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I was sitting in Zorn Arena trying to look like I wasn’t sweating through my jacket when my daughter filed in with her high school graduating class. The announcer asked the kids to locate their parents in the audience and wave to them as a way of thanking them for getting them to this day. As my daughter looked up at us with a big smile on her face and waved, it happened. I saw her as a five year old smiling at me and waving goodbye as she entered her kindergarten classroom. I was stunned at how all that time could have gone by so fast. It will happen to you too, maybe this year. We mark the occasion by hosting a graduation party because … what better way to start the summer than with planning and throwing a huge party while trying to shake winter out of your house and lawn and possibly hosting out-of-town house guests?
It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. There are three components to throwing a graduation party: tables/room décor, photos, and food. Most graduation parties are thrown at home using the garage as back up in case of foul weather.
Décor rule number one: if you are using a theme or certain colors (stick to two main colors), keep it consistent and carry it throughout—from the invites to the thank you notes, tablecloths, serving ware, and everything in between. Cluster dozens of helium-filled balloons over the food table. Or cover the ceiling with balloons—each dangling a printed picture of various times of your graduate’s life. Buy large cardboard numbers “2016” at the craft store and paint or glitter them with your school colors. Place stacks of old books on the tables with photos of your graduate on top in pretty frames, or canning jars filled with flowers. Run a “clothesline” across the back wall by the food tables with pictures of your gradu-
ate clipped on. Another focal point idea: buy an extra large initial and Mod Podge® copies of pictures to it. Added bonus, they get to take it to college with them!
On the food table (I only have dessert ideas, the rest is up to you), place dozens of cupcakes in the shape of “2016.” (To make it stand out more, make every other number a different color.) Make “diploma cookies” with those hazelnut-filled rolled wafer cookies that come in a tin. Just tie a ribbon to each one. For a party expected to go into the evening, set up a s’more station. Get guests involved with a graduation advice tree: place pretty branches in a container and tie on cards with ribbons through punched holes. Guests can each write a piece of advice and hang it on the tree. Perhaps you’d prefer a memory jar where guests write their favorite memory with the graduate and put it in the jar.
Your graduate may not remember the color of your tablecloths or know how hard you worked to get it all done, but they will remember how they felt that day—being honored by family and friends and being loved by their mom—as they start new adventures in life. So relax, and remember to enjoy the moments that are in front of you.
