Totally 80's Sweet 16 Party

INVITATION:  The invitations were made with hot pink cardstock on bottom, a smaller piece of black cardstock with fluorescent colored swirls on it, a smaller piece of hot pink cardstock and then a smaller piece of lime green cardstock the was crooked across the other pieces of cardstock. On white paper with hot pink and black ink, the invitation read,(my daughter's name), Totally 80's 16th Birthday Party, Saturday, October 18th, 6:30pm 10:00pm, (our address), Like, it would be totally rad if you could come dressed up in 80's stuff and make your hair way big.  I cut out 8's, 0's, s, and s's and glued them to the bottom of the invite so it said 80's in the black cardstock with swirls.  I put the invitation in a clear goodie bag with bright yellow and hot pink confetti, and pop rocks and fun dip, tied with white tulle, and hot pink, lime green, and black ribbon with a rubix cube key chain hanging from the ribbon.

DECORATIONS:  My husband built an arch from our house to the ground with Christmas lights and balloons that had 1980's in silver metallic numbers and attached.  The arch went into a giant rubix cube.  The lights were white and the balloons primary colors.  This is where the guests entered into the party.  Down the side of the walkway into the backyard, was pacman, dots, and ghosts made from poster board.  Once guest entered into the backyard, there was a table set up with a balloon bouquet, a guestbook with fluorescent gel pens for guests to write my daughter a birthday message, and glow necklaces and bracelets.  The table also had a black tablecloth and table skirt on it. 

The yard was lined with lit tiki torches, colored lights on the palm trees, and the pool light was on.  On the fence around the yard, I cut out 1980, 1981, 1982, etc., alternating hot pink and lime green, and stapled them onto the fence.  Under each year, (I did some Internet searching) I placed posters of popular movies and musical acts.  Between each year, I stapled a 3 balloon bouquet of brightly colored balloons.  The food tables had black tablecloths and table skirts with two pieces of brightly colored fabric cut into triangle shapes on top. 

Each table had a silver metallic center piece that had stars and random pieces of metallic shapes sticking upwards and glow-in-the-dark slimkys on either side of it.  The eating tables had black tablecloths, a piece of fabric, the metallic center piece, and slinky.  I also made some trivia cards that asked questions about music and television from the 80's.  Each table had about 10 and they asked questions about The Dukes of Hazard, Night Court, Dallas, Michael Jackson, Magnum, P.I., etc. 

The gift table had a balloon bouquet and a green tablecloth with a hot pink table skirt.  The DJ was set up on our patio and equipped with strobe lights.  My brother-in-law dressed up as an 80's rocker with a mullet wig, Iron Maiden t-shirt, pins at the bottom of his Levi's, and black and white checkered Vans; I dressed up as early Madonna with big 80's hair, a ribbon holding my hair back and up, a big black sweatshirt with the neck cut off, hanging off of my shoulder and belted, a couple of strands of fake pearls, a short stretchy hot pink skirt, hot pink fish net pantyhose without feet, and black pumps, my brother dressed in high top Vans and a Run DMC t-shirts, a friend wore his 80's letterman jacket and his wife dressed with a ponytail on the side, floral leggings, pumps, a big belted sweatshirt, and letter jacket with fringe. 

The plates were alternating electric blue, lime green, black, and hot pink.  The forks were electric blue and pink.  The napkins were lime green. HAPPY BIRTHDAY:  When it was time to sing happy birthday, the DJ called everyone together so they could sing.  I put 16 sparkler candles on her cake and held it as she blew them out.  When they were out, 10 people began spraying her with florescent colored silly string and the DJ played, They say it's your birthday, well it's my birthday, too  We also served big cookies with bright icing since my daughter doesn't like cake.  We cut everything up, plated it, and left it out on a table for everyone to help themselves.

FOOD:  We decided to go teenager and adult friendly.  All of the bowls, platters, etc. were lime green, hot pink, and electric blue.  There were three tables of for food.  Table one had spinach dip and bread, veggies and dip, fruit and marshmallows, and a chocolate fountain.  Table two had fajitas, rice, beans, chips, salsa, jalapenos, and nacho cheese.  Table three had hot dogs, chips, chili beans, Fritos, chips, pasta salad, dip, Doritos, and bbq chips DRINKS:  We had an assortment of drinks and there was an adult beverage ice chest that was stocked with 80's wine coolers, and beer.

PARTY FAVORS:  I had 50 copies of a mix CD made that began with a song from the year she was born (Baby got Back) and then 9 other recognizable hits from the 80's (Thriller, Love Shack, Brass Monkey, Tricky, Material Girl, Ice Ice Baby, Mickey, Push It,  and Whip It).  The CD covered matched her invitations but said, (My daughter's name)s Totally 80's 16th Birthday party, Saturday, October 18, 2008, Soundtrack.  On the inside of the cover it listed all of the song titles, artists, and year they were released.  I set them out on the table that the glow necklaces were.  We also created a my space page that was dedicated specifically to her birthday party and posted all the picture there.  I made a flyer and set it next to the CD's letting everyone know to check out the page the next day.