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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Party ideas for a 14 year old girl when you've got very little money!

10 replies

Gilbertus · 06/09/2013 10:26

We are struggling a bit financially at the moment. DD1s birthday is in December. She didn't even have a party last year which she felt a bit sad about, so we'd like to do something this year. Just to make matters worse, the reason we are struggling is that she is at private school for various reasons and although there are lots of 'normal' girls there are some to whom money is no barrier to anything...a sleepover would be good but our house is quite small, we could probably fit dd1 and 6 others if we farm dd2 off somewhere for the night! She is terribly fussy about the party (one of the reasons we ended up not having one last year!) I think she is very concerned what people will think and this is worse now she is a teenager Hmm Silly really as her friends are nice girls and I know they will be happy with a fun evening at home.

Does anyone have any ideas for a 'theme'? I don't mind lots of preperation as long as its cheap!!

OP posts:
SugarMiceInTheRain · 06/09/2013 10:31

Can you do a make your own pizza night followed by sleepover? 6 friends sounds like plenty, and I'm sure they won't mind crashing in the living room for the night with a movie... BTW I went to a private school on a bursary so didn't have the money for big parties, but loved doing the above and my friends (who mostly had much bigger houses and bigger budgets for parties) all enjoyed it.

tywysogesgymraeg · 06/09/2013 10:33

Some years ago we did a murder mystery party - you can buy them aimed at teenagers. It was a hoot. The girls all had to dress up, and over a "fancy" meal, they acted out the plot.

DH and I dressed up as waiter/waitress (he wore DJ/bow tie), and treated them like royalty - waited on them hand and foot with mocktails, and at the table.

They loved it. Game was about £20 to by vial Amazon.

Original poster
Gilbertus · 06/09/2013 10:49

Thanks. I love the murder mystery idea! We've never done one of those before and there's a chance dd1 might veto it although I know she'd love it if it went well!

OP posts:
tywysogesgymraeg · 06/09/2013 11:24

My DD and her mates loved it. They get fancy invitations, which tell them what character they are - how they are meant to dress and behave etc. We trawled charity shops to look for an outfit for my DD, and I think the other girls did the same.

You could cook a meal which they will think is the height of sophistication fairly cheaply I would think - or they might prefer a takeaway. My DD liked the "poshness" though.

It was a while ago, but from memory, the game we used was set in a posh girls boarding school and there'd been a murder in the gym, but have a look at these
www.mymysteryparty.com/domypate1.html
The games are usually designed for 6-8 people, but most offer suggestions on how to include more guests.

You could follow it up with the usual sleepover.

Original poster
Gilbertus · 06/09/2013 11:36

Wow. Thanks. The Alice in Wonderland one might work for my dd2s 11th birthday so I might try that first. Her friends are a dramatic lot Smile

OP posts:
tywysogesgymraeg · 06/09/2013 11:39

Have fun!
x

Travelledtheworld · 06/09/2013 23:43

We did murder mystery party last year for 14 yo DD.
Rented the village hall for extra space and cooked a chicken curry for the meal.
Gils all dressed up as the characters and though it was great.

Hermit · 08/09/2013 21:26

We have just had a party for my dd (now 14) on a 'through the decades' theme - girls came dressed as someone from a decade in the 20th century. This was specified on their invitation so we had someone from each decade from the 40s onwards. We played music, party games and ate food from the various decades - very loosely! We had 8 in total and they all seemed to enjoy it. Very little cost as we had it at home - just time spent researching in advance!

overthehill · 08/09/2013 23:12

My dd, now 17, has had a variety of parties at home with half a dozen or so friends all through secondary school. One was a murder mystery, Death by Chocolate, which was great fun and included themed drinks (cocktails) and food, another time they had a treasure hunt around the local area, another was a selection of party games for older children eg eating the chocolate bar whilst wearing hat, gloves and scarf and eating marshmallows from a bowl of flour, and they loved this as they could really let their hair down (it depends how sophisticated they are, I guess). One year they had a talent show and another time it was an Apprentice party, with my ds being Alan Sugar and having made a DVD with The Apprentice theme tune and beginning of the show etc.

chocoluvva · 14/09/2013 16:18

No ideas for a theme -sorry - but one small idea for food is to make your own popcorn. Very cheap - my teens are mad for popcorn.

Do you look at the group buying sites such as Groupon, Wowcher etc? They sometimes have very good deals on bowling, restaurants etc

Not much of a theme, but a onesie party perhaps?

Karaoke? (maybe dated now)

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