Sweet 16 party for our oldest daughter Kalena
Turning 16 is so much fun and I totally remember my Sweet 16 party when I was her age. We had a luau in our backyard and I got to invite whoever I wanted. We had so much fun and last summer when we were at our 20 year high school reunion I had old classmates tell me how they remembered coming to my birthday and graduation parties.
We started off the party planing with a photoshoot and invitations by Sodapop Photos. You can read more and see some of the beautiful images on my part 1 post.
We knew that we would be having a birthday party for Kalena, because we love parties. She decided that she wanted a dance with her family and friends. We ended up having it at Thanksgiving Point Golf Course in their clubhouse great room because we have had several family functions there over the years and just love it. The size of it is perfect and the staff there is wonderful. We are so grateful to Mark and all he does for our family, they sure do take care of us when we have events. It is also a beautiful course to have your tournaments at. We have had several there as well and just love it.
When you first walk upstairs to the great room there is a foyer area. This is where we set up the Photo Booth from Votobox Rentals. They are an amazing husband/wife team who have the coolest open booth concept. They were amazing to work with and their photos that printed out were such a big hit.
They customized the photos and let us choose from a variety of templates. Kalena chose to print the photo strip, the guests each took a copy home and Votobox printed one for her guest book as well. It was so much fun!
The next day they sent us a link with the entire digital file so we could share them with guests.
This is a pic of me and my sisters with the birthday girl. They are my go-to party planning crazy ladies because they always are down with whatever and are the best helpers ever. Most of the kids at the party were confused on which one of us was her mom because we were all on the mic that night announcing things and we were all running around. I’m the mama, but in reality, she has three. How grateful I am for them and my mom.
So Votobox Rentals was a huge, huge hit. They are here in Utah and I definitely recommend them for your party, wedding, event. It was so much fun, they ended up taking over 400 photos that night in the two hours they were there. Be sure to visit their site and give them a follow on Instagram. I love local business and this one in Utah is a great one.
Keep on reading because you don’t want to miss out on the rest of the party. Also, down below you can enter to win an ultimate party package! Seriously, it’s so exciting.
But before we get to that I want to show you the rest of the party.
Kalena chose to do the party black, white and gold. We went with black and white striped linens for the round tables because our friend had them and let us use them, thank you Tessi. My cousin Tasha let me use her black linens for the food tables.
My sister Kassie had photos printed for the centerpieces and we cut them out and glued them to some foam board. We attached balloons to them so it looked like she was holding the bouquet. They turned out pretty cute.
We stood her up next to a mason jar that had been glittered gold and had a tea light in it and put that on a gold charger. Simple and inexpensive because Kalena’s friend Reagann had her party just a few weeks before and let us use the jars and my friend Mandy let us use the chargers.
I ended up renting a helium tank from Zurcher’s party store because we had quite a bit of balloons to blow up and a tank was much easier to transport than a hundred balloons. Our family has these two balloon stands to make balloon columns with so we blew up a bunch of balloons and created them. We also had two more column stands that we borrowed from Reagann as well, but we were out of breath and time was running out so we ended up with two columns instead of four.
I found these Happy Birthday balloons and ordered them from WISH because they were super cheap. The ones at Zurchers were like $8 each. I have never ordered balloons from there before, but was pleasantly surprised when they were actually good quality. We kinda got crazy with the helium and popped the B…Oh well, the party must go on. I don’t think anyone noticed anyway.
In the back corner of the room we had a glitter eyes table set up. My friend and neighbor Laura does Glitter Eyes during Halloween at Gardner Village and she was so nice to let us borrow her glitter so we could fancy up whoever wanted their eyes done.
Also throughout the party we had reminders that we had a Snapchat filter for the kids to use. That was a lot of fun. Thanks to my brother Ray and sister Kassie for creating that and figuring it all out.
You definitely cannot have a dance without music and we knew we couldn’t just hook up our phones and play our playlists. So I contacted our favorite DJ for the music (never mind that he is my cousin, he is the best). DJ Magic Mapu knows the best music out there and knows how to get your guests moving. He knows how to read the crowd and asks before hand what type of music you enjoy so he can make it a memorable event. If you need a DJ, you need him. Message me for his info.
