Throw a fresh and creative formal party for your teen's birthday.
Birthdays are important; it can be difficult to find a fresh, creative way to celebrate your teenager's birthday. Teenagers, especially older teenagers, love to explore the new phase of life they're about to enter. Why not allow them to explore their mature side while having fun and throw a formal birthday party?
Black and White
Black and white parties are an ever-popular option. The concept of this formal party is to incorporate the theme colors throughout the entire party. Begin by sending out black and white invitations to all the guests. Ensure that the guests know that they should wear formal (or at least semi-formal clothing, like cocktail dresses), primarily in black and white. (If they have difficulty finding black and white formal wear, you could encourage them to focus on at least accessorizing with black and white).
In terms of location, you could rent a hall or even hold it in your home--the location doesn't matter so much as do the decorations. All should be in black and white (though using an accent color, such as silver, is fine). Consider using black and white balloons or even keeping it simple with black and white candles with black and white ribbons. A black or white tablecloth and napkins will complete the look. (Consider using a black tablecloth with white napkins or a white tablecloth with black napkins).
You can carry the black and white theme over to the food: spinach dip and white cheese with dark breads; pasta with an olive tapenade instead of tomato sauce; black and white cupcakes; chocolate and blondie brownies or cheese cake topped with chocolate sauce are several options.
Finally, play piano music in the background (ebony and ivory keys).
Jazz Era Party
Jazz reigned supreme during Prohibition. Small, intimate parties where friends visited, listened to the radio, danced or enjoyed their friends playing music were popular activities, especially if any alcohol was involved. A jazz era party need not be extravagant, but can be a lot of fun.
Encourage female guests to wear dresses without waists, flapper dresses or evening dresses; feather boas; long pearl necklaces; feathers in their hair and carry fans. Encourage male guests to wear a zoot suit, if possible, or at least a black or white tie over a black dress shirt and a fedora or gangster-style hat.
For food, serve finger sandwiches, stuffed or deviled eggs, breaded and fried ravioli, spinach dip, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit bites and bite-sized raw vegetables with dip. For the "alcohol," serve sparkling apple cider, white grape juice or pear cider in white wine or champagne glasses.
Preparing the music can be as simple or as complicated as you desire. You might consider hiring a band that specializes in 1920's jazz tunes or just put on a compilation CD of jazz era favorites. Research how to dance such popular dances of the time as the Charleston, the Foxtrot, Turkey Trot, Jive, Lindy Hop and Black Bottom. Spend part of the evening teaching guests to dance and then let them practice what they've learned.
For extra fun, really push the prohibition theme. You can make the venue look like a speakeasy with boxes with alcohol bottles poking out through old newspapers and set up several tables and chairs. Provide guests with a password and only provide admittance with this password. Have a friend do a gun check at the door when guests arrive. Research the slang of the period and share your discoveries with your guests before they arrive; encourage them to use the phrases as much as possible. At the end of the night, have parents or friends raid the party as prohibition agents.
Formal Sit Down Dinner
For this party, the focus is on ambiance, enjoyable food and fun conversation. Invite your guests to wear their most formal clothing. You may rent a special location or hold this party in your home. Decorate with candlelight and crystal, or at least pretty glassware, and flowers. Use your best linens and place settings to serve dinner. Keep the lights low and play quiet classical music in the background. Linger over several dinner courses, sharing fun conversation.
For food, you could choose a formal multi-course meal with an appetizer, salad, soup, entree, sorbet course to cleanse the palette, a main course and dessert. You could also choose to serve several courses but lighten the mood by serving fun "kid" food like macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly finger sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets and fresh fruit and vegetables with appropriate dips. Fondue is another fun option where you can dip bread, vegetables and fruit into cheese and chocolate fondues. Serve sparkling apple or pear cider or white grape juice in champagne or white wine glasses.
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