Sweet Sixteen?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Please forgive me for a non-academic thread.

My daughter turns 16 in February, and we’re from Long Island. Around here, Sweet 16’s are a HUGE deal, with a party in a catering hall, a DJ, favors, the works.

And as much as my daughter is a wonderful kid, that party simply isn’t in our budget. Among other things, her brother is a Junior and will be going to college 6 months later. So the bottom line is definitely a consideration.

So I’ve put together a couple of options. Could you weigh in with reactions, ideas, suggestions?

  • 1. A trip for the family to Camelback resort. They have a water park. We could get a 3 bedroom condo for 2 nights, and she could bring 3 of her friends.

-2. (I think this is my favorite) An overnight in NYC for her, me, and 2 of her closest friends. We could do someplace cool for dinner, maybe put her in Times Square at midnight. (Not NY Eve, but still pretty cool.) I would get a swanky high rise hotel. They could order late night Room Service. I would request a room on a high floor so the city would be there below them. Maybe even a limo to and from NYC (this is a perk for me. As much as I love to drive, driving in NYC is a whole different matter. It would be well worth the $200 or so to have a limo round trip.) She’s not interested in the idea of a Broadway play.

-3. If she really wants a party, we could probably manage a small one-- at a Knights of Columbus or VFW hall. Any ideas in central Nassau county are welcome.

So, what do you think? She seems happy with the options, but I would welcome any sort of feedback from you. What would you add/subtract/ change? If there’s a 4th or 5th relatively budget friendly idea, that would be welcome as well.

2

Speechless. My daughters wanted to go hiking and kayaking for their birthday. And, a cake of course.

3

I’m originally from LI and it was a big deal, even in the Jurassic period. In Ohio, not so much. What’s your budget?

4

I’m a junior and I go to school with a lot of kids from the LI area and I can definitely say that last year there were a lot of sweet sixteens, so of course the pressure to have one was definitely there. However, I opted to have a small get-together at a restaurant in the late afternoon for lunch with my relatives and only my closest friends. I felt that it was better than a huge party because, in my opinion, I don’t really know if it is worth the money. Also, I don’t know enough people to have that big of party and I felt like if I did have one, I would just be inviting people for the sake of inviting them.

I think small get-togethers are a lot better because you’ll actually be with the people who are truly close with. I like the first two ideas you have there! In the end, I feel like its up to your daughter. You should ask her how many people she plans on inviting if she was to have a party because that was a huge factor in to my decision of what I was going to do.

5

I don’t even have a budget yet, we’re just in the “thinking about it before we price anything” stage. I haven’t really priced out much yet, just fishing for ideas. Whatever we come up may spark a more affordable idea, so pretend there’s no real budget.

I did present these ideas to her the other night, just to get her thinking. She liked all three, and I said to mull it over, and we would firm up a list of ideas to talk about.

And, yes, I know this is pretty much a NYC metro/ Long Island thing. We don’t have homecoming queens or prom queens, no college decision days or ditch days or senior pranks, at least not in my school, but the Sweet 16’s are out of control.

But play along anyway. If it WERE the local custom, and you had budget-friendly access to NYC, what would you suggest?

Oh, and I agree that smaller is better, though she may not. I would much rather have a standout party for a few close friends, then another party, indistinguishable from all the others she’ll attend.

And hiking and kayaking would most definitely fly only as punishment for my daughter.

Since you did ask for numbers, Camelback would run about $1800…but would be a small vacation for the whole family. The night in NYC would probably be about half that, but would exclude her dad, sister and brother. The party…well some of the halls start at $4500 or so for a sweet 16, and I’m not talking the really big fancy places. A K of C or VFW wall would be cheaper, though I don’t yet know how much.

This whole discussion started Monday or Tuesday night, so we’re in the very early stages…

6

NY

7

I think that #2 would be cool! There are tons of cool places in NYC that teenage girls would love. Dylan’s Candy Bar is awesome and if you’re looking for a late night treat, Serendipity 3 has insane ice cream sundaes! There are plenty of options in NYC. I also think #1 would be lovely too!

8

If I’m your daughter, 1 or 2. If my daughter was your daughter, 2. She is into glamour, not water park.

If only 3 friends are fine, you can do either 1 or 2. But if she wants to invite more, like, 6 to 7 friends, I would suggest scaling down the number 2. Good but not super high-end restaurant and hotel. Yes to limo. Yes to Times Square, but no to room service and super high floor.

My D invited 6 of her closest friends to have a nice dinner at her dream restaurant. DH and I went to nearby cheaper restaurant and had a date during that time. We thought they would have desserts there, but they wanted to go to McDonald after dinner!!! (They ARE teenagers!!) (Actually, McDonald was full of Prom groups with fancy attires!!) With McFlurry in hands, we went to a hilltop park famous for its beautiful night view of downtown. They had selfie/photo fest there screaming, laughing and rolling on the grass!!! It was a warm night and there were good number of tourists and yet another prom group, so it was comfortably crowded and festive. Aaaah, it was a good party!!

Good luck!!