This week I was consumed with making a sweet 16 party for my daughter Emerson while keeping it COVID style with a small group of 16 year old girls for 2 hours. First, mission was accomplished. We opted for a sundae  party and watching Sixteen Candles outside (which BTW is a smidge racy according to 2020 guidelines). One would have thought there was 500 girls in our back yard from their voices. It was refreshing to hear the laughter. Our next task will be getting a drivers license:)

To customize the party for Emerson, I supplemented decor items I own with the glory of Amazon (yes, I do own the gold sequin linens and use them ALOT). I mixed crystal bowls with paper ice cream containers and plastic rose gold spoons. Yes, you can do this. We blew up 144 balloons for a balloon swag (yes, balloon decorators, you have job security) and made tissue paper flowers for center pieces. Since my kids have a significant amount of time on their hands, their labor was appreciated.

In addition, I taught myself how to do a video montage (no worries videographers, you have job security too). Although it was a bit rough, it will be a task I will work on as the it was great to see all the (what she deemed) embarrassing photos in one place and I am ahead of the ball for graduation in two years.

To me, the most important thing at an event is to make sure it is customized to the guest of honor. You might be surprised what you own already and with a little help from amazon, you can throw a memorable party!

P.S. Emerson still lets us take her photo. Emerson (blonde on the left- yes, I have a blonde hair blue eyed daughter:)) with her two besties she has known since she was an infant (and she is the last one to get a license:))