Sweet Sixteen

This weekend I got the opportunity to help set up the venue for the Sweet Sixteen birthday party of a very special young lady. I have known Raven since she was little and her grandmother and I hit it off from the moment we met many years ago. So when Mrs. M mentioned that she may need some help with setting up and planning her granddaughters party I did not hesitate to volunteer. I actually prefer working for family and friends because as passionate as I am about most things I love I also know that when you do things strictly for money it can tend to take the joy out of it. Will I accept a token of appreciation or a fee if necessary...most definitely yes but honestly I do what I do because I just love planning and decorating for party's. 

The theme for this affair was right up my alley. Paris is one of two places I have told my hubby that I want to go to before I die (the other is London). Once Mrs. M told me what she wanted I immediately started pinning stuff on Pinterest! Next to the Dollar Store (lol) Pinterest is my number one inspiration for party planning! 

Mrs. M was probably one of the easiest (non family member) person to work with. It seemed as if we were of one mind whenever coming up with ideas. I would send her a suggestion or picture and she would have already seen the same idea and loved it or tell me that was exactly what she was looking for. LOL

The cake table was decorated with mesh and ribbon from Sam's Club Easter supplies.

The Cake ladies (yes there were two) did an excellent job. The main cake was an almost exact replica of one that they picked from online. 

Mrs. M came up with the idea of doing a Candlelightning ceremony. Raven called up several people in her life that she wished to thank for being there for her .... including aunts, uncles, big sisters, special friends, school and church buddies, second mom's (which included me) and last but certainly not least her grandmother who has raised her since she was a baby. She also lit a special candle on behalf of her grandfather who passed away but who had always promised her a Sweet Sixteen party.

Not sure if you can tell in this picture but there are large Eiffel towers flanking the side of the tables (with the balloons attached) which came from the Birthday girls room. 

Each of the young men or women present were given a small key chain to remember the night. Boys got one with a horseshoe on it and girls got the number 16!

Mrs. M created the signs and I provided the stands for them to be on (courtesy of the Dollar Tree from years ago). I keep telling people not to sit down on the Dollar Tree! lol

My favorite decoration of all time were the centerpieces. We used Eiffel towers stacked on faux books from Michael's. A votive candle was lit with purple LED lights with Ravens name and date of party on it, along with my purple floral arrangements on a round mirror provided by the facility. Each place setting had a card with a run down of the evening activities and place cards (written by my aunt who is a excellent calligraphist) were held up with mini Eiffel tower clips. 

The silver overlays are the same ones used at my cousins wedding last summer. That along with the napkins and the sheer chair sashes were purchased online for almost the same cost as renting them would have been.