Sweet 16 Party Invitations

Who should you invite?

• Talk to your teen!  Agree on the number of guests to invite.  Try to get a good balance of young men and women.
• Family - if you have elderly family members you should make arrangements for them to leave earlier.
• Friends of the teen.  Close friends, classmates, teammates, and other kids the teen has grown up with.  Make sure the birthday teen has plenty of input here.  You don't want to miss anyone!
• Teen’s friends’ parents ... especially the fun ones!  Sweet 16 parties are also about celebrating the passage to "adulthood" so encourage them to invite adults too.  Having adults around to chaperone will make the party more fun for you.
• Neighbors ... we don’t like to snub anyone in our neighborhoods.
• Teen’s coworkers.  Don’t forget to ask for the day off! 
• Friends of the family ... especially ones that know the teen!

As you prepare your list, keep a copy of the addresses to be used later by the teen for sending thank you cards.

Many people want to avoid looking like they only invited a lot of people to receive gifts.  We respect that concern.  If you feel awkward about inviting someone, don’t.  However, being the party girls that we are, we would rather not hurt someone’s feelings.  Sweet 16 party gifts can be as little as $10 (or Sweet $16).  Check out our gifts & gift giving webpage for some unique and inexpensive ideas.

Planning for out-of-town guests?

Are you hoping to have out-of-town guests?  Let them know your schedule.  Call them or send an email, long before the invites go out!

Are you going to invite them to stay at your home?  Or will they be staying at a hotel?  Create a list of hotels, telephone numbers, prices and availability for them.  They'll appreciate your help with this.

Decide ahead of time if you are going to invite people to stay in your home and who gets first dibs.  We suggest someone that is helpful – the “likes to do dishes” type.  Contact your first choice ahead of time to invite them, even before you mail an invitation.  If you have room in your home and your heart for more, invite the one that likes to run errands!

Warning!  Do not rely on your teen to pass out invitations.  It's best to mail them.  We've heard too many stories of invitations never making it home to the parents.  Feelings were hurt on both sides.    Address the envelopes clearly so parents know they are invited.  Options include: The Nelson Family (in which case they may bring their whole family) or Tom, Sue and Alex Nelson (in which case Tom and Sue should bring their teen only, but not other siblings).

Printing your invitations?

There are lots of resources available for printing Sweet 16 birthday invitations. 

You can order through a printing expert like Carlson Craft (search on "sweet sixteen" or "birthday").  They have fun and casual invitations as well as more formal ones.

Carlson Craft also has some photo invitations and they offer suggestions on what to print on your invitations.  You can even order a sample before you order the full quantity you need.  Just remember to leave yourself plenty of time to do this.

Simply go to Carlson Craft to view their selection and order online. 

For less expensive invitations, design and print them yourself.  We have a wide range of "You Print" stationery in our online store - Flat Card Invitations, Fill-in Invitations, Slim Invitations, Decorative Letterhead, and more. 

Or pick a favorite picture of your teen and go to Snapfish.com to create a photo invitation.  Snapfish.com has a number of card options including photo cards, note cards and postcards.

Whether you order pre-printed invitations or you print them yourself, be creative! 

Some graphic ideas include:  birthday cake, balloons, confetti, baby pictures, school pictures, "Sweet 16" graphics, a car, car keys.

A simple flyer typed up on your home computer costs approximately 5¢ per copy.  These can be folded and mailed "as is" or inserted into envelopes.  Adding color adds excitement but increases your price. 

You can produce a color invitation on a color printer and copy it in color.  Or you can buy birthday-themed letterhead and load it into your printer or a regular copy machine.  See our online store for letterhead you can buy online or check your local office supply store.  Shop around for copying services.

Warning!  You cannot copy a professional photo at a copy store.  The copy store should require a written waiver from the photographer.  A 1976 law prohibits copying professionally created photographs.  So call your photographer to obtain a one-time copyright waiver and bring the waiver with you to the printer.  They may charge a small amount of money.  This varies by photographer. Or design your invitation with a great photo you took yourself.

RSVP

Include a fun post card/reply card with the invitation.  Ask for the number attending, similar to a wedding. 

If you do not want the expense associated with the reply card, ask for a reply on the invitation.  Instead of saying "RSVP" we recommend: "Please let us know if you can join us by Date."  Provide a phone number and email address.  Don't use your teen's cell phone number, as they may forget to tell you. 

Don't be disappointed when people fail to respond.  People just forget.  If you are having a sit down dinner and really need a firm count then call the people who haven't responded.

Food Formula for an Open House

We created a Food Formula to help you determine how much food to prepare if you are having an open house.  No matter who you invite or how many, they won't all be able to come.  Our "food formula" gives you an idea of how many people to plan food for.

When to mail your invitations?

We have heard all kinds of opinions on this, but we basically recommend 3 weeks prior to the party.  Don’t feel bad if you get them out late. 

If you are inviting out of town guests, send them earlier, or call your guests ASAP so they can schedule their trip.

Thank you cards

PhotoStamps!

Don't forget to get stamps, too.  The latest trend in celebrations is PhotoStamps.  You can turn your teen's photo into real US postage using PhotoStamps.com.   Add another fun & unexpected touch by using these one-of-a-kind stamps on your invitations and thank you cards.

Birthday Return Address Labels

Envelope Seals

Enhance the look of your Sweet 16 Birthday Invitations and Thank You Cards with birthday-themed envelope seals.   Our online affiliate Carlson Craft offers several choices.  Click here to see their selection and to order.   Party 4 Sweet 16 also offers envelope seals in our online E-Shopping store.  Click here to check out our selection

Photo Confetti

Birthday Cards

Think of the other soon to be Sweet 16 teens in your life.  Buy packages of birthday cards.  They are cheaper than buying individual cards.  Don’t wait until the last minute and pay card shop prices. 

One fun idea is to take a picture of your teen's friends and go to Snapfish.com to create unique birthday cards for the kids in the photo.