No party is complete without some food. Here are some photos of our dessert table. My friend Julie cut out the vinyl for me and we were painting the sign and putting on vinyl minutes before we left the house to head over to the venue. It was a last minute decision to do the sign. We originally were planning on a dessert wall but my husband had been out of town every week and didn’t have any time to make it. He flew in the night before the party, got some wood and put the sign together. It actually turned out quite cute. It is a 4’X4′ board so you can tell that the table at the venue was huge.
For desserts we ordered donuts from our favorite bakery-Dunford and I ordered way too many. We planned on over 100 guests so I ordered 200 donuts. The kids were so busy dancing that they didn’t even eat that many They did however get to take a bunch home.
We also had mini pies that my mom made. Let me just tell ya how amazing she is. She had surgery on her hand the week before, had a cast on and made over 100 pies for the party. I sure do love her, she is the best Nanny to my girls.
We also had a signature drink. We mixed a slushy drink in the Frazil machine. It was mango cream topped with whipping cream and a cherry. Sadly there is no photo of it because we were all too busy drinking and making them. We ended up making 20 gallons of the stuff.
We also had a nacho bar that didn’t get photos of. But it was chips, cheese, chili and toppings. You can see it in the video that I’ll post below.
After all that food we still have to have a birthday cake. The cake was made and designed by Whipped Bakery here in Salt Lake. They are a team of sisters who are so creative and have a talent for making gorgeous, delicious cakes. You need to contact them for any of your cake needs. Just look how beautiful.
I also got the gold sequin table cloth at Wish. However, it was not the size I was expecting. I thought it said 120 inches and then I received it and looked again and it said 120CM. So be sure to read the fine print.
The backdrop came from Reagann as well and my Larissa spent an hour putting up the fans that I found at Zurcher’s .
I saw a cake topper that I wanted and my cute friend Hilary, aka the SugarCoated Housewife whipped one up for me on her cricket.
The detail that went into the cake and cupcakes was amazing. We were completely stunned when they delivered them. So pretty, everything just sparkled. The best part was that they tasted UH-MAZING! So be sure to call them…and keep reading to see more photos and see the giveaway!
Happy Birthday Sweet Kalena.
Throughout the night the kids ate and drank and danced and danced the night away. They literally danced for four hours non-stop. There was a moment there when my sister Kamie said “I feel so old. They have not stopped dancing for hours. I have to stop and take a break after one dance.” We laughed and laughed that we are now the old folks of the party.
There were over 100 kiddos there and they had a blast. When we noticed that they were getting a little bored or tired we would have them take a break and play a game. They had dance offs, played some fun games and won some fun prizes which included some of Kalena’s favorite things. Favorite drink, candy and gift cards to her favorite places.
Overall it was a fun night for all. I hope that the kids made some long lasting memories that night, I know that we did.
May all your wishes come true.
Pin this post for later on Pinterest.
Check out a little video from the party. We were all having such a good time and so busy that we didn’t even take any photos or video so this is a little compilation of videos from my sister-in-law Trish.
And now for the really fun part and what you have been waiting for. I have teamed up with some awesome vendors so you can throw yourself an unforgettable party. If you live in the State of Utah (Salt Lake, Utah, Davis Counties) you can win an ultimate party package that will include a 2 hour event package from Votobox Rentals, a 2 tiered 6″inch 8″ cake and 24 cupcakes from Whipped Bakery and a family photo session (up to 6 people) with edited custom images from Kassie (Sodapop Photos) and I will be throwing in a $25 Amazon gift card, a Chatbook with all of your family session photos from Sodapop, and you can win it all. Prize package worth over $850. So get on over to these sites and start entering.
How to enter:
REQUIRED
Follow me, Votobox,Whipped Bakery and Sodapop Photos on Instagram (We will check).
EXTRA ENTRIES:
LIKE the giveaway post and tag your friends. The more you tag, the more entries you get.
COMMENT on this blog post.
LIKE me, Votobox, Whipped Bakery and Sodapop Photos on Facebook (It’s always fun to make new friends)
SHARE the giveaway post on Instagram or Facebook.
Contest will run util 12/10. Winner will be announced 12/12.
This contest is not sponsored or ran by Facebook or Instagram.
Good luck!
Looks amazing! What a lucky, beautiful girl.
Amazing! I already want to plan my neices sweet 16 parties!
Cutest Sweet 16 Party I’ve seen!!!
Omg what a beautiful birthday party ??
