Loading ...
Sweet 16 is such a special birthday for kids … it’s often thought of as a grand time for a celebration. Has anyone seen MTV’s show My Super Sweet 16? Well, you probably don’t want to go that over the top, but a special masquerade ball with your kid’s friends would be a memorable way to celebrate.
Pick your colors: The best way to start is to pick your colors for the evening. Will it be black and silver, or purple and pearly white? Once you have chosen your colors, you can buy card stock in one of them and print the masquerade ball details in the second color (for example, silver card stock with black print). Match the type of font you use to the tone you want to set for the evening. A ball is usually very elegant.
Choose your venue: If this is going a very large party, renting out a community or church hall is strongly recommended. Blow up balloons in the colors of the evening and make a balloon arch over the entrance. As guests arrive, have the Sweet 16 birthday kid take a photo with each guest. Once inside the hall, fill it out with even more balloons.
Your party tables can again be set with the colors of the evening. You can either bring your own tableware, or hire it out with a caterer. Of course, the latter will cost more. It really depends on how formal you want to make the evening, and your budget. You could also borrow nice silver or china from a friend or relative. If you do borrow tableware, make sure to label it so you can return it in a timely fashion to the correct person.
Get your decorations: For a centerpiece on the tables, you could make silk flower arrangements, or place upside-down top hats filled with flowers or special candies in the middle of each table. Feather plumes may also make for an elegant centerpiece. Put votive candles all over the tables as well, and sparkly confetti for added fun. For additional elegant decorations, hang small white lights throughout the room. Keeping the light in the room dim will also add to the elegant atmosphere.
Specify your dress code in the invitation: In the invitation, you can set the dress code for your guests. For a Sweet 16, it can just be dresses or skirts with a fancy top for the girls, and suits for the boys. I would suggest not having girls wear fancy dresses or prom gowns and boys wear tuxes … that seems really over the top and may keep guests from coming, since it may be too expensive. However, I would ask guests to dress up! Also, you can have the kids make and bring their own masks, or hand out masquerade masks to them as they arrive.
It may also be fun to ask guests to make their own mask, and to have a mask contest, where prizes are handed out for the “Most Creative” mask, etc.
Dancing and special dances: The party will revolve around dancing. You may want to put in a few special dances, such as a “father/daughter” dance. The Sweet 16-year-old will carefully choose the music, and an idea would be to burn the favorite masquerade ball songs onto CDs for the kids to take home as a party memento. These are not expensive, and will be appreciated.
Plan your menu — sandwiches and lots of appetizers: For food, you could set up a buffet and serve sandwiches and a whole host of appetizers, such as fruit, veggie, and cheese trays; cold salads; and little warm appetizers. You can often find these types of appetizers in bulk at places like Costco. Chips and an assortment of dips would be excellent as well. Keep it simple. If you feel you must serve dinner, do heavy appetizers that include meat.
Drinks: Have an assortment of drinks, such as soda, punch, and fancy non-alcoholic cocktails like Shirley Temples and margaritas. They will look fancy, and be completely legal fun!
A chocolate fountain would be a fun and elegant addition to the party. Also serve your Sweet 16’s favorite type of cake: carrot, chocolate, etc. Other ideas would be “After Eight” mints, chocolate covered pretzels, and other sweet treats.
A masquerade ball shared with your kids’ friends will be a grand time! Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to plan. Several months would be a very good timeline. Also, make up a targeted budget so you will be able to keep on track with the party plan. If you have more ideas, please discuss them below.
Say It!
28 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post TrackBack Your website
this is a good place to go to look for ideas ^^ (excited)
Heyy
iam having my sweet 16….
me and my friend sarah are sharing one
the theme is black and white masquerade…
got any ideas???
A suggestion could be that you have all of you guest dress in black and white with the masks but you and your friend wear a color so that you stick out.
My friend and I are also doing a joint sweet 16. THe colors are black and silver for an nice touch. WE both don’t know if we want to have it fancy or casual. We are definatly having a chocolate fountain! I personally cannot wait it is going to be so much fun. What about games or anything i like the idea of doing a murder or a kidnaping that would so rock and keep the guests entertained.
Me and my friend bridget may be sharing a party for our 13th in march, our color theme is silver and dark purple! for our invitations we are having a dvd of pictures of us hat were going to edit with the info!! i think were getting simelar dresses, one of us in purple and one of us in silver!! *exitedd!!*
Well my best friend and i are both turning 16 with in a month of eachother and are also have a joint sweet 16. we know that we are going to have something formal and we both like this idea. but i have just one question… with the masks, do you have the guys wear masks also or just the girls??? We also are almost positive that we want it to be black and white or black and silver, and that we will be wearing the same color!
Kaitlin
The masks should be worn by ALL the guests, including both guys and gals. It will be a lot of fun for everyone
Your color scheme is great for this formal party.
