Our one and only daughter turned 16 last week and we pulled out all the stops to celebrate her transition into womanhood. I must admit that giving my daughter the Sweet 16 party of her dreams was also a dream come true for me. Teaching our girls to celebrate themselves in today’s world of perceived perfection is very important. We had an amazing time Celebrating Our Daughter’s Sweet 16.
Celebrating Our Daughter’s Sweet 16
When my daughter approached me to tell me that she would like a big party for her 16th birthday I hit the ground running. Since I am an event planner putting together large events comes natural to me. This event was different because it was for my baby girl and her happiness is all that matters.
Before we got started I wanted to make sure she understood what a “Sweet 16” celebration actually is. To do that I had to do a little bit of research myself. You see most other cultures have various rights-of-passage celebrations, but African Americans don’t. The wealthy, have their debutante balls. Hispanic people have their quinceanera’s for girls turning 15. They have Cotillions in the South and Jewish people have bat and bar mitzvahs for their young people. Although Sweet 16’s are common in the US, it is an American celebration that has nothing to do with culture. Since African Americans were stripped of their traditions during slavery we have to create our own. I made sure that everyone involved knew that this celebration was about welcoming her to womanhood and her independence as a young woman. Our purpose for bringing everyone together wasn’t just to party but to teach her how to celebrate herself and to also ask family and friends to keep our daughter lifted in prayer, and to ask them to take responsibility for her by providing her with wisdom and love. We also wanted to stress that Samaya is not just our daughter but that she belongs to us all and we all are obligated to cherish her as she matures into adulthood.
For Our Daughter’s Sweet 16 we discussed her vision and then I expanded on that. She wanted the colors to be Pink & Black, best friends, a sit down dinner and her own music played. OK! That’s all the info I needed to create a fabulous event for her. I used all Black Owned businesses here in Atlanta to make it happen. We also had so assistance from family, friends and sponsors that helped with everything from the food to her dress design. My Baby Girl is special and to know her is to love her. So when I told our “village” that this thing was happening the main question that I got asked was, “What can I do to help?”
The Venue
First off we had to find the perfect venue. For this we gave Sophie Ruth’s Intimate Event Space a call. I met the owner Sophia Starnes through a mutual friend many years ago. I visited her spot last year for another event and just knew it would be the right venue for my baby girls Sweet 16. It’s a cute little spot in Cobb County that is spacious and has everything needed for a great party or meeting.
The cool thing about this spot is that the decorations, set up and clean up are ALL included in the price. There was plenty of room for comfortable seating and a dance floor! The decorations were amazing and included Pink and Black table settings and accessories.
The Make Up Artist
We were happy to have Amber Offutt of Modish Glamour come by on her day off to do my daughter’s make up. This was my baby girls first time wearing full make-up and lashes. Amber was very patient during the entire process. Before we even got started Amber made sure that we got my daughter properly matched for the right foundation color with Fenty. She did an amazing job and she got my brows on fleek too! we were picture perfect because of the job she did on our faces. She paid attention to our undertones and kept us natural looking with earthy colors and matte lipstick.
The Dress
One day while looking for recommendations for dress stores in Atlanta on Facebook, my friend and neighbor Ayana Glaze hit me up to let me know that she is a seamstress in addition to being an awesome Jewelry Designer (Ayana Glaze Designs). I scheduled a consultation and immediately hired her to create my daughters dress. She specializes in plus sized designs and customized my daughters dress to fit her perfectly. She allowed us to pick all the fabrics and made a special point to let my daughter design her own dress.
It was a beautiful creation and my baby girl looked like a real princess on her special night.
Catering
My sister made this decision an easy one. She knows all of my daughters favorite things and volunteered to cater it all with her business ARMasonCreations (website coming soon). We had a perfect dinner menu that included: Baked Ziti, Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Assorted Fruits and Vegetables.
The Dinner Bread and Salad were provided by my mom. My sister put her whole foot in EVERYTHING and each attendee got a full delicious meal. My sister also put a marvelous Candy Bar together full of all our favorite candies in Pink and Black.
The DJ
Finding a DJ was easy. Our close family friend “DJ Roy” was all in when we told him about the party. He came extra early for set up and even provided a smog machine for my daughter’s entrance. Roy kept the party jumping all night long. Prior to the event he pressed the importance of playing music that my daughter likes. Her favorite groups are Imagine Dragons, Panic At The Disco and Fall Out Boy. He did a great job of mixing her music in with some of today’s Hip Hop hits and also old school beats. Since our entire “village” was in the house we had guests of all ages and he made sure to play a lil something for everyone.
There were line dances that I had never seen before but Roy got out on the dance floor and taught us the steps to the ones we didn’t know. I tried to keep up with him but I couldn’t! He was a lot of fun.
The CupCakes
My daughter LOVES cupcakes. So we decided to do a cupcake tower instead of a traditional cake. I was lucky to find SupaCakes Exotic Cupcakes and Sweets. SupaCakes makes all sorts of delicious treats when I told them the special flavor that we wanted they had no problem making that happen.
Our Strawberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing and Oreo Cookie Sprinkles were made to order and absolutely delicious.
The Photographer/Videographer
I wanted to make sure we had the perfect photographer/videographer to capture this special moment so I immediately reached out to McIvy Media, owned by Turkesha McIvy for availability. Luckily she was available. I have been great friends with Turkesha for many years. She is an amazing professional and I knew that I could count on her to tell our story as well as capture memories that would last a lifetime. (All Pics on This Post Were Captured by McIvy Media)
The Crew
My daughter has a unique set of friends that come from various races, genders and religious affiliations. Their common denominator is my daughter. They love her like a sister.
They showed up and showed out at her party. Her girl friends Kayla and Adrian donned black dresses and Pink and Black Converse. Her guy friends Jalen, Jaheim and Xavier all wore black slacks, button down shirts and hot pink bow ties. They took over the party with their beautiful faces and their energetic dancing.
This great group of kids all hang out at my house daily and accept my daughter for who she is. She loves them, so I love them too. I am excited to watch them grow up and cannot wait to see who they end up being as adults.
My baby girl had a host of other friends and family who contributed as well. We give a special shout out to her Aunties:
Auntie Valerie Stephens who sponsored her dress.
Auntie Cynda Kent sponsored her Pink Converse
Auntie Shelley Mason sponsored all the food.
Auntie Latanya Tibbs who landed from Paris a few days ago but still took the time to drive from Columbus, Georgia to be there for her Sweet 16 and gave her the perfect gift of her presence.
And a very special thank you to My mom and dad, Mr. & Mrs. Will Arrington
Here is a short video recap provided by McIvy Media
As you can see Our Daughter’s Sweet 16 was a group effort. The Village came together to celebrate a true princess. At the end of the evening my daughter stood up and personally thanked everyone. She was so appreciative and said that everyone who was important to her showed up. Creating this one perfect night of celebration has produced memories that will last a lifetime. It’s a harsh world that we live in. Self acceptance is something that I have stressed on this blog many times. Encourage your kids, especially your girls, to celebrate and love themselves no matter what their circumstances are.
How do you teach your children to celebrate themselves?
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