Graduation Party Ideas?

[Julss05]

I need some! I'll be graduating in December and thought of doing a party at the house or having guests meet us at a local restaurant. How did you celebrate? It will be a small group, maybe 10-15 people at the most.

[Whitters20]

My parents hosted a graduation party for me at a local Mexican food restaurant. It was very small, only 22 people invited and 14 came. My parents just basically said that they would pay for everything if I planned it so I picked the restaurant (my DH used to work there so we got very good prices) and I sent out invitations printed on computer paper. It was very informal and I wanted to send that impression so people didn't think they had to send gifts or dress fancy. I narrowed down the menu to 3 items to make it easier on the server: choice of fajitas, burger (for the nephew ;) ),and a combo platter where they could choose tamales, tacos, or enchiladas. My parents brought a cake. It was a lot of fun but very casual and a lot easier than my parents having to do all the cooking and cleaning.

But if you want to do a home party, why not serve all of your favorite foods or at least something that you really like. You could even have it catered and hold it at your house. If you want something afternoony, you could serve a light lunch and do dessert and champagne. But since it's a day to celebrate you, it should reflect your taste. When my SIL graduated they rented a small church hall (it was for about 50-60 people), had it catered, and made decorations and everything.

[sublime311]

When we graduated from collage my mom hosted a dinner for me and my best friend. We made arrangments at an Italian restaurant where they reserverd a "back room" for us. The restaurant created a special "party" menu for us so our 40 guests could have a choice while limiting our costs. We brought our own cake and only served soft drinks, tea and coffee (they could buy their own alcohol).

All that said, I found a SUPER cute idea!! I found it here. (http://www.party411.com/theme118.html)

Oh the Places You'll Go
Dr. Seuss Graduation Party

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy
who'll decide where to go.

- Oh, the Places You'll Go!
© 1997 by Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. All rights reserved.
If you've ever read any of the Dr. Seuss books, you know that this witty and thoughtful voice gives way to very good advice, whether you are 5, 50 or 100 years old. We love the Dr. Seuss book Oh the Places You'll Go for the way it eloquently, but simply says what life is all about… taking on that sense of adventure and finding life's balance. We recommend that you buy this book or get it from your local library, read it and absorb it before using this theme. You'll appreciate the process for your grad and have more fun. We've based some ideas on part of the book cited above.

Invitations

Use the book as the basis for your invitation. "Oh the Places You'll Go with (your grad's name): A DR. SEUSS ADVENTURE." There is plenty of space to write the details of your party and you can color copy your invitations!

Try a Party411 custom caricature of your grad in a hot air balloon with the party title, time, date and place. Another idea is to use the cover of Oh the Places You'll Go and design a caricature or paste a picture of your graduate's face over the character on the book cover.

Decorations

Welcome Sign - Make an easel sign with a caricature of your grad that says "Congratulations (Grad's name)! Tonight is your night. You're off to great places, so get ready - you're about to take flight!"

Sign-In Board/Message Book - Guests can leave special messages for the grad. Use the welcome sign explained above and the words "Oh the Places You'll Go (your grad's name)." In the background is a directional sign showing all the places your grad has been or wants to go.

Seating Card Table Sign and Cards - Sign says "You have brains in your head, and feet in your shoes. Make sure the table you pick is the right one to choose!" Use your grad as a Dr. Seuss character on custom seating cards or hot air balloon ticket ride "passes" to places the guests will be going (seated).

Signage/Backdrop - Use a large, 4'x12' lit backdrop over the DJ, band or buffet that appears to be held up at either end by hot air balloon. It can read, "Oh, the places we're going with [your grad's name] on his/her Graduation!"

Centerpieces - Use colored balloons (pink, green, and blue pastels) anchored in Dr. Seuss hats and hot air balloons resembling those in the book (large balloon with ribbon tied to it with little baskets hanging off). Put a Dr. Seuss character from the book and the grad in each. If you want a different effect, on every other table, use a wire frame tree resembling trees from book.

Menu

Serve Green Eggs and Ham in full Seuss tradition. Seussville offers recipes to try. Another fun idea is to make all of your food different colors. Basically, anything white can have food coloring added for some Seuss-like fun - vanilla ice cream, macaroni, bread, white chocolate, sugar cookies, popcorn, noodles, rice, white pizza, potatoes, whipped cream, marshmallows, meringue, hummus, pita bread, pork tenderloin, cauliflower, bananas, parsnips-the list goes on. Scale your local grocery for more ideas!

Activities

Have a caricature artist drawing guests into a page from the book for them to take home. Try a scavenger hunt, sending people around the party venue - Oh the Places They'll Go!!

Party Favors

Send your guests home with Dr. Seuss hats or other fun Dr. Seuss novelty items!

[sublime311]

Here are all the themes on that website. For more info check here. (http://www.party411.com/graduation.html)


It's All About You
Open House
Grade "A" Graduation Party Ideas
It's A Land of Oz Graduation
Take Us to Vegas
Oh, the Places You'll Go: Dr. Seuss Graduation Party
Head for the Beach
A Sporting Life
Our Version of "The Graduate"
Roast the Graduate

[Kristy]

We had a BBQ at my apartment after the graduation ceremony because going to an actual restaurant in my college town would have been a nightmare. Even with reservations, friends of mine waited a looooong time and there are always tons of cranky people. So we did a simple thing at home to avoid the crowds. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, cakes, etc. It was quick and easy for me to clean up, and people could drift in and out and eat whenever they wanted.

A few weeks later my sister graduated from h.s. and it was her birthday, so we had joint birthday-double graduation party for both of us at a local restaurant. It was mostly for the relatives that couldn't all come down for my graduation. We had about 15-20 people maybe? My parents weren't in the mood to do a big dinner at their house. We did go back home for our multiple cakes after dinner though lol.

[Aug2002Bride]

Im looking for ideas for DH graduation in 2 weeks. We are planning on having about 10 people over and Im trying to come up with some sort of menu.....DH wants BBQ Chicken so I need ideas to go with that!

Thanks!

[megs7384]

My parents are throwing a little open house party for after the ceremony. Our ceremony is in the evening, so I think my mom is going to be doing a dessert buffet. It's going to be small and (hopefully) laid back and mostly for the relatives who come down.