The way I planned my party was around a budget. So the problem I had when planning my party was how I would bring together all my groups of friends. Some of them are dancers, while some aren't. I pondered this for a while until I came up with something!  I would have the main party for the dancers, with a little comfy sitting area.   Well, I suppose I should explain how I decorated. The overall theme was CLUB XVI (Club 16). I had a connection who made my invitations look like those little 4by6 flyers people hand out for the clubs and concerts. I printed them out, and mailed them, with the help of a few choice buddies. As for the room, I rented a rec center (cheaper than a hotel) and bought a bunch of blacklights and funky lightbulbs from a local store to get the right mood along with the DJ  As for the sitting area, its off in a far corner, where I placed one of those obnoxiously coloured butterfly chairs (on sale!), and a bunch those little seating pillows around it. They were all really bright to match the theme.   When people walked into the party, they saw all the lights and stuff, and there was also a black sheet up where they could get their pictures taken (Me and a couple friends take photography). Those were good for scrapbooking and stuff later.  I also got one of the school dance teams to come and perform. I'm on the team, so basically, they did it so long as I donated a couple bucks to the club.  As for the food, I went to one of those places you can buy food in bulk, like Costco, or something similar. My choice group of friends (we call ourselves 'the committee) each took something home to bake, so we had some freshly baked stuff.  All in all, it was loads of fun, for a little bit of money. I even got to make "Crowd Control" teeshirts for the chaperones!