Plan Early

• A sweet 16 party takes time to thoroughly plan, especially if you're throwing an over-the-top bash with lots of guests. If you plan to hold the party somewhere other than your home, you may need to book it several weeks or months in advance. You also need to line up vendors if you plan to let someone else handle things such as the food and music. Sit down with your teen to get ideas for the party and to begin making calls to potential vendors.
  
  

Go With a Theme

• A sweet 16 party typically has a theme that is used to plan the decorations, activities and even the food. The guest of honor's interests play a role in selecting the theme. A particular interest or activity enjoyed by the teen, such as a sport, drama or music, works well as the party theme. A candy theme ties in the "sweet" aspect of the sweet 16. The time of year leads to a potential theme, such as a spring fling, summer beach party or a winter wonderland theme. Other theme ideas include toga, holidays, dance club, masquerade ball, Hollywood or a particular movie theme.
  
  

Choose Activities

• Activities at the sweet 16 keep the guests entertained while at the party. Look for activities that relate to the theme. For example, if your teen wants a game theme, hold the party at an arcade or set up different types of games at home. For a Hollywood theme, encourage the guests to dress up like Hollywood stars and host a red carpet walk so they can all show off their outfits. A summer sweet 16 might take place on the beach with beach volleyball and similar games. Common activity options include bowling, dancing, karaoke, makeovers and games.
  
  

Assign Duties

• The hosting duties require a lot of responsibility, from the planning and setup to keeping the party moving. Assign jobs to other family members and friends to help with some of the work. This allows you to better coordinate all of the sweet 16 elements so that you can make the event special for your teen. You might ask the guest of honor to address the envelopes for the invitation. Ask a relative or friend to snap pictures at the party.