Celebrate the Moment With These Sweet 16th Invitation Wording Ideas

Planning a sweet 16th birthday bash is a lot of fun. It’s a real coming-of-age moment and offers the opportunity to get creative for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration. And as with any party, you’ll need to get those invites ready so your guests know where and when to celebrate with you.

To help you get started, we’ve put together this guide on sweet 16th invitation wording ideas. You’ll find our best tips, wording inspiration, and some of our favorite sweet 16 invitation designs too. 

How to Format a Sweet 16th Birthday Invitation

Design: Laura Bolter Design

Finding the right words for a sweet 16th birthday invitation can seem challenging, but when you break it down into the most basic ingredients, it can be quite simple to get right. Here’s how to approach your sweet 16th invitation wording like a pro. 

Guest of Honor’s Name

With a sweet 16th being such a memorable moment, it makes sense to have your guest of honor’s name front and center. Kick off the invite wording by announcing whose birthday you’re coming together to celebrate.

Most sweet 16th invitation wording is casual and relaxed, so you can stick with the birthday girl or boy’s first name here — or a nickname if that’s what they go by. For a more formal invite, you could feature the guest of honor’s full name here, including a middle name. 

Date and Time

It goes without saying that you want to include the date and time on the party invite. Make sure these details are clear on your sweet 16 invitation, especially if it’s not on the guest of honor’s actual birthday. 

To help your guests out, include the full date on the party invite — including the day of the week. It’s easy for folks to get mixed up with dates, so just be as clear as possible. Be sure to include whether it’s am or pm on the invitation. It might be obvious from the hours involved, but this helps keep confusion at bay. 

Party Venue

Let your birthday party guests know where they should meet you for the celebration. Once you’ve mentioned the date and time, it makes sense to move straight onto sharing the party location. 

List the name of the party venue, along with the full address and zip code. While this might feel like overkill if you’re hosting the party at home, it’s super helpful for guests who might be coming from out of town or those who simply want to plop in the address in their smartphone.

Dress Code

With a sweet 16th being such a big moment in a kid’s life, these parties can often be grand events with luxurious decor and upscale dress codes. Help your party guests arrive in style by sharing a brief dress code on your sweet sixteen invitations.

This can be a sweet and simple way to put your guests at ease. They might be wondering whether to show up in their best party dress or to keep it casual. Simply mentioning whether it’s casual, formal, or something more specific like beachwear can really help. 

Other Pertinent Details

Once you’re finished sharing the main party details, the rest is up to you. It makes sense to feature a section that lets people know how to RSVP — whether that’s by phone, email, or responding directly to their online invitations.

After the RSVP section, list any other information that your guests might find useful. You might choose to include a few details about activities, games, gift registries, or food and drink options — or let them know to bring a towel and swimsuit if you’re hosting a pool party in your backyard. 

If you’re hosting a surprise party, add a note at the end of your party invitation to make it very clear that your guests aren’t to spoil the surprise. You could even make a suggestion of what they can say they’re doing on that date to throw the guest of honor off the trail. 

Sweet 16 Wording Tips

Design: Jessica Williams

Like most birthday invites, there’s a lot of room to have fun with your sweet 16th invitation wording and get your guests excited about what’s to come. Here’s our best advice on how to word your sweet 16 birthday party invitations to strike the perfect balance of creativity, fun, and formality. 

Keep It Casual

Most sweet 16th invitation wording is relatively laid-back and casual — like most teens themselves. This means you don’t have to go too formal with your wording, unless that’s what you and the guest of honor prefer. 

It’s absolutely fine to keep it casual and light, and even throw in a joke if there’s space. You want the invite to feel like it’s perfect for the birthday girl or boy, so match the invite’s tone and formality to their own personal tastes and style. 

Embrace Your Theme

If you’ve opted for a themed sweet 16 party, your invite wording and design can certainly reflect this. Themed sweet 16 invites are the perfect way to spread the word about your party and get your guests ready to hit RSVP right away. 

We love the idea of choosing an invitation design that matches your overall party theme, style, or color scheme. Once you’ve found the ideal invite, customize the wording so it matches your party. Weave in a reference to a movie, quote lyrics from a song, or use it as an opportunity to come up with a poem of your very own. 

