Planning a Graduation Party the Right Way
There comes a time in everybody's life when you reach that special transition time called graduation.
Whether it is from pre-school to grade school, the achievement of finishing high school, or even leaving college and setting out on your own, a graduation is a landmark event in your life.
It's a turning point, the opening of a new chapter, and it definitely deserves to be celebrated.
It doesn't matter what stage of life they are in, your child deserves to have a graduation party to honor their many hours of commitment, hard work, and achievement.
Typically, graduation party planning is really not much different from regular party planning.
When preparing to throw a graduation party, the most important thing to remember is that it is absolutely necessary to put a lot of work into the guest list.
The people make the party, so even if there are no decorations, no theme, and no planned activities, the party can still be a blast if the right people are there.
When the child is younger it is easier to decide who to invite, because you'll know not only all of the kids they are around, but also the parents of those kids, and effectively the entire family.
However, as the child grows older and they expand their social circle, this part can get rather tricky.
It is generally a good idea to have the person you are throwing the party for involved in this aspect of planning.
However, if you are planning to throw them a surprise graduation party, figuring out the guest list can get all the more complicated.
This is when you are going to need some "inside" people to help you with the guest list.
The last thing that you would want to do is leave someone out who should be there.
If you happen to be a family member (which is most likely), it would be wise to recruit a close friend from school to help give you the names of the guests that your child would most appreciate having at their party.
Plus, a school friend would be able to clue you in to who you should avoid inviting.
If the person you are throwing the party for is married, it can get even trickier.
In that case you may also appreciate the help of someone that is in his/her spouse's family.
The guest of honor might also be involved in clubs or extra-curricular activities in which case you would need to explore the people involved in these circles as well.
Everybody has multiple "groups" they spend time with, so it is important to be aware of all of these situations.
As soon as you have the guest list completed, you can send out the invitations to everyone.
Now, the one thing that should definitely be stressed about the invitations is the fact that it is a surprise graduation party.
The number one way that a surprise party gets ruined is when someone will slip-up and tip off the guest of honor as to what is going on, and we don't want that happening.
Now that you have a guest list worked out and invitations sent, you will need to decide what to do for food.
This is one of the most important aspects of planning a graduation party, and it can be the most expensive as well.
My advice is to go simple.
Pizza is a sure-fire winner, but it can also be expensive.
One idea is to ask everyone for a small cover fee to help take care of the cost.
Another option is to do a potluck-style dinner.
Have everyone bring an appetizer or dessert, or maybe even a salad.
Not only will this diversify the food, but it will also leave less clean-up and worry for you.
The next major step to planning a graduation party is picking out all of the decorations.
Picking out the decorations for any type of graduation party is only made difficult because seemingly limitless options that are available.
These days the market is absolutely flooded with all sorts of different party supplies, so you should have an easy time finding ones to fit the venue, colors, theme, and overall atmosphere of the party.
Another excellent idea is to decorate using the colors or mascot of the school that the person is graduating from.
And of course make sure that you include the year in the decorations.
You can always look into having a cake made that is in the shape of the graduating year.
For a more unique approach, you can even choose a fun theme rather than just graduation.
Throw your graduate a luau, a masquerade ball, a sock hop, or even a flash back party.
Why not celebrate the years of hard work by reliving a specific year? It's time for your kid to let loose.
They've worked hard to get to where they are, and they deserve a rewarding experience.
Be sure to create an environment where they can leave all of that pressure behind and begin a new phase of their life with a party that they will appreciate for the rest of their lives.
Whether it is from pre-school to grade school, the achievement of finishing high school, or even leaving college and setting out on your own, a graduation is a landmark event in your life.
It's a turning point, the opening of a new chapter, and it definitely deserves to be celebrated.
It doesn't matter what stage of life they are in, your child deserves to have a graduation party to honor their many hours of commitment, hard work, and achievement.
Typically, graduation party planning is really not much different from regular party planning.
When preparing to throw a graduation party, the most important thing to remember is that it is absolutely necessary to put a lot of work into the guest list.
The people make the party, so even if there are no decorations, no theme, and no planned activities, the party can still be a blast if the right people are there.
When the child is younger it is easier to decide who to invite, because you'll know not only all of the kids they are around, but also the parents of those kids, and effectively the entire family.
However, as the child grows older and they expand their social circle, this part can get rather tricky.
It is generally a good idea to have the person you are throwing the party for involved in this aspect of planning.
However, if you are planning to throw them a surprise graduation party, figuring out the guest list can get all the more complicated.
This is when you are going to need some "inside" people to help you with the guest list.
The last thing that you would want to do is leave someone out who should be there.
If you happen to be a family member (which is most likely), it would be wise to recruit a close friend from school to help give you the names of the guests that your child would most appreciate having at their party.
Plus, a school friend would be able to clue you in to who you should avoid inviting.
If the person you are throwing the party for is married, it can get even trickier.
In that case you may also appreciate the help of someone that is in his/her spouse's family.
The guest of honor might also be involved in clubs or extra-curricular activities in which case you would need to explore the people involved in these circles as well.
Everybody has multiple "groups" they spend time with, so it is important to be aware of all of these situations.
As soon as you have the guest list completed, you can send out the invitations to everyone.
Now, the one thing that should definitely be stressed about the invitations is the fact that it is a surprise graduation party.
The number one way that a surprise party gets ruined is when someone will slip-up and tip off the guest of honor as to what is going on, and we don't want that happening.
Now that you have a guest list worked out and invitations sent, you will need to decide what to do for food.
This is one of the most important aspects of planning a graduation party, and it can be the most expensive as well.
My advice is to go simple.
Pizza is a sure-fire winner, but it can also be expensive.
One idea is to ask everyone for a small cover fee to help take care of the cost.
Another option is to do a potluck-style dinner.
Have everyone bring an appetizer or dessert, or maybe even a salad.
Not only will this diversify the food, but it will also leave less clean-up and worry for you.
The next major step to planning a graduation party is picking out all of the decorations.
Picking out the decorations for any type of graduation party is only made difficult because seemingly limitless options that are available.
These days the market is absolutely flooded with all sorts of different party supplies, so you should have an easy time finding ones to fit the venue, colors, theme, and overall atmosphere of the party.
Another excellent idea is to decorate using the colors or mascot of the school that the person is graduating from.
And of course make sure that you include the year in the decorations.
You can always look into having a cake made that is in the shape of the graduating year.
For a more unique approach, you can even choose a fun theme rather than just graduation.
Throw your graduate a luau, a masquerade ball, a sock hop, or even a flash back party.
Why not celebrate the years of hard work by reliving a specific year? It's time for your kid to let loose.
They've worked hard to get to where they are, and they deserve a rewarding experience.
Be sure to create an environment where they can leave all of that pressure behind and begin a new phase of their life with a party that they will appreciate for the rest of their lives.
