), etc. but they moved their business so the cont=struction wasnt doen and it was impossible (they are back in business and are a billion times better than chuckecheese) if you like that idea you can check out Qzar, i hear they do sleepovers (i am the complete opposite... instead of celebrating womanhood i just wanted to act like a little kid haha) ive also heard of ABC parties (anything but clothes), which sounded cool, where you make an outfit out of unique things (i.e. someone made a dress out of layers of caution tape or comic pages... strengthened with tape underneath and whatnot, just look it up) these are just some ideas and im sorry this was so long winded, im just trying to help and i hope this did! good luck and for when the time comes... happy birthday :)

well for my sweet 16, i wanted to do something completely unique and good for a budget so this is what i did: first off... my birthday is in january and i HATE pouffy dresses, makeup, and all that grandiose attention stuff so what i did was i waited until july and had a "sweet 16 1/2" (also we had some $ issues so we waited a while so we could figure it out and have the party in nice weather rather than in a catering hall with just dancing, food, and being all fancy... which i hate) i had a bbq in my back yard (you can always find a VFW or some picnic place or a family/friends place if your place isnt big enough) and the theme was old fashion/ victorian styled carnival. i made my own invitations with a carnival font on foggy see through-ish paper that i tied to red and ivory striped paper with ribbon and delivered them by hand. the color scheme was the old red (like a worn out red or light maroon-ish color) and ivory or any off white color and mostly in lacey patterns. i bought small lace curtains in those colors from the 99 cent store to hang around decoratively, put small electronic tea light candles in clear jars filled with either pretty rocks or crystals or seashells (decoratied with red and ovory ribbon and antique buttons). i had lanterns hanging, i found some red green and ivory vintage star lanterns which i put the electronic lights in and hung them in my trees. i wore a vintage looking sundress and the attire was casual summer party. i had homemade games and activities like a silly mirror put in a vintage frame we foun don the curb being thrown out and we painted a bearded lady and weight lifting man with their heads cut out for people to stick their heads in and take funny pics, we had some ring toss games and what not. they most costly thing was we rented a dunk tank, cotton candy machine, and popcorn machine. my friend and i do a lot of baking so we made a 3 layered cake designed to look like an old fashioned carnival tent with animal crackers. the party favors were homemade caramel and candied apples. it was really just all vintage, casual and family and friends :) we bought some food from a caterer but also made a lot ourselves. (its so easy to do a lot yourself and cheaply but make it look so professional too!) at first i just wanted to have a mini road trip with close friends... i wanted to go to this place called the TreePaad near lake george and have a sleep over their (my aunt is a co-owner) the place is almost like a kids fun birthday place like Qzar... there was a foam ball shooting jungle gym, rock climbing, lazer tag, jump shot (basketball on a trampoline), etc. but they moved their business so the cont=struction wasnt doen and it was impossible (they are back in business and are a billion times better than chuckecheese) if you like that idea you can check out Qzar, i hear they do sleepovers (i am the complete opposite... instead of celebrating womanhood i just wanted to act like a little kid haha) ive also heard of ABC parties (anything but clothes), which sounded cool, where you make an outfit out of unique things (i.e. someone made a dress out of layers of caution tape or comic pages... strengthened with tape underneath and whatnot, just look it up) these are just some ideas and im sorry this was so long winded, im just trying to help and i hope this did! good luck and for when the time comes... happy birthday :)

Circus, clouds, jungle, dr.suess, masks, Hollywood , Disney