For my Sweet 16, I don't want to have anything formal, because I'm not into that sort of thing. So instead, I'm having a tubing party.  First, I sent out invitations to my friends on summer-themed stationary (invited about 30 people). In this sort of situation, it is easier to have the RSVP for regrets only so you can assume more people are coming; it's better to be over prepared than under prepared. Also, I listed the who, when, where, what and included directions to our meeting place. Invitees need to bring a bathing suit, towel, and heavy duty tube. A week before the party, we go to my grandparents house where my friends will meet, and using shears, weedwacker, etc., we clear/trim the path we will be walking down to the river. The day of the party, everyone meets at my g-parents house fully dressed and with their tubes. We then take everyone's clothes/towels/valubles and put them in separate plastic bags and label them, then put them all into one big garbage bag. This goes into the vehicle that will be at the end of our tubing route. As we wait for everyone to arrive, we socialize and introduce everyone, blow up tubes, and also explain some saftey things so people dont get hurt. Then, my mom and dad take 2 trucks down to the end of our route, with the one that will stay there containing our clothes, food, and other necessities. They then take the other truck back to where we are. When everyone is ready to go, we walk down to the woods and begin the 5 minute walk down to the river. We sing songs, chat, and enjoy the beauty of nature. At the clearing where the river is, my dad gets into the river first and each person throws their tube down to him so he can hold it, and then they get in as well. When everyone is in the river, we get comfortable with the water and then for the next hour, we are free to enjoy the scenery, have water fights (bringing water guns is fun), talk, and in general have a good time in the water. When we come to the clearing that we stop at, everyone gets off, piles their tubes to one side, and walk to the truck to unload. We all help to get the picnic blankets set up, the coolers out, the eatery ready, and the food accessible. Once we have eaten, the food is there for snacking. We then go back to the water to play games, search for frogs, or jump off the trees into deeper water. When we've had enough "play time", we load up the truck with the tubes and everything else we have brought along. My dad drives this back to the house. My mom and other parents that have stayed walk with us back to the house which is about 1/2 mile away. My mom hands out squishy balls and other small cheap toys that are fun to play around with. Doing this helps us dry off, warm up, talk, have fun and get exercise all at the same time. After we arrive, we bring out the cake and desserts, sing happy birthday, and open presents. We also hand out the party favors which include candles with a little person on a tube, candy, ya kno, the usual, and maybe some surprises too :D. Then everyone starts to leave and go home. Everyone thinks this is a great idea, people always talk about my party to me. It holds great memories because its such a great way for people to bond.