high school graduation party

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-13-2007
high school graduation party
8
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 1:22pm
I am in the proccess of planning a high a school graduation party for my son
Any great ideas on the menu and decorations would be appreciated
He has been accepted at OSU
I also would like to know when is the best time to have the party related to the actual ceremony
The ceremony is on June 2nd which is a Saturday at 5:00
Would it be convenient for everyone to have his party on Sunday the 3rd or wait until the following weekend?
We won't be having people come in from out of town so it will be all local friends and family
Thank-you for any advice
Avatar for heartsandroses2002
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 2:03pm

Last year when my 19dd graduated HS the ceremony was at 5PM. We had a reception party immediately following. I prepared 2 crockpot dishes in advance and had them set up outside on a table to keep hot. We also put together cold cut platters (2) along with rolls, breads and all the fixins. We also had a HUGE antipasta salad that my sil brought with her. We had a lot of finger foods and snacks for appetizers and then later brought out all the main foods, followed by some dessert platters, such as strawberries and yogurt dip, a beautiful chocolate raspberry torte, some nice bakery cookies, and some ice pops for the little kids. We had plenty of food and a nice variety - everyone commented on how nice everything was. I'd say we had a total of approximately 60 people, maybe more.

For decorations, we had a lot of balloons placed around the yard and patio. I had little votives and tea lights in small round glasses placed all over as well, especially on the deck. We actually rented a bounce house because dd wanted one and that was very popular and fun. We set up a badminton set as well and people played that. And our pool was open, though it was a not hot enough and our pool water was still very cold. Oh and we had some white holiday lights in one shrub off to the side of the yard.

And lastly, I created a photo collage of dd's lilfe. In the center was her senior pic surrounded by many many pics of her from infancy all the way up, some included other family, some with friends, some goofy, some sentimental - all wonderful. She loved it and everyone loved looking at it. And I also had a scrapbook for people to sign for her. It is a treasure.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2000
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 2:18pm
I think a Sunday afternoon is fine.
Pam
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2000
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 2:20pm
That's what dh did - Jason's senior pics surrounded by all the other ones.
Pam
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2003
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 3:44pm

I would discuss it with your son as both my children had lot's of other graduation parties they wanted to attend as well. It would be ashame to have them all fall on the same day. Sunday sounds good to me as most kids want to attend various parties after the actual ceremony (our family celebrated with a lunch beforehand).

I would serve anything easy that you can buy from Costco or Sam's Club such as wings, pizza, meatballs, subs, salads, etc. and then a cake. We got "cheezy" and purchased one of those cakes with their picture on it. We used their senior picture. It was rather fun.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-14-2000
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 3:55pm

I forgot - we did that, too!

Pam
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-1999
Wed, 04-04-2007 - 8:58pm

We always have our grad parties right after the ceremony, because we have quite a few people coming from out of town. If everyone is local, it might be best to do it the next day or the following weekend, so that people don't feel as pressured to hit half a dozen parties right after the ceremony. Generally, here, people who won't be having folks coming from out of town do it either the weekend before or the weekend after graduation, which makes it nice for folks who are invited to multiple parties.

As for the menu, keep it simple, or you will spend most of your time in the kitchen rather than visiting with your guests. Usually I make a big batch of sloppy joe meat a week or so before and freeze it, then thaw it and put it in a crock pot or slow cooker a few hours before we want to serve it. Add to that, some salads that can be made the day before (potato salad is actually better the 2nd day IMO), finger foods like a veggie tray, cheese and cracker tray, and of course a cake. We have a 4' toddler wading pool that I fill with ice, set on the picnic table, and put the cold food on one side and pop on the other side. That way you can feel comfortable keeping things out without giving anyone food poisoning. There is always a lot of coming and going at grad parties here, and people pretty much graze from one party to the next.

I've always done decorations in the school colors, but again, kept it really simple because we usually put up a canopy in the back yard and do the party outdoors, just because it's too hard to keep the house cool that time of year, with all the ins and outs.

Have fun with it, and try not to stress too much. During the first party I did, I worried about everything, and didn't really enjoy it. The next time around, I didn't try to do so much and enjoyed it a whole lot more.
Rose

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 04-05-2007 - 8:16pm

We are not having the graduation party the same day as graduation because of grad night. The triplets graduate on a Wednesday and we will have the party on Friday because the out of towners will leave Saturday/Sunday.

We are keeping it fairly simple with a barbeque. I don't like cooking in bulk so and my husband just burns everything, so we hired caterers to come and do that for us. Then I wont have to worry about being a slave in the kitchen and can mingle with the guests.

We will have pictures up ranging from infancy to now. Also, there will be a sign-type thing where people can leave little notes for them. The house will be decorated in school colors just because it makes sense to us too.

It is a bitter-sweet moment, but I am really excited for this.

Stephanie

Avatar for sharo63
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-10-2006
Fri, 04-06-2007 - 12:35pm
I have been following this thread with much interest since we are having our first of three grad parties this June for DS (2nd DS is Junior & DD freshmen)...My main worry is keeping out the drinking. Has anyone had experience with this being a problem? Oldest DS friends are very straight but middle DS has many "party types" as buddies. I felt that a brunch time frame on the following Sunday (grad is Sat) may cut down on a lot of it.
Keep the great ideas coming!
Sharon