A sweet sixteen is a coming of age party celebrating a teenager’s 16th birthday, a very important age milestone for young teens. It is mainly celebrated in the United States and Canada and the main purpose of the party is to celebrate the person becoming “older” and entering a different stage of their life. First Driver’s license, paid jobs, endless possibilities … wow!!

As a DJ in Montreal, DjD has seen a lot of cultural diversification in this celebration of age. What was once limited to a certain specific community is now more popular amongst a variety of people? We constantly provide DJ services to Sweet 16 parties from a variety of communities including European, Indian, Punjabi and Gujarati amongst others. Jewish people celebrate Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, whereas Quinceanera is a more of a Latin American tradition.

While both young men and young women celebrate their Sweet 16 today, sweet 16 traditions such as the candle ceremony, father-daughter dance, passing of heirlooms and the shoe ceremony are typically reserved for young women. This is a ceremony that not all teenagers have attended but it is definitely becoming more popular due to media and reality shows.

DjD provides DJ services in a variety of cultural settings but one thing that I almost see common to every sweet 16 is the father-daughter dance. You cannot underestimate the importance of this one particular element. In some cultures it is considered a vow between the two; the daughter shall always honor her family traditions and the father is always there to protect her and provide the best in life within his means.

Another important common factor that we have observed whilst providing DJ services is the Montage. DjD brings along a projector screen to display the memories of the birthday girl which are videos and pictures with her favorite music in the background.

Sweet sixteen can range from modest parties at home with close family to large parties with hired DJ services, expensive gowns and ballrooms. For parents, it can be exciting to over-whelming whilst arranging a sweet 16 party like this. Dealing with young emotions in trying to throw the perfect Sweet 16 party could be challenging. There is a lot of material available online and you can look at this one article for the DOs & DONTs Parents’ Guide to Throwing a Sweet 16.

The author is a Dj operating in Montreal as DjD and specializes in the Fuzion form of music. Dj Services include Hip Hop, Rap, Reggae, EDM, Bollywood Dj, Indian Dj, Pakistani Dj, Punjabi Dj and Bhangra Dj music is their forte. They also perform as Corporate Dj & Private Party Dj.