Have a great time.
hey
My friend jennifer and i are having a joint party we are doing the masquerade ball theme and we dont really know how to get started we have a little over a year to get this done but we want to make it perfect and figure everything out. so will you please help me with it. on ideas and every please
love
kendra
what’s the average cost to have a big party like a masquerade. My 16th is like a year and a week away and i wat to know around how much it will cost so i can get my parents to agree. if anyone knows respond please?
hey my brother and i are having a joint birthday party i’m turning fifteen and he eighteen. we want to have a masquerade ball our colors are black, silver, white, and bright red. were having our party in november of 2009 i’m so excited. what are some games that we could do for fun?
hullo
my sweet sixteen is in a little over a month and im doing a masquerade ball theme. my colors are black red and silver. unfortunately i am having the party at my house.. which isnt all that big. so im going for balloons, confetti, masks and i dont know what else. but i dont know what to make the guests wear or what i should wear. or any entertainment ideas. should i make them bring masks or should i supply them? theres really not much to do with 25 people in my small abode. any suggestions??
my daughter is having her 16th masquerade party in a couple days. we went to the internet and went to oriental trading company, and ordered masks there. went to party city, they have numerous party items there too, and it is cheap too. we made our invitations, we cut out masks out of thick black construction paper, and put all the party info on them, decorated with feathers, and glitter glue. they turned out real good and were cheap, did take a lot of time though. then we got on line and and found candy molds shaped like masks, and are using them to go in our flower arrangements for the tables. if you go to google, and type in masquerade party ideas you will find a lot of ideas. go to your local $ store, they have plastic trays to help out too. good luck
me and my friend lindz are havin a masquerade for our sweet sixteen the colors are black and silver our dresses r black my mask is pink adn silver and hers is green and silver
hey if u dnt want to have your guests be so formal make it semi-formal you can let them wear wat they want but u and your friend can wear somethin kinda the same but not like the same color and still stand out and not have to feel like your puttin pressure on your guests just a suggestion
hey kendra well first you need to find a place to have it then after that just start lookin for dresses and if you have a budget to stick to you can always make it semi-formal like me and my friend and just go from the venue with the dresses masks shoes etc. food games music etc. just plan it the way you want. have fun and good luck
it depends on your budget and how much you want to spend. make it the way you want it and if you have still make the way you want and stick with your budget.
OmG!! I’m having a 16 soon… I’m scared to death!! I want to have a Masquerade ball… but I want to have it .. like a formal ball… not semi formal.. sort of like a prom… you know? What kind of music would go w this? and do u hav any ideas where i can find a mask @? I’m so nervous about wut my friends will think! Is that normal? well plzzzzz reply i need major help!! thanxxxx!
this is such a help to me cuz im planning my sweet 16 soon and i want a mas
Hey this is a great idea me and my friend are having a masquerade ball on Halloween. We are still trying to figure out the invitations. But we were think of the boys should wear something nice like they would wear to church and the girls can kinda ‘dress up.’ thx for your advice!!! =D
thats wicked!
im having one in november too!!
im having a masquerade ball for my 18th.
im really excited, and i want to have the best 18th out of all my friends.
we all pretty much have the same place booked, mine is the day b4 on of my mates at the same place. ha
not sure which colours to use: black is one maybe purple.
i dont want to do black and white because one of my friends is having her theme black and white!
uhh…. i was wondering what i should have my guests wear to my sweet 16 masquerade party. its really bothering me and im odee excited cause its gonna be a mistery type thing and i cant wait!!
if you got any ideas thanx
Having a masquerade ball for those that are turning 16 is such a great idea. It will ensure they throw another one of these parties when they are older because they are guaranteed a great time. It also introduces it to those that have never heard of it. Such a great party to have and a great idea!
im having a sweet 16 next year but my mom says i need to start thinking of things i want to do. she gave me a budget of 1500 dollars. i have no clue were to start planning my masquerade ball. i need cheap resonable locations and ideas for my party i live in virginia beach so please help me please.by the way my party will proably consist of 120 people.
need ideas thanks!!
heyy im thinking about have a masquerade ball for my 16th in may..ive got the date (cause with just my luck my bday is on a saturday)..and i’ve already started looking @ dresses and masks. i would love to dress up in a ballgown but i don’t want the entire thing to turn into a prom. i think i want to try to have it @ a local firehouse (they usually have banquet rooms right?) but im not sure if i should give out masks to everyone when they arrive, give them a blank one to decorate, or just let them buy one. i live in a small town so 100 ppl is about where im going, i like the idea of playing like a “who did it” but it seems like a lot of work and confusion for 100 people. o i was also wondering if anyone whoses not in my head thinks its a good idea to have a formal dinner party (long table, name cards, pretty place setting) for like my close friends before hand??? any thing you can say would be helpful
If you have enough money in your budget to hand out masks, i would suggest it. That way their masks match your color theme and you will not have to worry about anyone having your mask. Yours can be over the top and you can get a bunch of less flashy ones for your friends in assorted colors and styles.
Thes parties really range in price, depending on the cost of your dress and the venue. Check out places that you’d like to have your party and catering places in your area to get an accurate reading of how much it will cost. If you don’t have a large budget, don’t supply the masks and cut back on appetizers. Serve chicken fingers instead of shrimp. The dollar store will have a lot of great little things like feathers. Feathers and glitter sprinkled on the table could make for an excellent center peice instead of flowers.
Be creative, it’s your day and in the end it’s about getting your friends together and having a good time. Don’t stress about the small things or what other people think. it’ll take away from the fun!
Hello, my friend and I are planning a masquerade tea party, we need help!We dont know how we should decorate it, or games!We are going to serve fancy food.We want people to bring their own mask and wear prom dresses, but are friends might not be able to but that kinda stuff!We are having only five people their.We both have prom dresses.Are prom dresses look a like but are different colors, mine is pink hers is gold.I think are theme color should match are dresses.We have only a few weeks to plan…. HELP!!Thanks god bless!
Such a great idea! I’m turning 16 in November 2010, and already started planning the guestlist, but i don’t know which colors i want to have because aquas or purple look best with me, but they don’t always go together so… But if anyone has any more suggestions on any of the party’s aspects, please tell me, I want this to be perfect.