Super Sweet 16 Party with Zebra Print and Theme Colors

by Allise's Mother

So my daughter is going to be 16 next month and she is having a Super Sweet 16 party. I have been planning this party for about 6 months now and time is running out. It seems I am doing more stuff everyday. When you plan yours, make sure to leave enough time for all of the party planning details! I would start 3 months in advance if I could go back in time.

What I've Done to Plan for the Party

So first I called every public rental hall I could find to book for the party. I found out that the Veterans building is the cheapest at $38.00 an hour. So I booked it from 6pm-12am. Now that is including the set up time and take down.

I have enlisted a lot of parents to help with the set up and break down, and also to aid me during the birthday too. Now you have to usually book ahead almost a year in advance for many of these halls, don't hesitate! I was lucky because they'd had a cancellation.

My daughter is not having a typical theme... instead it's based on the decorations. She wants the colors orange and pink with black and white zebra print through out.

The Invitations

We are inviting around 80 teens...the invites I am having my father make. He is making them is on photo shop. The invite is 8 by 4 and on one side of the card there is a pic of her with a sweet 16 tiara and the other side of the card there is a baby pic of her at one year old.

Then the card says when, where, what is going on. I made sure the card said no large back packs, bags or alcohol. At Target you can print it out for .33 cents each and it includes an envelope. That is a great deal.

The Table Decorations

The hall is supplying the plates. They are just plain white, which is really nice because they will blend with the theme colors.

I bought pink napkins, 20 napkins for $1.00 at Wal-mart. I bought 10 packs so it was only $10 for all of them. I also purchased 15 plate packages that are orange and pink, there are 20 in each of them, which were a dollar also at WalMart, so that was $15. Those are going to be for the cake and snacks.

The silverware is going to be pink and plastic and I am taking some small pink ribbon and tying the silverware up together. I am cricutting an orange A and gluing that on the silverware ribbon. On the plate will be the napkin and the silverware will sit on the napkin.

I also bought tons of .50 frames from Micheals and I painted them her colors. I am going to have a lot of pics of her through out all the tables representing the years of her life.

I am covering the tables with pink and orange plastic table cloths. I bought 100 ft rolls for $12.99 from Party America. Plus I have some ribbon that is orange and pink and I am going to tie that to the corners of the tables and curl the ribbon.

The center pieces for all the tables are going to be pink and white small paper lanterns in bunches with orange carnations in clumps around the cartons. I have some small disco balls that I had from a previous party that I am going to throw in the center pieces with some battery operated tea lights in the lanterns...Not sure how that is going to look like yet...but we will see.

I am also going to blow up around 150 balloons with a helium tank and have them clustered around the room.

The Party Food

There is going to be a sit down dinner...that starts promptly at 7pm, I am serving penne pasta with a sauce, salad and bread. Simple...I bought 24 1 lb bags of the pasta and they were .88 cents each. I haven't bought the sauce yet though.

My friends are bringing the bread and salad (we are just tossing the salad with italian dressing).

Now for the cake...I am making that one myself...For the last 3 months I have been taking classes from Wilton and I am actually pretty good at it so far. Her cake is going to be 3 tiers and it is going to be fondant. The top on is going to be orange, the second one is going to be black and white zebra striped and the bottom is going to be pink. The cake is rather large at 6,10 and 14 inches by 3 inches. So I am going to double the pans also.

Then I am taking some white wire and I am going to make a 16 with some fondant and some stars also and have them sticking them off the top of the cake. Around the edges of the cake I will have some small rolled balls to hide the fondant edges.

Because the cake is so big, I had to get a table top round at a hardware store to hold the cake. I bought some zebra striped fabric and I am going to cover the round. So the cake should feed enough people.

For snacks I am having a chocolate fountain. I bought one at Bed Bath & Beyond for $99.00, u can order that on-line. It is a little bigger than some cheaper ones I saw.