Beautiful party! ?
Love love love love this! The party looked absolutely amazing!
The color scheme was sooooo cute! Love black and gold together!
She wanted black and gold. It really is a classic color scheme.
Honestly I’m not a handy crafty kinda person but most of the things yu post I screen shot it and hope I can make it as good as yu! Thank yu for your awesome IG posts!!!
Making things period I’m not good at lol
Ha! I bet you do just fine.
What a fun beautiful party.. you all def know how to do party. Happy belated bday to ur beautiful girl ?
Thanks so much.
The sweet 16 party looked amazing from the photos taken too the Ombré Cake!! she looked beautiful and happy!!! Happy sweeet 16!!! Good job
Thanks so much. The cake was sure pretty.
Such a beautiful party! Something like this would be wonderful for my daughter’s 15 (summer of 2019)
How fun for you.
I love the theme!!!! Hands down to the party planners
Thanks
I’m hoping some of Kamie’s luck rubs off on me! ??
No kidding. That girl and her prize winning.
Good luck!
Awe Kuuipo, I cant get enough of your daughters sweet 16. The pictures are priceless & im sure it was even more fun planning & enjoying it.
You’re so amazing at what you do & keep continuing at it, because your helping me become a better cook in the kitchen! Hahaha
Love ya
Thanks so much. I appreciate you reading. We did have a fun time planning and it was great fun to watch the kids (and adults) enjoying themselves.
Your party is so creative! I can’t wait till my daughter turns 16, I’d love to have a huge celebration as you did with yours!
It was a really fun time.
She is literally so beautiful holy cow ??? I love your blogs and I read/follow it like it’s my religion ?☺️
Aww. Thanks so much. I appreciate you following.
So beautiful!!
Thanks
Wish I had a sweet 16 like your daughter! She’s one lucky girl to have you as a mother! Party looked beyond beautiful! Happy birthday to your sweet daughter!
I wish I did too.
How fun ❤️ What a classy party!
Thanks!
Everything looked spectacular but I wouldn’t expect anything less from you! Love you.
Thanks. It was fun and we missed you all.
What a beautiful and elegant 16th bday party! She is one lucky girl..all i got for my 16th birthday was a high five ? everything turned out beautiful and you make it look so easy!
Haha..a high five is better than nothing.
LOOKS LIKE IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN ❤️?
It was a great time. They danced and danced all night.
A beautiful party for a beautiful girl! Your daughters smile explains everything! Looks super fun!
She was so happy and had a blast with all of her family and friends.
Aaawww this got me excited to plan something special for my niece! ☺
I LOVE everything about the party!! So so cute!
Thank you. I think it turned out pretty cute.
What an amazing party!! Super excited for this giveaway ♥️
Thanks and good luck!
What a beautiful celebration!
Thank you. It was a great time.
Thank you. It was fun.
Such a cute theme/party ?
Thanks so much!
Thanks
Happy belated birthday to your beautiful daughter. What a fun Sweet 16, that she will remember forever.
Thanks. We had some friends there that said that they think all of her friends there definitely made memories that night.
I love the theme of the party. And how resourceful you were in decor and everything about the party. You have a beautiful family.
Thanks. It is possible to plan a party on a budget. I’m completely grateful for friends who shared black, white and gold things with us!
Omg… Awesome party for your beautiful daughter!! Just gave me goals for when my girls turn 16.? Sweetest 16th party I’ve seen. Thanks for sharing. Love your blog.
Thank you so much. It was a fun time for sure.
What a fun blog you have and awesome birthday party!!
This so so cute!!!! Love all the details out into it. You and your sisters are so beautiful.
Thank you so much.
This was spectacular! LOVED IT! Sweetest combination of simple yet elegant. What a great party ?
Thanks so much.
What an awesome party! Happy birthday to your daughter!
You have an awesome job as a parent. Your skills and your enthusiasm made this party look so easy. Your photos as well. They are awesome all because of you. Job well done.
Thanks. It was easy to do because I have such great family who helps a ton.
What a beautiful party. Happy birthday to your daughter ?
Thanks
Such a cute sweet sixteen party!
Thanks
What a beautiful party and family! I love your attention to details and how everything was still centered around the birthday girl’s wants. Love!!! ?
Thanks so much. It was a blast to plan and execute. Fun times for sure.
