sweet 16 parties -- my neighbro just floored me

[Briar Rose 7457]

it seems that sweet 16 parties around here are on the same scale as...well, as bar and bat mitzvah celebrations...which are as elaborate as weddings. my dd's friend's mom just otld me her 16 year old went to a party at a country club last night. my dd was at a bat mitzvah at that country club last week.

 

[zurgswife]

While I have never attend a Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration...a friend of my does...and the last one she went to was Black Tie...sounded like that was the norm...and the gifts that the kids come home with amaze me...

 

[cindala]

Originally posted by Briar Rose 7457
it seems that sweet 16 parties around here are on the same scale as...well, as bar and bat mitzvah celebrations...which are as elaborate as weddings. my dd's friend's mom just otld me her 16 year old went to a party at a country club last night. my dd was at a bat mitzvah at that country club last week.

I hear ya! My DD turned Sweet 16 a few months ago, and so all of her friends are now turning Sweet 16 too! Some have had pretty big parties at halls, and fancy clubs.

Since she was one of the first to have a 'party', it was easier to do what we wanted, and not compete with what everyone else was doing. I told her nothing big scale, just something small with her closest friends. So... we had a nice dinner for 16 of her closest friends at a local restaurant. It turned out very nice, and more intimate than a party for 100!

However, she still keeps getting invited to these big bashes!

 

[DaisyDebbie]

I have a fancy one to go to in May. I have to go get a new dress for it

My Sweet 16 party was in the basement of my house

 

[Rock'n Robin]

No one around here has sweet 16 parties that I know of. I am worried about my nephew's bar mitzvah even though it is 7 years away--he turns 13 right around the time (end of May) my DD#1 graduates--can't do both and he's in NC, we are in Ohio! And I'm sure my SIL will take it personally.
Robin M.

 

[MAC3]

I'm really not sure exactly what they call them but a family we knows daughter turned 15 they are from Puerto Rico . It was well over the wedding scale.

I have never seen anything so beautiful! I'm glad I didn't bring my DD so she doesn't get any ideas. LOL

 

[Serena]

I feel so left out. All I got was a bd cake.

 

[apagano]

No wonder all my cousins from "LawnGuyland" are a bunch of spoiled brats!

 

[MAC3]

Originally posted by apagano
"LawnGuyland"

Too funny!

 

[VickiVM]

I'm really not sure exactly what they call them but a family we knows daughter turned 15 they are from Puerto Rico . It was well over the wedding scale.

It's called a Quincienera. It's a hispanic thing. It's actually a Catholic thing with a special mass meant to "present" the young lady (also known as a debut). You are right, it is on the scale of a wedding and can cost as much as one. I'm hispanic and not Catholic and don't see the necessity of it. The family of the girl actually petitions family/friends to help pay for aspects of the whole shebang like the DJ, cake, rosary, flowers, etc. And it's not just limited to the wealthy. It can set back a family quite a bit.

My in laws have actually been asked to "support" this tradition for various nieces and I find it rather tacky to ask others to pay for your daughters party. But that's just me. I can see where a young girl would want such an elaborate deal made over their birthday.

My sister actually passed on a vacation with us to WDW last fall because her daughter wanted a "Sweet 16" party with a dance and the whole works (we were going to rent a GV at OKW from a DVC owner). It was going to cost around $3k. Is she out of her everloving mind?? For 3K, our family of 5 plus my mom had the time of our lives at the BCV's.

 

[glo]

Being Hispanic I had a "Quincienera". We rented a hall, had a band. The girls came in gowns and semi formal dresses, the guys came in tuxes and suits. It was catered and it was an affair. I did not have any Hispanic friends so it was a big deal with all my friends. It is a right of passage, where a young lady is presented to the church and society. I dunno what happened to me after that...lol.

 

[mamajoan]

Umm I think Sweet 16 parties must be an East Coast thing.. have not noticed anything like that here in rural Ca.

However we do have tons and tons of Quincieneras here in Ca... not been to any yet tho.. but it seems they are a "big deal"

 

[Dopey Sharon]

A girl from work, also works weekends at a country club. You wouldn't believe some of the parties...Sweet 16 & birthday, that she has worked. I'm talking $10,000+!!! Unbelievable! When my DD turned 16, we had the usual family party with a couple friends.

 

[lisajl]

Thank God my DD did not want a party when she turned 16.
We all went out to dinner. My inlaws came down and we took her best friend.
We had a great time.
She still talks about it. She wants to do it again when she turns 18 in November.

Lisajl

 

[nsyncraider17]

No one I know has had a big sweet 16 party. My birthday party was last weekend and I just took 5 friends to a nice restaurant and we watched a movie in the car!

 

[MAC3]

It's nice to know the formal name of it! The Quincieneras was certainly amazing! One of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I wanted my DD to be there but on the same level was glad she wasn't.
I'm hoping to take my dd & maybe 2 of her closest friends to WDW for a week.

All expenses paid. It should cost just as much and I'm sure they will remember it forever.

Lisa

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

"LawnGuyland" is the local joke.

 

[caitycaity]

My Sweet 16 party was in the basement of my house

me too.

 

[disneychrista]

I know of a Hispanic Family who took out a bank loan to cover the cost of her DD Quincienera, which IMO is ridiculous. I thought a couple hundred for a bday party was nuts but to take out a bank loan to pay for a 15k party of your DD is lunacy. I mean there are even dance lessons given in the local "plaza" for the young men and women. All for a party??

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by disneychrista
I know of a Hispanic Family who took out a bank loan to cover the cost of her DD Quincienera, which IMO is ridiculous.

When DH and I were getting married, he said we'd have to take out a loan to go on our honeymoon...I said SKIP THE HONEYMOON! We did manage to go without a loan; maybe not the elaborate honeymoon we would have liked, but hey...that's life, and that's what I want MY kids to learn.

Several years ago, there was a series of articles in the paper following several high school graduates for a couple of years to see what they did with their lives. One girl helped pay for her sister's Quincienera with the extra $400 she got for financial aid (luckily, the party was BEFORE she dropped out of college). Gotta love to hear things like that.

For my 16th, I got a pair of slippers and a cake.

My niece, who lives in Brooklyn, NY, had a huge bash on a boat cruising the Hudson River, shared with a friend, and paid for by my ex-BIL and the other girl's parents, who can well afford it. Still, I thought it was crazy, and warned my kids (who luckily weren't there to see it) NOT to expect the same. I'm thinking dinner at Applebee's with a few close friends, and cake at Grandma's. Maybe a bigger donation to their college funds...if they're good.