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Sweet 16 party planning is a big business and for many a big frustration. Unique Sweet 16 parties are difficult to plan and often difficult to afford.

Sweet 16 party planning all starts with a theme. Coming up with a unique theme for a Sweet 16 can be quite difficult, therefore, many parents and their daughters have turned to creating unique variations of popular themes.

One unique Sweet 16 party idea recently created by Pocket-Poet is called The Ice Princess. The Sweet 16 theme is a variation on the popular princess theme.

The announcement of the party was a creative flash presentation e-mailed to family and friends that caught their attention and set the tone for the entire evening.

Scroll invitations were hand-delivered to nearby guests, delivered on a silk pillow.

The decor idea was simple and unique. Silver tablecloths are sprinkled with white and silver glitter and then covered by a clear tablecloth (to prevent your guests being covered in sparkles).

White votive candles are displayed on the table. Green ivy is sprayed with artificial snow. Whole fruits are dipped in syrup and then rolled in granulated sugar to create edible, frozen fruit. The fruit and ivy become a unique and inexpensive centerpiece for your Sweet 16 party.

White twinkle lights can be used to decorate the trees and surrounding foliage and canned snow can be used to add to the frozen effect.

White balloons with wireless iridescent blue lights inside can cover a pool and give the effect of ice, or can be placed around the venue to add to the theme.

An ice sculpture or an ice bar can be a unique touch to your Sweet 16 party theme and can be a focal point for your party as guests are naturally drawn to ice sculptures and bars.

Frozen drinks are in order for a Sweet 16 - virgin drinks for minors, of course. As each guest arrives you can consider handing them a great frozen drink and welcoming them to the Ice Princess' court. Ice cube lights (wireless cubes that light up in liquid)can add a nice touch of elegance to a drink.

Ask a bartender to create a unique signature drink that you name after the guest of honor so people remember the wonderful party and the name of that great drink they had.

Sweet 16 parties need a favor, consider customized poems rolled up as scrolls, candles that fit a regal theme, perhaps tiaras for the ladies and crowns for the men upon arrival.

Speaking of arrivals. For your Sweet 16 birthday party with the Ice Princess theme, do not forget either a red or white carpet runner for the grand entrance. A white carpet runner with more "frozen ivy" and "frozen roses" can be a wonderful touch.

There is plastic dinnerware that looks like expensive china, and plastic utensils that look like real silverware that is becoming easier to find. Using these great looking and inexpensive dinnerware and utensils can help save your budget while also setting your Sweet 16 apart.

Bite-sized foods go well with a princess theme. Snowball cookies or cupcakes can fit the theme, snow cones, shaved ices and Italian ices are all great dessert choices to go along with the cake.

The highlight of any Sweet 16 birthday party is the guest of honor, of course, and you want to make sure she truly shines on her special night.

Many young ladies celebrating their Sweet 16 have found that they can rent a beautiful gown from a costume rental store, especially those that cater to the movie, television and theater industries. Your entrance into your party can be regal with the right sparkle make-up on your face and a gorgeous rented gown.

For a little tongue-in-cheek moment your prince can arrive to entertain the crowd - a real-life Prince impersonator (the artist formally known as Prince that is).

The key to a successful Sweet 16 party is to have fun and do not feel you need to bust the budget to do so. A variation on a popular Sweet 16 theme can be just the thing to set apart your Sweet 16 from all the other Sweet 16 birthdays.

The Producers 2 Stars (Average)

The Producers is a Broadway musical featuring a washed up producer and creative accountant who set out to prove that you can make more money by failing than succeeding.

Max Bialystock (Nathan Lane) was once on top of Broadway's world and now cannot get a show past opening night. When neurotic accountant Leo Bloom (Matthew Broderick) arrives on the scene he proposes a nifty scheme to put Max back in the chips: raise more money than he needs and make sure his show flops so he can pocket the difference.

Max comes to love the idea since he has been reduced to romancing rich old ladies to get seed money to operate.

Max and Leo proceed to produce a musical called "Springtime for Hilter", written by escaped Nazi Franz Liebkind (Will Farrell). They get the insanely flamboyant and gay Roger DeBris (Gary Beach) to direct the play. To fill in the missing piece they hire the loopy Swedish bombshell Ulla (Uma Thurman).

This combination creates a pure entertainment film that is zany, funny and ridiculous. If you guessed that the screenplay was written by Mel Brooks you are right. If it sounds familiar you are right again.

The Producers is a remake of the original Producers written and directed by the same Mel Brooks 37 years earlier. Brooks won an Oscar for Best Writing in 1968, and Gene Wilder was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Role as Leo Bloom.

The original cast featured Zero Mostel as Max Bialystock, Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind and Lee Meredith as Ulla.

The name Bialystock was taken from the Polish city that was home to Mel Brooks' ancestors.

Because of the "Springtime for Hilter" musical number in 1968, the film was banned in Germany, and was not shown in Germany until it was included in a film festival featuring the works of Jewish filmmakers.

It has also been suggested that the term "creative accounting" may have originated in the 1968 production of The Producers.

If you cannot read music, you have something in common with Mel Brooks. "Springtime for Hilter" and "Prisoners in Love" (as were all the songs Brooks wrote for his films) were hummed into a tape recorder and transcribed by an expert.

Brooks is an incredible talent. He adapted The Producers as a stage musical in 2001 featuring (who else?) Nathan Lane as Max and Matthew Broderick as Leo, and it proceeded to win a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.

Mel Brooks is not your usual talent. He may well be more of a stranger to sanity than comedy.

Trust me when I say that the 2005 version of The Producers is meant to be enjoyed without looking for a comfortable story line or serious message. It is nothing more or less than pure entertainment.

It seems as if this film has a cast of thousands, and everyone has bought into Mel Brooks idea of a good time. Every movie needs a director and Susan Stroman must have had her moments in keeping this production on task.

The 2005 version of The Producers was nominated for 4 Golden Globes: Best Picture, Best Original Song ("There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway" by Mel Brooks), Nathan Lane as Best Actor and Will Farrell as Best Supporting Actor.

You may remember Thurman from Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Pulp Fiction (1994), Gattaca (1997) and two Kill Bill movies (2003 and 2004). She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress as Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction.

Despite the nonsensical good fun, I enjoyed watching Uma Thurman as Ulla, proving that the right blond with the right sex appeal never gets old.

Copyright 2007 Ed Bagley