Is it too early to have you guys do Mona’s Sweet 16? Lol it’s only 15 years away… always love everything you guys do. And it’s a great giveaway
Let’s start planning…LOL
Love the color Schemes!! Beautiful daughter and party!!
Such a beautiful party? I love all the decor and ideas put into it!??❤️
Beautiful party ?❤️
Love all the details, espresso those cutouts of her as the centerpieces!
Looked like such a fun party! Crossing my fingers that I win your awesome giveaway!
Looks super fun and super awesome!!!
Everything looked great! ?? Happy birthday Kalena!
I don’t read blogs very often but I love this! What an amazing party! Love all the details! Love even more that you share them & not just show & keep to urself. U are so resourceful I love it!
So adorable & personable! I love it!
What a beautiful party for a beautiful girl! You guys did an amazing job!! Crossing my fingers we are in the running for your giveaway❤️
Loved everything from the dessert table to the pictures & decorations! You guys did such an amazing job! “PICK ME” ?
Thumbs up to the party planners! Everything looked beautiful!! & happy sweet 16th to your daughter!
Looks like so much fun! I don’t know if any girl that wouldn’t love to be spoiled like that!
Such a beautiful party and family!! Also an amazing giveaway. ?
Truly inspired by your creativity, passion, and love! Thank you for the inspiritation and great ideas! Looking forward to more memories shared and trying some out myself! Thank you! 🙂
Beautiful fun party love all of it and the decor!!! Super fun sweet 16❤️♥️♥️
Lucky young lady! Her Sweet 16 was beautiful!?
The party was an amazing turn out and Kalena looked so beautiful ! It was great seeing the family again and I really enjoyed the sweets and the games were very fun!!
I love the photo booth !!
Such a beautiful party for a beautiful girl!
Nice work………
Um..where was our invite?! ? jk party looks amazing! Lalala Love your decors, please please keep sharing your talents cuz I’m tryna get on your level of creativity & the hook ups! ❤️
I’ve been following you for about 3weeks now and you are so creative. Your daughters sweet 16 was beautifully put together!! I love the pictures you post on IG and now that I’ve read your blog, I will also be following on here! Thanks for sharing your creativity with us!!
Yay! Thanks so much for following. Good luck.
What a beautiful and awesome party and the decoration looks flawless
You are so creative. I love it!
Such a cute and elegant party for your daughter!! All the details were just perfect!
What a beautiful sweet 16. I love all of the details, decorations and especially the colors?? Happiest Birthday to your beautiful daughter!!!?????
So cute!!
What an awesome birthday party!
How beautiful ??? happy sweet 16 gorgeous
Love thissss! ?❤️ Such cute ideas! Everything is perfectly planned out and such amazing details!
That looks like any amazing party!
Wow, it certainly looks like the party was a success! Especially, from the smile on your daughter’s face. I love all the thought put into the details. I hope I win this contest so my son can have an extravagant 1st birthday like this!
Beautiful party I love love loved it❤❤
Looked like Ana amazing party! The collaboration of all of you guys will definitely be the awesome DREAM TEAM!
Woww!!! What a beautiful and extravagant party!!! ???
Your daughter’s party was absolutely adorable!! What a fun color scheme, I’m sure it was a blast to plan! Kassie is seriously our favorite photographer! XO
Is too late to celebrate my sweet 16 again? ?? Everything looks amazing. She’s beautiful. Great job on everything. ?
OMG!!! My daughter turns 16 in January and would love a party like this! Looks amazing.
Such a beautiful and Elegant fit for such a. Beautiful teenage girl. Love your Blog!
what a perfect party! I love it- thanks for sharing the process and ideas!
Now that’s how a party is done
Cutest sweet 16 I have ever seen. Job well done!!
What an awesome party and giveaway!!
what a beautiful party.. fit for a princess!
Looooove the birthday colors and all the decorations. Btw, your daughter is gorgeous ❤️
Would love to win this giveaway for my little sister! She lives in SLC and I live in Florida so I don’t get to see her much but if I win I could take this opportunity to fly to SLC and see her enjoy an absolutely incredible birthday!
Looks like an Amazing Party for a beautiful girl! Love the colors!!❤️
This is what every girl dreams for her sweet 16! So cute!
That’s it! I’m throwing myself a birthday party next year lol such a beautiful party & I’m excited for this giveaway!
