Lia's Sweet 16 Birthday Bash!

After thinking it over, Lia and I came up with some ideas of how we could host her Sweet 16 birthday party.  After making a few calls, I was able to put our plan into place and sent out invitations to 19 girls a month ago.  Much to our surprise, all 19 girls RSVP'd with a "yes," and this epic birthday party became a reality.  Lia and I decided that it would be fun to call her a party a "fancy affair" and asked that all of the girls come wearing a formal dress that they already owned from a previous high school or church dance.  In addition, I found a limousine driver who was willing to drive for one hour transporting the girls to and from Orting where a friend of mine met us to take pictures of the girls for 30 minutes.  After the photo shoot, the girls returned to our house for a formal, sit-down, candlelit dinner that I prepared.  I also had Ella invite two of her 6th grade, theater friends to come over to help be waitresses to take the girls orders and to serve and clear their dishes.  After dinner and dessert, the girls moved into the family room for gift opening before changing into comfortable clothes to watch a movie in the basement.  With a lot of planning and preparation, I was able to pull off the entire affair without a hitch.  With the exception of it sprinkling a little bit during the photo shoot, the entire evening went off perfectly, down to the girls finishing their movie right at 10 p.m. as parents arrived at our house to pick them up.  Everyone seemed to have such a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the limo ride, the photo shoot, the fancy dinner, and watching the movie.  It was so fun to watch all of Lia's friends mix and mingle so nicely together.  This will definitely be the last major party I ever throw for Lia, so I am glad that it was a success and that we were able to go out with a bang!

  

Lia wore a darling dress and shoes we bought a few months ago for her next high school dance.  Her outfit ended up being the perfect, party dress complete with a Sweet 16 tiara and sash.  Here she is standing outside our house as the guests arrived.

Lia standing at the end of the long table I had set up for nineteen girls complete with flowers, candles, and a balloon arch at one end.

The head table with Lia's cake as the centerpiece.

A close-up of Lia's strawberry cake with chocolate, buttercream frosting.

The middle table with flower arrangements and more candles.

The group of girls posing in front of the limo right after it pulled up to our house.

Another shot of the girls after we arrived at the place in Orting where the photo shoot was going to take place.

All seventeen girls lined up with Lia in the middle.  Unfortunately, two of Lia's friends arrived later in the afternoon due to other commitments.

Another shot of the girls on one of the two bridges we took pictures on.

A faraway shot of the girls and the river below.

We then took small group pictures with Lia and all of her friends from the different chapters of her life.  Here she is with her elementary school friends, Elle, Sienna, and Mollie.  Rian was missing from this picture due to a dance competition.

Lia with her junior high school friends, Katelyn, Heather, Jaqueline, and Erika.

Lia with her high school and running friends, Esley, Hope, Erika, Ani, and Julie.

Lia with her theater friends, Olivia and Isabelle.  Her good friend, Abbie, came late from theater rehearsal that Lia actually missed today.

Lia with her good friends from church, Ainsley, Hope, and Alyssa.

Lia making a cute and final pose for the photographer before we headed back to the limo.

Since the limousine held only 11 girls, I gave a group of girls a ride each way to Orting.  Lia was able to ride both directions though.  Here is a cute picture I managed to snap of Lia and some of her friends after they pulled back up to our house.

While the girls changed and hung out in the basement, Ron came home with Ella and her two theater friends, Hannah and Rosie, after picking them up from rehearsal.  The girls quickly changed into their serving outfits with the matching aprons I had ordered for them to wear that said, "Lia's Sweet 16," in gold letters on the front.  They were so excited to take the girls' dinner orders and deliver and clear their dishes.  All three of them were a huge help and had a great time being in "character" all evening long.

After the girls were called to dinner, they enjoyed sitting at the table in the lovely candlelit atmosphere, talking and eating for over an hour.  Ron helped me serve up 19 plates of dinner after the younger girls took their orders.  We served chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, tossed salad, a fruit medley, and rolls with butter and homemade jam.  Logan was also called in to help with filling up the girls' goblets with sparkling cider and lemon water.

Lia enjoying her meal at the head of the table.

An action shot of my three waitresses during the middle of dinner.

The girls singing "Happy Birthday" to Lia.

Lia waiting to blow out all sixteen candles after the song was over.

Blowing away!

After dessert was finished, the girls moved into the family room to open presents.  Like always, we had each friend come up one at at time to sit with Lia while she opened each gift.  Everyone was so generous and thoughtful with the gifts they gave her.  Here is Lia with her good theater friend, Abbie.

Lia smiling at one of the gifts from her good running buddy, Hope/

Lia posing with Heather, one of her good friends from junior high school, after opening up her gift.

Lia with one of  her dearest friends of over 11 years, Sienna.

Lia with Alyssa, another one of her best friends from over 10 years.

All of the girls in comfy clothes and ready to watch the movie, "10 Things I Hate About You," which is a teen classic and also filmed right in our area.  This was the perfect way to end the evening!