Ponderings of the Heart: Allie's Sweet 16

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of hosting a Sweet 16 Party for my oldest daughter, Allie.

Her birthday isn't actually until this coming Friday, but due to her marching band competition schedule, we had the party last Saturday.

I had so much fun putting this party together.

Maggie and I started planning back in August and decided our color scheme would be Allie's favorite colors - teal and coral.

When I found this invitation, we added navy mix. This invitation was from Etsy and was an instant download after I had ordered it.

It was the perfect invite for my teal and coral loving, floral and lace loving girl.

We held it in our church pavilion. I had wanted to do string lights around the outside, but they weren't cost effective, so we opted for strands of Christmas lights. I think it turned out very pretty!

The food table was filled with all of Allie's favorite things -- pimento cheese pinwheels, buffalo chicken dip, veggies, grapes, and popcorn with candy corn in it. It was a simple menu but it all turned out very well. My mom got all of the food prepared while I was decorating. I would've never gotten it all done without her! (Thanks, Mom!)

The cupcakes were chocolate with teal icing and vanilla with coral icing. The cake was vanilla with a lemon filling (another favorite of Allie's). It was covered with navy fondant. All were given a good sprinkling of gold glitter.

They were made by our favorite local bakery, Cyntucci's and were delicious!

Behind the serving table, was this sign.

While we were planning, Lillie asked if she could make a sign for Allie -

"16 Things we love about you".

My husband and I went and got the materials, and he built the sign.

I asked a sweet friend from our church to do the lettering at the top for me.

She offered to number the sign and make it easier for Lillie to write out her list.

Lillie, Maggie and Brady came up with this list of 16 things they love about their sister.

I love that it was such a thoughtful gift and that it turned out beautifully!

Beside the gift table was this sign that we purchased as a gift for Allie.

My husband and I love the lyrics of this song and thought them a fitting blessing for Allie from us on her 16th birthday. The sign was purchased from Smallwood Homes

Because we had this party in our church pavilion, we covered the picnic tables with white butcher paper and put a burlap and lace runner on top. I used lanterns and gold and silver votive holders, along with photos of Allie to finish the look.

The table runners were made by LeeAnne's Creations

My dad and his girlfriend took Allie to the mall and got her a necklace and generally spoiled her the afternoon. This party was a surprise for her.

She says she suspected, but I think we got her.....

Singing Happy Birthday.....

We also had a Smore's Bar. Lots of graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey's chocolate. But we also had chocolate chip cookies, Oreos, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Peppermint Patties and Ghiradelli Salted Caramel Dark Chocolates. Everyone had a blast making their custom Smore's, I think!

I had seen a ribbon photo backdrop on Pinterest, but then realized how expensive that was going to be, so I decided to make the whole thing out of navy tulle. It looks really thin here, but it made for some beautiful pictures. There was also some extra Christmas lights and a tassel garland hanging in front of it.

Next to the backdrop was a small table with a scrapbook on it. We invited Allie's guests to write her a note. Can't wait to print off all of the pictures for her to have.