She so grown and beautiful!! Great job on the party!! You Afo sisters/Family are amazing and talented! Love you guys!! ❤️❤️❤️
Your family sure knows how to party! This is incredible!
Loved the everything about this party!
Totally booking you 14 years in advanced! Haha these are beautiful and it looks like your daughter had such an amazing night! Happy sweet 16 to your beautiful girl!
Everything was setup so CUTE, i love it. Great job!
This looks so amazing! What a fun party! This would be such an amazing giveaway to win!
Kuuipo!
Your daughters sweet 16 is so cute. Your decorations are extremely precise and so beautiful. It’s so cute and I hope your beautiful daughter had a wonderous birthday! May the lord continue to bless you and your family this Christmas season☺️
Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you.
I stalked your Instagram photos of your daughter’s 16th party when you originally posted some shots ?, and now reading through your blog about all of the details and seeing some more pictures and the video of how everything came together was amazing!!! I can tell your daughter had an amazing birthday ?
Haha. Thanks so much, it was really fun.
Great Sweet 16 ideas! What an amazing party! You sisters are a powerhouse.
I’ll turn 16 again to have a party like this! Well planned and looks like it was tons of fun! Great job!
Right?!
Awesome partyyyyy!
LOVE! Such a great party, I loved all the decor! Great job ?
Holy Hannah Montanna.. What a lucky girl. Never did a sweet 16 for my kids, just one for when they were 18.. This is so beautiful. .. Maybe my last daughter would like one when she turns 16 hahaha MAYBE lol Thanks for sharing..
An 18th birthday would be fun too!
I’m not surprised at how well you pulled this party off. I love seeing all your creativity on your blog with your recipes and from years past of some of the family traditions y’all do since I follow all the Afo girls. Anyway great job, she’s beautiful and I love that votobox!! Awesome party!
Wow! My daughter is turning 16 in July! Thanks for the great ideas!
What an amazing party!!!
Wow, the pictures have such detail of how beautiful everything turned out. What an awesome giveaway you all have put together!
Love this!! Gorgeous set up
❤❤❤❤
Thanks for entering.
Truly classy and fit for a Princess from Pictures, decor to food! Absolutely Beautiful! ?
Thanks. Good luck.
This is the fanciest party! I love all the little details. ?
Thanks
Omg you killed it!!! I know how much work goes into planning an event like this and you my friend do it so effortlessly. From the decor, to the theme, the colors, photo booth (that’s so much fun) to the cutest table center pieces you seriously did an AMAZING JOB!!!I’m sure your daughter was so proud to share her sweet 16 with all of her friends and fam. My one and only daughter Payton turns 7 December 30th first and last time she’s had an individual photo shoot was actually with your oh so talented sissy @kfeingaphotos 7 yrs ago. Now my lil princess is quite the sassy lil girl ( how do you deal with that with all of yours lol) growing so fast and it would mean so much to the both of us for her to win this package so we too can celebrate in style. Happy holidays!!!
Thanks so much. It’s so crazy how fast time flies. Happy birthday to Payton. Good luck!
Happy sweet sixteen!!
Love decorating so this party was beautiful… Loved every detail ??
This looks amazing!! Good luck to everyone ?
I love it? Pick me?? love your inspiration. Alofas
Party looked great! Sad we missed it ❤️?
This is absolutely adorable!!! ?? I wish I can do something half as good as this for my kiddos!
Soooo cute!!! I love it!
I loved everything about this party!! Even the frazil machines (my husband loves frazil and brings it home every day to share with me). Everything went so well with the black and gold theme! The sweet birthday girl looked gorgeous and I hope she had a great 16th. Such great ideas, love them so much!
I love your creativity!! You make the best get togethers with the bestest friends anyone could ask for… family!!?
Beautiful party fit for a beautiful young lady!!
I loved the colors your daughter picked for her party, and also ALL of the neat things she had there- especially the photo booth, and Frazil machine! Such a flawless party!
I love how it all came together. So beautiful
This is a beautiful party?❤ Itd be awesome to throw one just as beautiful for my babies! Any help would be much appreciated?
Love everything about this! Thanks for the giveaway opportunity ❤️
This birthday party looked so simple yet classy! I’m so jealous bc I never had a Sweet 16 like this!
This is beautiful!!!