18th birthday party

[sarah861421]

My son is about to turn 18, and is having a house party. We ( and a couple of other adults ) will be in the house at all times, and he has asked us to provide the food ( sausages and burgers ) and nothing else. He has had a few small parties before ( 40 kids ) , and they have been really good fun in the past. , This time, as he is 18, I would like to do something a little special / different for him. I looked into a bouncy castle but they do not mix well with alcohol, and I am realistic that there will be drink available. He is a good kid, working really hard for his A levels, obviously as for everyone else money is very tight and the budget is small, so I wondered if anyone had any suggestions

Fancy dress?

Ice-breaker games - everyone has to identify the party-goers by asking them questions from your list, eg, 'Are you the person who shares a birthday with Jeremy Clarkson?'

Oh god, not ice breaker games! He's 18 not 8.

What about hiring a poker table and roulette table or other casino type stuff? That always went down quite well at big 18th or 21st parties when I was going to them a few years ago.

You can buy sets of poker chips for about a tenner.

The questions in ice-breaker games would obviously be tailored for 18YO's. I was at a 40th where we did this and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Another thought - twister.

Most teenagers (rather worryingly) know how to play poker. How about using chocolate coins? You can buy them in bulk on the internet. For ds1's party we had (along with booze, food, music etc) a sweet shop - the teenagers loved it. We bought loads of boxes from makro.

He's 18; presumably most of them know each other; there's no need to organise any games or activities. My eldest is 18 and has had a couple of parties this year (one for his birthday so we did decorate the house with balloons etc then). There's never been any awkwardness at the start - they just roll in and the party starts straight away.

If you think 40 is a small party then I wish you well - DS has had about 40-50 and that number of teenagers can shake the foundations with the noise they make just talking to each other!

With ds we've just done the sort of food you mention but I'd buy loads of french sticks as, towards the end of the evening they need it to soak up the alcohol. At ds's insistence we've only provided soft drinks as they all come armed with anything from litre bottles of vodka to a couple of tins of cider.

I would remove all ornaments and pictures - we've had one broken at each party as they tend to lean on walls and pictures are easily dislodged.

I also find that, whatever the weather (1st party was in November and 2nd was a couple of weeks ago when temperatures were just above freezing) there is always a group that gathers outside. Keep a couple of buckets handy - there'll always be one or two who over indulge! And sort out a pile of duvets/sleeping bags as there will always be a few who miss the last bus/can't get home and need to crash in your living room!

This is all great advice, so thankyou. The last time he had a party, 3 of his firiends turned up the day before and stripped downstairs of all ornaments, and breakable etc, then returned a couple of days later to replace it all. The house looked awful and bare but it was agood idea. I quite fancy the idea of a "sweets bar", and a poker / roulette area. Keep the ideas coming

make sure he doesn't mention it on Facebook...

Please don't do icebreaker or any other kind of organised game or twister!!! I just ran this past my DD who is 20 and she gave a mortified look and said no way she would kill me if I tried to do that at her party! (I would have probably innocently suggested this a few years ago too so don't worry!)