Planning a high school graduation is more than just your average party planning experience, for most parents a high school graduation is a rite of passage - the emotion of watching your precious son or daughter leave their childhood behind and take their first steps into adulthood.
Such a seminal moment deserves to be celebrated, after all - (hopefully!) your offspring has worked their socks off to get to this point so it's only right that their hard work is rewarded with a good old fashioned celebration!
Today I'm sharing 5 top tips for the perfect graduation event:
1) Agree On The Basics
Of course before anything else - it's worth checking in with your teen to see what sort of celebration they'd ideally like to have, and planning accordingly - and of course be sure to make sure they get approval over the guest list!
Once this is done, you'll want to check on the date and time with all of your "must have" guests before committing. Then it's time to decide upon your venue - be sure to ask friends for recommendations, and keep a check list of questions handy when making your calls too and if you're going for an outside venue, be sure to have a plan B in case of bad weather.
2) Choosing The Invites
Once your guest list is agreed, it's time to send out those all high school grad invitations. Many companies now give the option of sending online invitations and then there's the trend of just sending our text invites but for something as special as a graduation - you really can't beat a proper paper invitation. Not only do they look more special, but they're something you're going to want to keep in your memory box to look back on in years to come too.
Basic Invite really stands out from the crowd when it comes to choosing invitations, as not only do they allow you to choose and customise every element of your invite from a selection of over 180 colours - but they also allow you to see a sample before placing your final order too, to make sure you're happy with the quality of the paper and the look of the design.
You can even customise the color of your envelope, with over 40 colours to choose from.
The website is so easy to use and offers some truly stunning invite designs, as well as plenty more stationery options too - you could even order personalized thank you cards at the same time as your invites.
3) Decide On A Theme
Maybe you want to go a little kooky with a Hawaiian Luau theme or tie in something that's special to your graduate, or maybe you want to make it a formal and fancy affair.
Whatever you decide, be sure to make a note of it on the invitations so that your guests can dress accordingly.
4) Decide On The Food & Decor
But be sure to keep to your budget and don't go too over the top. Remember that people aren't coming for the food, they're coming to celebrate with you - so pick foods that your child likes, and make sure it's something that can be prepared ahead of time so that you're not spending the whole event cooking.
Your decor should be kept fun but simple, as you don't want to create so much work for yourself that the day becomes unenjoyable. Graduations are all about memories, so creating a simple table display of photographs from throughout the years is really all you need.
5) Things Not To Forget
Create a simple checklist to help the day run smoothly - to get you started, be sure not to forget to make sure there's plenty of ice for drinks, an activity or two planned to keep people entertained and a guest book ready for people to sign to wish your graduate well!
Good luck with your planning and your graduation event, and feel free to share your own tips below.
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