Sweet sixteen (birthday)

Chocolate cupcakes frosted with vanilla buttercream and topped with handcrafted fondant decorations for a young man's 16th birthday. Decorations include a muscular arm, an iPod, a soccer ball, and a Jay Z sneaker.

A sweet sixteen is a coming of age party celebrating a female's 16th birthday in North America, primarily in the United States and Canada.

Information

Sweet sixteen parties mark a coming of age, the point at which a person transitions into adulthood. Like a wedding, this event can be extremely formal, casual, or semi-formal. Sweet sixteens can range from modest parties at home with close family to large affairs with a hired DJ, makeup, hair stylists, yachts, expensive gowns and dresses, and hotel ballrooms.

Other cultural events

Hispanic

Many Latin American cultures celebrate a girl's fifteenth birthday with a quinceañera.

Christianity

In many Christian denominations, both girls and boys reach the age of spiritual maturity at around the age of 15 or 16, with the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Judaism

After the Bar Mitzvah at the age of 13, boys bear their own responsibility for their actions and cultivating the Jewish tradition. They become responsible in the face of religious law and their parents are no longer accountable for their sins. In Orthodox communities, a Bat Mitzvah is celebrated when a girl reaches the age of 12.

See also

• Age 16
• My Super Sweet 16
• Philippine Debut