Sweet 16 scrapbook: sixteen contributors and the party
Invite the people the birthday person wants represented, with sixteen pages as an optional theme. Give contributors a shared size and deadline, then leave space for photos from the birthday itself.
Choose an organiser who knows which people and subjects the birthday person is comfortable including. A parent, carer, sibling or friend can help, with the birthday person involved if preferred.
Decide whether the book is given at the party or after it. Given at the party, it cannot include the party, so leave pages at the back to fill in later.
Make the memory book together
Invite people to send photos and their own words, then choose what goes in the book.
Questions for each contributor's page
- When did you first meet them, and where?
- What were they like at six, and what is still the same?
- What have you watched them get good at?
- What did the two of you do this year that belongs in the book?
- Which photo of you together do they not have yet?
- What is a running joke they would be happy to see printed?
- What do they do that nobody else in your life does?
- What activity would they like to include on a page of their own?
Sixteen pages from sixteen people
Sixteen contributors is one possible theme, not a target to fill at any cost. Give several pages to fewer contributors or combine short contributions when that better fits their friendships.
Give everyone the same page size, the same deadline and a few questions. Each page then has the contributor's photo, their own words and their name.
Keeping it secret
If it is a surprise, keep the planning space private. Ask through a suitable organiser and use only a contact method everyone has agreed to use.
Set the deadline ten days before the party. That leaves time to chase late pages and still lay out the book calmly.
Who decides what is in it
Keep each person's own words. Ask before corrections or cuts, and check that the birthday person would be comfortable with the final audience.
Friends' photos often include other teenagers. Ask the friend to check that everyone visible is happy to be in a book that relatives will look through.
The party pages
Put a signing card on the gift table or by the door and add the cards to the book later. Ask one guest to take photos for the book, so the parent can be at the party.
Within a week, add the invitation, a few guest photos, the cake, the playlist and the signing cards to the pages left at the back.
Pages to make
Sixteen years in one spread
A parent's pick of a baby photo, a first-day-at-school photo and a recent photo, with the years under each and nothing else on the spread.
Family pages
Grandparents, siblings and cousins, one page each, with a photo of them together with the birthday person and their answers to the questions.
Friends' pages
One page per friend, laid out by the friend if they want, with a photo from this year and their name in their own handwriting.
The party
The invitation, the signing cards, a group photo, the cake and the playlist written out, added in the week after the party.
Questions
Who should make a sweet 16 scrapbook?
A trusted organiser who knows their preferences can collect material. The birthday person can take part in choosing people, photos and the audience.
How is a sweet 16 scrapbook different from an 18th birthday one?
The age can give the book a sixteen-page theme, but content should follow this person's life. Contributor numbers and party pages are optional, at either age.
Can people contribute without meeting up?
Yes. Collect pages by email or in tbf scrapbook, where people can send photos, words, audio or video and you choose what goes in.