Your Sweet 16 only happens once and picking the right theme is key to a memorable party! Our experts at Sweet 16 Party Store have put together the Top 20 Sweet 16 Party Themes for a birthday party you won't forget, and we've got all the supplies you need to make your favorite Sweet 16 theme happen.
1. Sweet 16 Party in Paris
Your guests will say “Oooh-la-la” when they receive their invitation to your Sweet 16 Party in Paris! Think about sending an invitation that looks like a passport or the Eiffel Tower. Use our Paris Backdrop Banner to transform any venue into a day in Paris. Go for a sophisticated look with your decorations, including an Eiffel Tower centerpiece, place settings and favor boxes in the colors of light pink, black, gold and white. Have your guests arrive to your party in berets, boas and stylish sunglasses! Consider getting photo props with French sayings to add to a photo booth so everyone can capture memories of their “fun day in Paris”. Serve your guests a variety of hors d’oeuvres such as cheese, pastry puffs, French bread, croissants, macrons, petit-fours and espresso. This party will be “Tres Magnifique”!2. Amazing Race Sweet 16 Party
Plan a glamorous girly day full of fun and adventure. Send out invitations that look like “Amazing Race Clue Envelopes” inviting your friends to dress up in tutus, tiaras and boas to look ultra-fabulous, while they participate in an Amazing Race style event! Plan a fun route for your party guests to run around the city/town doing activities and finding landmarks. Have one person (such as a family member) be the “host”. Break your guests into teams, each team is based on the color of the tutu and is equipped with a smart phone. As teams complete each task, they take a photo of themselves and text it back to the “host” to receive their next clue. The first team to finish with all the activities complete wins! What do the winners get??? How about a 100 Grand Candy Bar!! After the race, head home for your Sweet 16 celebration. Have your space decorated in yellow, black and red. Your guests will have worked up an appetite running around town, so serve cake and other snacks. Spend the rest of your day laughing and sharing photos from your fun race! 3. Wild Party Animal Sweet 16 Party Nothing says “girly”, “diva” and “fabulous” quite like an animal print theme birthday complete with black and white decor!!! Decorate your space with zebra stripe place settings, centerpieces, balloons and party streamers to complete a fabulous place for your guests to hang out, eat and gossip!!! Have your guests dress up in their best diva and sassy outfits including tutus, tiaras and boas! Use cute zebra print gift bags for your guest’s party favors, which could include items such as zebra print candy, animal print lip balm, animal print sunglasses or animal print sleep masks! Serve a fabulous Sweet 16 birthday cake or cupcakes in animal print liners, cookies frosted with a zebra stipe look…the possibilities are endless.
4. "Survivor" 16th Birthday Party
Outwit, Outlast, Outparty!!! If you are a fan of Survivor, then this party theme might just be right up your alley!!! Send out invitations with the Survivor logo to give your guests an idea of what’s in store for them. Decorate your space with tiki torches, team flags, fishing nets and grass skirts to start putting your theme into motion. What really makes a Survivor Party are the Challenges! Break your guests into teams and give each team a colored bandana and have a few challenges set up and ready to go. Challenges could include food challenges, obstacle course, scavenger hunt or blind fold games. Set up a Survivor Candy Buffet for your guests and include items like Gummy Sharks, Salt Water Taffy, Pixie Sticks (sand), Gummy Worms, and sour candies. This party will be lots of fun for all your guests!5. Pretty in Pink Sweet 16 Party Nothing says girly girl like pink, pink, pink! Decorate your party space in all shades of pink, and maybe pink and white polka dots or stripes. Set up and decorate a cake and treat buffet table with a pink table cover, surrounded by pink balloons, banners and streamers. Switch out light bulbs into a pink bulb for an extra touch of pinkness. Have a fabulous pink cake and serve your snacks and treats in all shades of pink (for instance: pink jelly beans, pink lemonade, cotton candy, pink cake pops and/or pink gumballs). Have all your guests wear their favorite pink and white outfits and offer them pink and white feather boas to wear when they arrive to the party and walk the pink runway. The more creative ideas you can come up with, the more memorable the party will be for your guests.6. Coed Karaoke Sixteenth Birthday Bash Bring out your karaoke machine, inflatable guitar and get all your guests singing and dancing along to their favorite songs! Don’t let them be shy, everyone must participate! Send out microphone invitations and tell your guests to start practicing their favorite songs and routines!! Laughing at each other is half the fun! Take it up a notch and have guests dress up!!! Decorate your party with hot pink, white and black balloons, streamers and other fun decorations like large music note cutouts and record albums! Serve a microphone shaped cake and other snacks and treats. Have guests vote for their favorite act and award the winner with a “grammy”.Don't forget your pink microphone! 