My daughter has just finished her first year of college and I’m reminiscing about her graduation party as I post these pictures. I wanted to do this last year, but if you are going through this now, you know how busy and stressful senior year and everything that goes along with it can be. I will warn you that I was VERY emotional for about 4 months prior to the graduation. I guess the preparing and anticipation really got to me. Going through old pictures, hearing the songs that would play, and buying things for college just really made me a mess. However, I did not cry on graduation. So there is hope for those of you that are feeling very weepy out there. Get it all out now so you can enjoy that day and share it with your family and friends. That day was truly special and I felt I was present in the important moments of the day. I hope these tips will help you have a great experience too.
Tips for Throwing A Grad Party
- Listen to your child. They know what kind of celebration best suits them. I am very over the top when I throw a party and my daughter is the exact opposite. She would be happy putting out a Chick-fil-A tray and having a couple friends over. I wanted to be able to mingle with everyone so I did have it catered, but I did do it low key like she asked. We didn’t do a DJ or other party extras that I would normally do. We had close friends and family and I think she was a lot happier.
- Don’t have it on the same day as graudation. One of the best things we did was have it the next day. Some people even had it the weekend before, but we had lots of family in from out of town so this didn’t work for us. Graduation day was so busy and hectic that we wanted to enjoy that and my daughter wanted to attend her friend’s parties too. This also gave me the day to pick up flowers, balloons and other last minute items.
- Delegate if you can. People really do like to help. If you can and feel comfortable, designate people to pick up the cake, balloons, and flowers. This will really save you time while you are doing last minute things at the house.
- Set up the party in an Open House format. This type of get together allows people to come and stay as long or as little as they want. We knew Saturdays in June were valuable family time so we wanted there to be little pressure. A lot more people popped since we had this type of party. I know at least five people that came by and stayed about 15 minutes to let her know they cared and brought her a gift. However, they had other parties they had to attend or their child had games that day.
- Do the extra pictures you want several days before. I don’t know about you guys or how your graduations are held, but our city does them all in one location at the local college. They give you time for one high school and then get yours out and the next high school is literally scheduled right behind you. You know all the cute pictures you see on Pinterest that you noted that you wanted to do like throwing up your cap or of you and your family doing something staged? I suggest you stage these at your house a couple days before. Do your hair and make up and get a couple good ones knocked out that you really want. Then you will have time to actually look at them and see if you got some good ones. Then do other ones quickly on the real day and that’s all you will need.
I hope this day is all that you and your child imagined. It can be a really good experience if everyone keeps their cool. The more you plan in advance the better it will turn out. Remember it is a day for all of you, but you want it to be special for your child. I hope it turns out wonderful!
Yours Truly,
Jenn
