Erica Markle, #6

My good friend and I always wanted to have a big sweet 16 party together since our birthdays are so close in date. That party never actually happened due to our hectic schedules, so we decided we would plan a big 18^th birthday party. To begin our planning we got together and came up with a list of things that we needed to decide and buy. The first major decision we had to make was the theme. We came up with a list and narrowed it down to our top three. We then went to the party store to see what we could find, and our ideas for the theme completely changed. We had open minds upon going to the store, and this helped us to find our theme. We came across different displays of theses and decided to go with a Vegas theme. We got the decorations and color coordinated everything, cups, plates, table cloths, streamers, and decorations. Then we went back and brainstormed more ideas to enhance the Vegas theme. We decided we would have tables set up with poker chips, cards, and other casino games to give the full feeling of being in a casino. We then had to decide on food that would be served so we went through different restaurants and finally found one that was decently affordable. We chose the trays we wanted and ordered them a few days in advance. We had narrowed down the list of people so that we could accommodate everyone in my basement and the invites that we created on the computer were sent. The most rigorous part was cleaning out my basement so it was completely free of the toys that crowded it. We had to come up with ways to hide the toys and find all different nooks and crannies to put them during the party. Finally, the date of the party arrived and it was a success. Looking back I would not have done anything different, everything seemed to work out as planned and we had a great time. The creative process worked well for us and helped us to have the successful party that we had.