Get the Guest of Honor Involved

Planning a sweet 16th party is quite different than planning a birthday party for a toddler or young child. The guest of honor is old enough to get involved with the planning — including the party invites.

If they want to, let the birthday girl or boy take the reins when it comes to their sweet 16th invitation wording. Check to make sure their chosen wording covers all the basics, but apart from that, you can leave it up to them to have fun. 

Our Best Sweet 16th Invitation Wording Ideas

Design: Signature Greenvelope

It’s time to invite your loved ones to celebrate someone special’s sixteenth birthday in style. Here are some of our favorite invitation wording ideas to inspire you. 

Casual Sweet 16th Invitation Wording

Hosting a super casual 16th birthday party? Here are some sweet 16th invitation wording ideas to help you get started.

It’s [Name]’s 16th birthday!

Help us celebrate in style with a sweet 16th

on [Date] at [Time]

You’ll find us at 

[Venue]

[Address]

Come dressed in whatever makes you feel most comfortable

Casual and relaxed dress is encouraged

Please RSVP via Greenvelope

by [Date]

—

[Name] is turning 16!

Let’s get together to celebrate this milestone

with a splendid sweet 16 party

Join us on [Date] at [Time]

at [Venue, Address]

Put on your best party dress

and join us for dancing and games

Please RSVP to [Email] by [Date]

—

We’re saying goodbye to playing with dolls

and climbing trees

[Name] is turning 16!

Now it’s all about the video games!

Join us on [Date] at [Time]

to celebrate [Name]’s sweet 16th

The party takes place at

[Venue, Address]

We’ll provide tokens for the arcade! 

Please RSVP via Greenvelope by [Date] 

More Formal Wording Inspiration

If this sweet sixteenth is a little more formal, there’s plenty of ways you can be creative with your phrasing. Here are some formal sweet 16th invitation wording ideas to inspire you. 

It is our pleasure to host the 

sweet 16 celebration for

our [Son/Daughter]

[Name]

on

[Date] at [Time]

Please join us at

[Venue, Address]

Dress code: Semi-formal

Please RSVP by [Date]

—

The parents of 

[Name]

warmly invite you to 

attend a joyous 

sweet 16th celebration

Your presence is requested 

on [Date] at [Time]

at [Venue, Address]

Semi-formal dress kindly requested

Please RSVP via Greenvelope by [Date]

—

Mr. and Mrs. [Surname]

cordially invite you to attend

the sixteenth birthday party of

their [Son/Daughter]

[Name]

on [Date] at [Time]

at

[Venue, Address]

Please RSVP by [Date]

to [Email] or [Address]

Sweet 16th Invitation Designs We Love

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Ready to start getting those party invites out there? Here are some of our most loved sweet 16th birthday party invitation templates that are perfect for celebrating in style. These beautiful party invites are fully customizable so you can choose your favorite color option, then personalize it further with your own wording. 

Rose Gold Confetti Birthday Invitation

Design: Lissa Anglin

We adore the softness and charm of this rose gold confetti sweet 16th invitation. The blush tones and rose gold are ideal for everything from a sophisticated celebration to a backyard get-together. 

Vibrant Strokes Birthday Invitation

Design: Claudia Owen

If you want to feature a gorgeous photo of the birthday girl or boy, this vibrant invitation is the way to go. There’s plenty of space for a bright photo of the guest of honor, and the modern touches make this one of our favorite designs. 

SWT6TEEN Birthday Invitation

Design: Signature Greenvelope

Is your guest of honor about to get their driver’s licence? If so, this licence plate invitation is the perfect pick. We love that this is a touch different than the usual sweet 16th invitations — it’s great for teens who want something bold and direct. 

Invite Your Party Guests in Style

Finding the perfect sweet 16th invitation wording doesn’t have to be difficult. Take inspiration from your teen’s own personality and combine that with our featured tips and tricks to come up with something that feels uniquely them. Match your wording with a gorgeous birthday invite, and you’re sure to make your guests smile when your invitation lands in their inbox.