18th birthday advice

[banshee1]

My eldest daughter will be 18 early next year. She moved to a college last year and has lost touch with most of her friends and so a party to celebrate is not an option. It's at the end of Jan and so cannot guarantee anything outdoor. A family and friends meal seems a bit insignificant for an 18th but I'm struggling to find some other to mark the date without spending a fortune e.g. a cottage for gparents and boyfriend would be over £500 - any ideas please?

My ds is 18 next year too and I have no idea what he wants to do. I think a family meal would be lovely and then maybe some money for a night out with friends and taxi home!

But please don't do what my mum did which is order a lovely gift to be delivered on the day which meant I had to stay in all day on my 21st!

ds1 is 18 in the new year and wants us to pay for a plane ticket to New York. We have agreed as long as its a budget ticket around the £300 mark. He will have to finance accommodation hence the thread in travel re where to stay on the cheap.

A party could easily cost a few hundred when you take into account venue, drinks etc. I'm glad ds1 is not that way inclined

What about a day/weekend at a spa for your DD and a best friend? You can get them with tesco reward points so I imagine sainsburys nectar points would do it too so not costing a fortune.

Thanks for the advice - I keep forgetting I have loads of Tesco points so will see if I can use them

For my DD's 18th birthdays, We had a family meal and I also took them to see a musical in London and stayed over night, Being girls we also hit the shops,

We are in the fortunate position of having lived in the same village for all of DSs life and he has a stable group of friends, whose parents are also our friends and who have known him and loved him since he was a baby. We pushed quite hard to have a party for all these friends, so that meant that all his best mates, and the significant adults in his life were there, as well as grandparents etc. We had a barbecue and got a load of beer for him and his mates.

The day before he asked us to "do something" to make something of it so we asked all our/his friends to come prepared to tell stories about him. Various funny stories were told, with much love and affection for him, followed by remarks about how proud people were of him, how much they loved him, and what a fine man he was becoming. Then we had a toast to him and cut his cake. He was so moved by what was said that he replied with thanks to us, and to all the friends for everything they had done. It wasn't formal or planned but it was just right.

As we were going upstairs at the end of the night he said it was the best day of his life.

BusyBodd, what a lovely thing to do!

A spa day would definitely go down well for your DD and a close friend if she is into that sort of thing. Also acting as a taxi for her first night out would be appreciated with a late pick up as taxis late at night are ridiculously expensive on a night out!!

oldenoughtowearpurple's 18yr old DD

A cottage may be a bit pricey, but could you all have one night away in a hotel with a pool and have nice meal there? You could have flowers and balloons in her room.