I went to Ikea and for .99 I bought 10 little metal buckets and some pink sand (from Wal-mart $3.50). I have 2 packets of skewers and I am going to put some strawberries, marshmallows, angel fruit cake and some fruit on the end and stick those in the sand in the buckets.

I will have snack foods also. I am making chocolate candy, specialty marshmallows, chocolate covered pretzels and chips and so on. I went to tons of garage sales months prior looking for supplies and I bought a punch fountain for 5.00. I also found a HUGE box of tons of un-used champagne glasses, wine glasses and regular glasses for $5.00. So I am going to use them through out the whole party. I have at least 200 glasses.

More Party Food Stations

I am having a bar, a popcorn station and a candy buffet as well as the sit down meal.

I bought a tiki bar at rite-aid. I waited for it to go on sale...it was only $20.00 down from $99.00. I am taking off the front panel and replacing it with some zebra striped fabric, the same fabric as the cake round. At Mervyns they had a Jelly belly margarita mix, it was strawberry flavored. So at the tiki bar we will have that, of course no liquor at all!

I will have a blender there from home. We will have all drinks poured from the bar (a friend will be the bartender). I also bought an ice shredder for snow cones. I called a party jump place and they sell the snow cone juice there. I am having some orange lights all over the bar.

So I just happened to be at a muffler place and they had a really cool old fashioned popcorn popper...the stand up kind.

I asked the owner where they got it and she told me and then I said I was looking to rent one. She told me I could use it for free...(again if you don't ask you will never know). So I now have a free use of a popcorn maker! Ask, it makes a difference. You can also rent one for $50.00 from a party supply store.

Party Favors

I decided on candy buffet party favors. It's a candy dessert bar with boxes for the teens to fill up and take home.

For the birthday candy buffet I have been buying tons of apothecary jars, small jars, round, long, whatever jars I could find (all clear)... and I am having a really big candy bar.

Since her party is pink and orange, and October is a great time for orange I'm in luck! I found bags of orange m&m's and pink ones that are the breast cancer m&m's.

I also went into Michaels (which is a craft store) and saw some of their candy was on sale. I asked the manager what deal she would give me if I bought all the candy. She gave me a deal of a lifetime (just because I asked! U won't know if you don't ask!) She gave me each candy, no matter how big or small for .05 cents each. I bought about 20 bags full.

Around the jars I am taking some zebra striped ribbon and attaching a small card to it to show what type of candy it is. I also found some wood that someone was getting rid of and I made different levels for the bar and painted them pink. At Safeway I found 6 little metal scoops for the candy at 2.49. I tied pink ribbon on them.

So the kids will take the candy back with them in these really cute Chinese take out boxes I found on-line. They are plain white but I am going to spruce them up by hot gluing some zebra stripped ribbon on them and then I have a pink letter A that I will glue over the ribbon and a small crown to go ontop of the A. (My daughters name starts with an A). I have a cricut machine and made all the A's and crowns with that. So the kids will have a really cute candy carton to take home with them.

For decorating the candy buffet I have a decoration that spells her name. I bought the letters for her name at a craft store and I painted them white with pink and orange polka dots and glued some crystals on them.

16th Birthday Entertainment, Games and Activities

I know a DJ who is a friend of the family and is also the #1 radio dj in my county. He is going to be providing the music entertainment.

My daughter wanted at dinner to tell certain people...her family and best friends how important they are too her so she is going to have a toast with apple sparkling cider and let them know what she feels.

I am also going to have a slide show of my daughter through out her life so far. I am borrowing a slide show projector that will hook up to my computer. If you ask your hall they might have one you can rent also. I am also getting the use of a screen for free. You just have to ask.

I am having only one game and that is going to be right after dinner who's know Allise the best. We are going to have 16 questions and who ever answers them the best will win an "I know Allise the Best" medal.

People have asked me why I am doing this and I just simply reply because I love her and she will only be 16 once. Plus my mother died right after my 16th birthday...that was my last big party I had with her. Just in case I would want my daughter to remember this forever..