Host the Perfect Graduation Party

You’ve been waiting a long time for this special day. Your son or daughter is graduating from high school or college and moving on to the next step in his or her life — nice work, mom and dad!

Celebrate your graduate’s accomplishments by throwing a great party with friends and family. Guess what? It’s easier than you think to make it a success, and there’s no need to stress out about all the graduation party details. Here are the five things you need to know to host the best graduation party in your neighborhood.

1. Send a killer invitation.
Forgo ubiquitous Facebook or electronic invites. Instead, kick off your party by mailing eye-catching invitations, like the contemporary Promising Pointers Graduation Invitations, which are perfect for your stylish graduate. Hats off to your good taste! Or if everyone can’t make it to the party, send an announcement that includes your grad’s photo.

2. Prep your house.
Probably the most stressful part about graduation party planning is making sure your house is clean and neat from top to bottom. We’re here to tell you that while yes, it would be fantastic if you had time to clean the baseboards and meticulously dust the blinds in each room, you can get away with just focusing on a few main areas. Your guests are going to congregate in the entryway, kitchen, guest bathroom and whichever rooms or outdoor areas you lead them to. So don’t go crazy and start cleaning out your closets; concentrate on getting a handful of the most important rooms in tip-top shape.

3. Shout it out loud and proud.
You are clearly proud of your graduate, so rub the praise in even more with a party-perfect banner, such as the Promising Pointers Graduation Banner. It totally matches the invitations and lets you add your own personalized graduation message. The all-weather banners at 123Print can be used inside or out and come with grommets and rope for hanging it up. Easy party décor! Another decoration idea you can toy with is a poster board filled with pictures of the happy graduate through the years. Or there’s always a PowerPoint slideshow. You can also ask guests to take a Polaroid photo of themselves as they enter the house and put it right in a scrapbook for your special grad. Provide things like glue or sticky photo edges so that they can place the photos in the album, and some colored markers to write a note next to the shot.

4. Fill them up.
Forgo a full meal for finger foods — no one’s expecting a sit-down dinner at your graduation party. Pick a theme that resonates with your graduate. Maybe she or he loves Mexican food — a Mexican Fiesta theme is always fun! Or perhaps they love to travel and plan to go backpacking during the summer —there’s a lot you can do with food from different countries (German sausage, French cheese, Italian pasta … we could go on and on!). Pick a theme and get creative with it. Plus, instead of an expensive cake, choose more cost-efficient desserts like cupcakes in different flavors or a colorful candy bar filled with the grad’s favorite candies. If M&M’s make the candy cut, you can even order custom colors and include the graduate’s name on them for a personalized touch.

5. Favor usable favors.
Speaking of a candy bar, consider a “fill your own favors” addition at the end of the same table, where guests can fill brown-paper or plastic bags to go! Just add a coordinating address label to make the bag fit your theme! If edible favors aren’t up your alley, choose something that guests can use after the party is over. For example, is it really hot where you live? Then, guests could most likely use a mini battery-operated fan and a bottle of face mister. Voila! Your favors have been answered.

Did you just throw the best graduation party ever? Or, do you have any questions about your upcoming event that we haven’t covered here? Let us know! Leave us a comment on our 123Print Facebook page, tweet us @123Print or write a note below.