Budget Friendly Ideas for Sweet 16th Birthday Party

The 16^th birthday of anybody, particularly a young lady, is a special time in his o her life. It is a transitional time from childhood to adulthood, a debut to the responsibilities of a grown up with its rewards and challenges. To celebrate this momentous event, you do not need to overextend your financial boundaries. Here is a guide to budget-friendly party ideas for your sweet 16 party.

Food and Drinks: in order to keep your party within a budget, you need to think about what you want to serve at the party. What do you want guests to eat and drink? How much are you willing to spend on these? Once you know how much you want to spend and on what you want to spend it on, you can then keep your self within your financial limit. Often times, catering the food may be best time wise, but if you have the time and know how to cook, then get family and friend to help make the preparation for the food.

The Dress: one of the artifacts you will have after your sweet 16^th birthday party is the dress and accessories. Since you are on a budget, you are limited to what outfit you would buy. However, this is not necessarily bad, as you know the only day you will wear this dress is probably the day of the event. After that, the dress is often stored in a box or in a closet where it takes its place in your family's history. If you don't have to spend too much on your dress, don't. You will look your best in any dress as long as you love it and feel comfortable wearing it. I recommend buying your dress from a department store rather than having it custom made. The custom made ones are often more expensive, often for the fact that it is "specially made for you." You can buy an equally beautiful outfit that hasn't been especially made for you, and still look your best. Bottom line, evaluate your budget and see where you want to spend the most money.

The Cake: most people I know do not come to party for the cake. That is often what kids want though, so it depends on your guest's age and population. I recommend having a caterer design a beautiful but not too huge cake. Have it look beautiful, but not necessarily too much, like the many tiered sets.

Reception Location: these days reception hall can cost as much as up to 50% or more of your total party cost. For that reason, it is advisable to think about other locations for your sweet 16 party receptions. Ideal place outside a hall would be a beautifully decorated backyard that is capable of carrying your party capacity. It is easy to transform a backyard for a party, with few decorative items from party stores and dollar stores. Get canopies, outdoor heaters (depending on weather) and before you know it your backyard (or that of a relative) is a fully decorated reception venue.

Entertainment: save your money for DJ by investing in your own speaker systems with DVD player. You can rent or if you have an LCD Projector, you can entertain your guests with a slide show chronicling pictures or videos of your stages of development from infancy till now. This will keep your guests entertained as well as allow all to reminisce on your journey to this special day. The best part is that your speaker and DVD system will cost less than a DJ fee, and you still get to keep them afterwards.

Party Favors: save on party favors by visiting some online stores where you can buy cheap yet appreciable gifts for your guests. You can find great candles personalized with your name and date of party, mugs, lip balms, compact mirrors, candies, key chains, and various others. Check www.wrapwithus.com or www.favorfavors.com for more ideas.

Set a budget and try your best to stick to it if you really want to have a budget-friendly party with a priceless experience. Best of luck!