Graduation Open House

Graduation is a perfect time to celebrate! Throwing an open house to honor your graduate’s entrance into the adult world is a great way of expressing and celebrating your excitement for their new adventure. This party theme will give the new graduate a big congratulations on all their accomplishments.

First Things First

Choosing a party place will be one of the major tasks on your checklist. Many people have open house graduation parties at their home, banquet halls, community centers or local pools. Often parents will collaborate and throw joint parties to save a little money.

You will want to set up a designated parking area to avoid problems with neighbors or blocking the streets. Some times neighborhood churches or community locations will allow you to use their parking lots with prior notice. This is something you can show on the invitations.

Once the place is chosen you can start working on putting together your graduation invitations. You will want to make sure that they are sent out to family, friends and teachers at least 3-4 weeks before the party. Include an RSVP if you want, asking for a response 1-2 weeks before the party. Most Open House Parties will last 3-5 hours or more.

The Setup

When throwing a graduation open house, choose to have the party catered or stick with the very popular buffet style theme. Setting up several food stations throughout the area is a good way to keep guests circulating and to help avoiding a long line at the food table. Great graduation foods are: hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, fried chicken, finger foods and sandwiches. Cake, cupcakes, or ice cream bars are great desert ideas. Set up several locations for guests to sit and chat whether they are benches, or folding chairs, bench swings, sturdy canvass seats.

When choosing the party decor you will want to play off of the graduates favorite color, the school color or the classic black and gold graduation colors. Using balloons, streamers, banners, tables clothes, plates, cups and eating utensils in the same color scheme.

• Picture displays are a fun and creative way to show off your shining star featuring pictures from childhood up to graduation day! You can hang pictures of the food tables or display as centerpieces on tables. Set up a poster board with the graduate’s picture in the middle ~ ask guests to sign it for a great keepsake. Create a slide show that will be played during the party to captivate your guests.
• Set up an award table, showcasing the graduates achievements. Have a gift table with a large box for cards to be put inside.
• Set out disposable cameras throughout the space and ask guests to snap candid pictures. Video taping the event will make for a great treasured memories. Let your graduate chose favorite songs to be played in the background or if you want to get even more exciting, set up a dance floor and let the music roll!
• Send your guests home with a special trinket to remember the event. Some cute ideas are: Customized M&M’s, candy bars, bookmarks, pins, pens or personalized cookies.

Make sure to keep track of gifts and who they came from so that your graduate will be sure to send Thank you notes to all of your guests within a week or two after the party.

This post is brought to you by Philadelphia Caterers.
Not in Philadelphia, PA No worries, use Wedding and Party Network’s handy party planning directory to help you find a caterer near you!

Graduation cap photo provided by billaday via flickr.