7. Black & White Glam Sweet 16 This is always a classy idea! When you theme your party celebration black and white you can easily turn an ordinary occasion into a stylish and elegant event extravaganza. Rent out a ball room and have multiple rooms set up for different activities such as dancing, karaoke and even show a black and white film in one room! Have black and white balloons, streamers, plates, cups and decorations. You can even add style with zebra stripe or polka dot balloons too! Be creative with your invitation design, but since this is a black and white party, don’t forget to suggest the attire for the evening on your invitations. Your guests will want to know how formal the party is, and also if you want them to wear black and/or white. Set up your food table with all things black and white like a black tortilla chips and white cheese dip, olives and mozzarella cheese balls, etc. A black and white cake surrounded by a black and white candy buffet including black licorice, white jelly beans, black and white M&M’s, white gumballs, black and white cake pops, black and white lollipops, white and dark chocolate covered popcorn, etc will definitely be a tasty addition for your guests. 8. Highlighter Sweet 16 Party Set up black lights in your house for a highlighter party! Have guests dress in all white or give them a cheap white T-Shirt as they arrive. As guests arrive, give them a glow necklace and/or bracelet, glow sticks, highlighter pens and spray various colors of neon hair spray in their hair. One object of the highlighter party is to have guests write and color on as many people’s shirts during the party as possible! When decorating your space use glow sticks and balloons and streamers in colors such as yellow, bright green and pink (think neon!!!) also consider covering your walls in butcher paper and encourage guests to graffiti!!! Have a buffet available for guests to snack. Plan a mini pizza, nacho or taco bar for guests to create their own meal and offer snacks like chips and dip and other “grazing” style foods. Be sure to serve up some Mt. Dew at the party, since it will glow under black lights!!!9. Tropical Luau Sweet 16 Party Pool Party Put on your grass skirt and lei because a Luau birthday party brings the sunshine inside for a fun theme everyone will enjoy! Decorate your party space with fun and festive floral and flamingo centerpieces, tableware, straws, balloons and garland. You can’t have a luau without leis, so make sure you have plenty to give guests as they arrive!!! Serve guests a variety or Hawaiian themed foods, such as Pineapple Glazed Ham, shrimp and pineapple skewers, fresh fruit and macadamia nuts, just to name a few. Festivities might include a game of Flamingo Ring Toss, hula dancing or the Limbo!! If your party is being held outside, try a game of pineapple bowling!!10. Scavenger Hunt Sweet 16 Party Take your friends on a wild scavenger hunt across town, mall or around your neighborhood! Set up a plan of different locations to visit and have guests do something silly or collect an item at each location. Break up guests into teams, take pictures at each location and try to beat the other teams! Award the winning team a prize!! If you want to make this scavenger hunt extreme and go around the town, you can rent a limo and the Sweet 16 party guests can explore the city without you being the driver! Make the last stop on the hunt the location of where you will be serving cake and other snacks!!! Assuming that most of your scavenger hunt party activities will take place around town, you don't need to go overboard decorating the house, just a few balloons and streamers in the area where you'll serve food should do the trick. Food ideas might include a self serve mini pizza or sandwich bar along with a Sweet 16 cake or cupcakes. 11. Glow in the Dark Sweet 16 Party Dim the lights, turn up the music and break out the glow sticks for a night of fun! Place a few black lights around your party space and encourage your guests to be creative and wear fluorescent clothing, glow-in-the dark accessories and face paint! Award a prize to the best outfit!!! Decorate your space with balloons, party streamers and light up your cake/snack table with glow sticks/bracelets! Don’t forget the glow straws for your guests! Decorate yourself with light up rings, glow bracelets, glow glasses, flashing headbands and necklaces! Pick up some neon gel food coloring and add it to your treats and snacks to make your food table light up!!! Glow and dance the night away!!!12. Disco Divas 16th Birthday Break out the Bee Gees, polyester, mirrored disco ball and all things sparkly and glowing for a Sweet 16 Disco Divas dance party! Send invitations resembling a mirror disco ball to clearly show your theme. Decorate your party space with lots of glitter and sparkles in hot pink black and gold colors as well as Disco Ball Danglers, cut outs, glow sticks, streamers and balloons. Hand out favor bags to your guests that include beads, candy and glow sticks. Have guests come dressed in their favorite disco attire and have a dance contest for the best “Hustle or Bump” and award prizes.13. Party Like a RockStar Sweet 16
