Sweet 16 invitations
The first party a young person genuinely has opinions about, which changes who I am actually designing for.
$65
Your details set by hand, usually back the same day. $145 to rebuild it in your own colours.
A sweet sixteen is usually the first event where the guest of honour has strong, specific taste and expects it to be respected. That is a good thing and it makes the work better, but it also means there are two clients: the parent who is paying and the sixteen-year-old who has a very clear idea from Pinterest.
The invitation is almost entirely a digital object at this age. It gets texted, screenshotted, posted to a story, and possibly reshared by half the guest list. That means the story-sized version is not an afterthought here, it is arguably the primary format.
What I try to avoid is designing something that will embarrass her at twenty-two. The trick is taking the aesthetic she wants and executing it properly, rather than either overruling her or letting a trend drive the whole card.
What changes for this one
The 9:16 story version matters more here than on any other occasion and is designed first, not adapted afterwards. Take her aesthetic seriously and execute it well, rather than defaulting to a generic teen template.
When to send
Three to four weeks, and coordinate with school and sports calendars, which dominate a sixteen-year-old's guest list far more than anything else.
Colours that work
Hers. My only steer is toward something that will still look good in a photograph she posts at twenty-two.
Questions people ask about sweet 16 invitations
Can she be involved in the design?
Please. Have her send me the references she has saved, and the First Look comes back based on those. It makes the process shorter and the result better than a parent relaying a description of what she wants.
Does it need to be printed?
Almost never. At this age the invitation is a text message and a story post, and that is what it should be designed for. If a few grandparents want a physical card, the print-ready file is in the same delivery.
What about a quinceañera?
Same process and I design plenty of them. Quinceañera invitations tend to be more formal and often bilingual, and the padrinos are usually named on the card, which is a layout consideration from the start.
480
US searches a month for sweet 16 invitations, measured rather than guessed. Nearly every page here targets a term almost nobody is defending properly.
How to have this made
Digital and paperless invitations
Designed to be texted, emailed or posted. Not an Evite template.
From $225
Custom invitation design
Designed from nothing for one event. No template underneath.
From $285
Party printables and extras
Favour tags, envelope liners, stickers, banners, water bottle labels.
From $75
Start with a First Look
$45 for one finished concept designed for your event, back in three days. It comes off whatever you book, and if you do not love it you keep the file and owe nothing.