• Mark your daughter's 17th birthday by celebrating her friendships with close girlfriends.teens image by Sandra Henderson from Fotolia.com
  
  A girls-only birthday party can range from simple to extravagant, depending on the theme and activities. Include your daughter in the planning to help ensure that the event meets her expectations and will be fun for all her friends. Pleasing a 17-year-old is sometimes a tricky feat, especially if the girl's interests and hobbies are constantly changing. If you're planning a surprise party, elicit suggestions from your daughter's best friend, who is most likely to know what she'll love.
  
  

Slumber Party

• Get back to basics by celebrating your daughter's 17th birthday with a slumber party, which will give her a chance to gather her closest friends for a night of relaxation and gossip. Before the party, take your daughter to the local newsstand to pick out all of the latest magazines related to the girls' interests, including celebrity life, movies, music and fashion. Prepare a makeover station with nail polish, hair products, scrubs, lotions and face masks. Provide the girls with a digital camera to document their evening.
  
  Begin the night by serving your daughter's favorite meal for dinner. Ask her prior to the party if any of her friends have special dietary restrictions and prepare a vegetarian option if necessary. After dinner, set out snacks and cupcakes for the girls to munch on throughout the evening. In celebration of your daughter's nearing adulthood, have her birthday cake decorated with a picture of her as a baby, along with a current picture.
  
  

Night on the Town

• For a truly memorable birthday party, take your daughter and a few girlfriends out for a night on the town in a nearby city. Rent a hotel room or two rooms with an adjoining door so that you can get some quiet away from the girls and give them some "alone time" while maintaining proper supervision.
  
  Encourage them to pack a "going out" outfit and take them to a fancy dinner in a posh restaurant. If your daughter loves the theater, movies and all things dramatic, take her and her friends to a live performance. For a fashion-conscious girl, take her and her friends to explore the city's shops and boutiques.
  
  This type of party will give the girls a taste of the city life that many of them may be craving after high-school graduation.
  
  

Pool Party

• Host a luau party for the girl dreaming of heading off to sunny shores the moment she finishes high school. You can plan a girls-only pool party in the backyard or at a local swimming pool. Hire a hula dance instructor as a surprise theme activity for the party. Serve traditional luau fare such as roasted pig and tropical fruits. Provide the girls with materials to make flower leis. Finish the evening with a fresh fruit bar where the girls can make their own fresh, frosty beverages.