image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cornell_commencement_2008.jpg
Graduation Season is here. Now how do I get everything done? The first thing to do is to keep it simple – the KISS principle. It will reduce your stress and help you enjoy this wonderful time in your child’s life. Whether it is High School or College, tailor your plans to your lifestyle and your budget. After having 4 kids graduate from High School and College, I’ve seen it done right and I’ve seen it done wrong. I found each party was tailored to the taste of the child we were celebrating.
1. Location
I have done theses more formal at my church in a reception hall, “Open House” style at my house, and very casual, laid back at the park. Doing them in a reception hall you need to think about the cost and what clean up is expected of you. If you do it at your home, think about the stress of getting your home “company ready”, and the traffic your house, yard, and neighbors will endure. I have to say my most cost effective and fun was when we combined with other families at the park. The rental fee was very nominal, and for me this was the least stressful. The set up was easy and clean up was a breeze. I was able to spend more time mingling and relaxing. Reserve your park shelter early!
2.Invitations
How do I invite people? With social media present, it is very easy to create an event on Facebook and eliminate the majority of the cost of postage and invitations. Most of your older guests appreciate the old fashioned “snail mail” invitation. I have done the costly formal school invitations, made my own on my computer, and ordered and let someone else do the labor. Don’t be intimidated to do homemade invitations, Google “how to make invitations” and you will find numerous vendors. If you want cost effective, quick and easy, my favorite is Vista print. They are very user-friendly and decent quality. They have many templates for you to choose from and helpful tips. Whatever you choose to do, you need to have these sent out 3-4 weeks before your event. Make sure to include a graduate’s picture on the invitation or inserted in the invitation, a map to your location, time, date, and information of future plans for your graduate.
3. Decorations
Again, don’t go overboard, just go to your local party store and you and your graduate stay in budget. Balloons are cheap and catch people’s eye to put on signs to give them directions or mark which house/shelter you are at. Go disposable! It will save you a lot of headaches. A great way to decorate is to use pictures, school awards, letterman jackets etc. You can create a photo board with pictures as the child grows up. You can use a basket for people to put cards, this prevents them getting lost or handed to you or your student to hold. If you are at a park, use a box with a slit in the top. There is a lot of traffic, so they don’t disappear, and also, so the wind won’t deliver them into the trees or nearby field. They have several of these for sale at your local party stores, or you can get creative and make one and decorate it or have people sign it for posterity. At a park don’t forget the duck tape. You will need it to hold many things in place.
4. Food
The big question is usually how much food to fix. No one wants to run out, but you also don’t want a lot left over and have to eat it for the next several weeks. You usually know relatives that will be attending, give them a job to do to help. If you are doing a party when other parties are going on, consider the time and distance for people who will be attending multiple locations, and realize people usually just snack and graze from one place to another. So only count half of the people you invite to actually eat. If you are doing it with multiple other families, have everyone give their best guess on their guests and take out about 1/3 that will overlap all the graduates involved. Then take that total number down about 20%. This is a good guess for you to factor on. Then look at portion size on packages. Realize that these portions are considering a full blown meal and could for the most part be doubled. You will have some people gorge themselves, but for the most part people eat pretty light. If you are doing burgers, get the frozen prepared patties. That way you can thaw and cook as needed, but these are easily kept for meals down the road if you over purchase. I always like a buffer, and usually prepare way too much, but then I’m not worried about running out. See my recipe blog to get “Graduation Food Ideas” and “12 Easy ‘Grab and Go’ Finger Foods” to get some suggestions of what to fix. The statement “It takes a village to raise a child” is a good thought here. It is time to ask for help! Be sure to enlist a friend or two to stay on top of refilling the food, which will allow you to focus on your graduate and guests. This will reduce your stress and your graduates as well.
5.Pictures
It is easy to get busy with all the festivities and completely forget to get pictures of your celebration. As a photographer, I like to be behind the camera at whatever event I am attending. Assign a relative that likes to take pictures (and won’t get just everyone’s feet or the sky), to go around and get pictures of first You & Your graduate, your guests, your graduate with their friends, your graduate with their classmates, your graduate with loved ones as they arrive, your graduate with family members you don’t see real often, your graduate with those relatives that you see all the time, and it will be memories imprinted for years to come! You will be glad you did! You can also create a simple notebook to have friends and family write a little note to the graduate. My kids loved looking back at the words of wisdom, well wishes and funny stories included in this book.
6. Thank you notes
It is still appropriate and expected to write individual thank you notes when gifts, gift cards or money are given. Your graduate can put a blanket, “Thank you for everyone that helped make my party wonderful” on Facebook to cover people who just gave cards. I kept a running list and wrote down names when cards and gifts started coming in the mail a couple of weeks ahead of our event. On my list, I wrote their name and their gift. A few will stand out, but for the most part you won’t remember all of them later. It is easy to stuff money in your pocket or purse and forget to thank the person. I had my children write the notes before they could spend the money or gift cards and that helped speed things along. People who take the time to invest their hard earned money or go out and purchase something or pick up a gift card deserve gratitude. It is perfectly fine for you to help them. I addressed many envelopes for my kids and let them write the inside. Another idea is to have guests address an envelope when they come, which will help prevent trying to find all the addresses, especially for those you invited via social sites. The trick is to cross them off your master list as you mail the thank you notes. This helps to avoid overlooking someone waiting on your thanks.
Then put your feet up and “whew”! You made it through! Good luck and Congratulations!