Turn on some music and plan the hottest “Rock Star” party that will have your friends talking for weeks! Have your guests grab their wigs, microphones, crazy outfits and dress up as their favorite singer or rock star!!! Decorate the entrance to your party venue with a carpet runner so your guests can walk the “Grammy” runway and have their photos taken before entering the party. Rock Star theme décor such as record albums and star cutouts will complete the look of your party. Use star shaped cookie cutters on sandwiches and other snacks to keep food within the theme. Music is key so choose some rockin’ tunes and allow your guests a chance to dance and maybe even sing karaoke. 14. Sweet 16 Photo Shoot Party Hire a professional makeup artist and get your friends together to learn all about how to apply makeup for the newest trends! Get all dressed up and dolled up because it is time for your photo shoot! Hire a professional photographer and have fun being silly and gorgeous during a photo shoot that will give you pictures to last a lifetime and that will always bring back memories of a fun day with your friends!!! Being glamorous can work up an appetite, so make sure you have a food table available with snacks and, of course, a fabulous Sweet 16 cake!!15. Sweet 16 Spa Day Treat yourself and a few friends to manicures, pedicures, massages and facials at a Spa Party! Be daring and try a new hairstyle! Use photo booth props or take before and after pictures to share with family and friends. After your day at the spa, head home for cake and snacks. Decorate your table with a nail polish cupcake stand, animal print spa napkins, Sweet 16 party balloons and streamers! Treat bags for your guests that include sleep masks, lipstick or nail polish pens, purse note pads and lip balm will be a hit!16. Sweet 16 Coed Camping Party You can’t go wrong with a classic like a good old fashioned Slumber Party, but add the camping twist for a modern overnight adventure. Set up tents in the backyard and stay up all night telling ghost stories around the campfire and having flashlight scanvenger hunts! Decorate the tents with Sweet 16 party streamers and balloons and take lots of silly pictures or selfies. Make sure your plan includes breakfast for the morning!!17. Diamonds & Denim Cowgirl Sweet 16 This party is a combination of dress up glamour with dress down country style comfort! Wear a pair of your favorite jeans and add some bling with a tiara and rhinestone sash! Go to dinner at your favorite restaurant and decorate your table or space with a Sweet 16 banner, balloons and centerpieces that sparkle and shine!! Treat your guests to party favor bags that include a light up “faux” diamond ring, party beads and tiara hair combs! The cool thing about this party theme is that everyone has a favorite pair jeans, a western hat and some kind of bling! 18. Coed Sweet 16 Toga Party Plan a Toga Party!!! Send out “scroll” invitations requesting your guests to BYOS (bring your own sheet) and show up in their Toga or Greek Theme outfits. Use white and gold decorations such as balloons and streamers and hang grapevines or ivy to complete the look. Serve foods with a “greek” theme for instance, lots of fruits (especially grapes) pita bread with hummus, veggies (definitely olives) and cheeses (don’t forget the feta). If you are looking to play some fun games, have a toga costume contest and try bobbing for grapes. 19. Scary Zombie Apocalypse 16th Birthday Party With all the movies and shows out now about Zombies, who wouldn't want to celebrate the undead. If shuffling around the night looking for “brains” is your forte, this might just be the party theme for you! Send out grave marker/headstone invitations letting your guests know that they should come dresses as zombies!!! Decorate your space with black balloons and streamers as well as caution tape streamers, Styrofoam headstones and use red paint to make a “blood splattered” tablecloth. Serve your guests some brain food or other zombie themed foods such as, cake pop eyeballs, gelatin brains, hot dogs that look like fingers and so forth. Have a zombie costume contest and award a prize to the winner!!! Looking for a fun game??? Try the “Legless Zombie”!!! Place a fake brain or body part at the finish line and have your guests lie on their stomachs at the starting point. Guests scoot and wiggle to the finish line without using their legs, just their arms and stomach. The first to arrive to the finish line gets to "feast."20. Sassy Sweet 16 Glow Bowling Party This is a classic party idea, but you can take it up a notch by having your friends dress in tutus and tiaras, because let’s face it…bowling shoes are ugly and you have to look fabulous!!! Invite your friends and break into teams to compete for the highest scores!! Have a prize ready for the winner! Decorate your space with Sweet 16 balloons!!! Serve guests popcorn, cake pops resembling bowling balls and bowling pin decorated cookies!!! Strike or no strike, everyone will have a great time being sassy, laughing and bowling. |
