As a parent, you're bursting with pride, and rightly so. Whether it's high school or college, graduating is a noteworthy accomplishment that deserves a celebration, and there are so many ways for you to accomplish that! But first, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions: Do you want to focus on your graduate only, or do you want to celebrate all the diploma winners in your graduate's circle of friends? Also, would you prefer a party with definite time parameters or simply an “open house,” when people drop in and out over a period of several hours? Once you've determined these parameters, it's time to plan!
Pick a date. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. If the graduation is in late May or early June, start planning in January or February if you're planning an elaborate event. A Friday evening or weekend day or evening would probably be best. With proms, finals and other activities keeping kids busy just before graduation day, you might consider having the party soon after the graduation ceremony. If the ceremony is during the day, you can have it that evening, or the next day. If it's an out-of-town graduation, you'll certainly want to wait until you get home and have time to get everything together.
Set a budget. Your budget will help you determine the scope of your party. Once you've set your budget, divide the money between food and decorations. Depending on how elaborate your plans are, you might have to include fees for your venue or facility or the cost of a band.
Choose a venue. You've got lots of possibilities here—your home, a restaurant, a park, a swimming pool, beach or lake, an amusement park or a special place you have in mind! Sometimes the venue drives the menu! If you head for a beach, a yummy clambake might be in order. If you have it at home in your backyard, how about a luscious barbecue with all the trimmings? For a party at a restaurant, your guests can either order whatever they'd like from the menu, or you can pre-select hors d'oeurves and platters when you make your reservation. Keep in mind that parties at beaches and parks often need permits and reservations, too, so be sure to check ahead of time.
Select a theme. A theme can be optional, especially if you're having that clambake on the beach or a day at an amusement park. The great thing about themes is that they give you a way to tie all the elements (invitations, decorations, etc.) together in a meaningful way. The theme can be as simple as a farewell to their high school, using the school colors, pennants and other memorabilia in your planning. The same goes for college—honoring your child's alma mater. Other themes for high school are “Off to College,” where you can decorate with the school colors, banners, mascot, etc. of the college or university your child will attend, or how about a “Last Dance” Party? Other college-graduation themes include the career-focused “Get Ready, World! Here I Come!” or a nostalgia theme with photos and memorabilia from your child's school days, or a retro toga party.
Plan the menu. Whether it's a clambake or a barbecue, professionally catered or self-catered, you still need to develop your menu. What kind of appetizers, salad, entrée, drinks and dessert will you serve? If your guest list is mostly kids, gear your menu toward them. Dessert may be a graduation cake or an ice cream sundae bar. Let your theme guide you.
Create the guest list. The party can be as intimate or as full of guests as you'd like. You can invite family, your friends, your child's friends, and don't forget about teachers, professors, coaches and others who helped your child reach this moment.
Send Save-the-Date Cards and Invitations. Since most graduations occur in late spring or early summer, when people leave for vacations or plan graduation parties of their own, you should consider mailing Save-the-Date cards three or four months in advance. Coordinate the Save-the-Date cards and the invitations with the theme somehow, so guests can get excited about what they'll find when they arrive. Mail your invitations at least one month before and ask guests to R.S.V.P. via phone or email. About a week before the event, call those people who haven't responded to find out if they're planning to attend, so you can have an accurate head count.
Decorations and Favors. Always the most fun of party planning, decorations and favors carry your theme! Set out a 16” x 20” or larger, foam core-backed, matte-finished photo of the graduate on an easel with some colorful markers, so guests can write their best wishes in the background. Your main-table centerpiece can be a spray of flowers in school colors with “diplomas” (rolled-up white paper tied with ribbons in the school colors!) among the flowers. You can make smaller versions of the same thing for the individual tables. Again, it all depends on your theme. Let your creative juices flow! Favors for guests might include “The Next Chapter” Graduation Bookmark—a silver-finish, openwork mortarboard with a black tassel, or personalized “Congratulations, Graduate!” Chocolate Candy Bars.
Activities. Dancing. Swimming. Beach volleyball. A humorous “roast” of the graduate by family and friends. Whatever your guests might enjoy. And, of course, a “Keep in Touch” activity. After high school and college, friends scatter across the country and beyond. To help them maintain the bonds they've forged over the years, fix a large U.S. map to a cork bulletin board. Have pieces of paper, writing utensils and push pins close by so all the friends can write their names, new addresses and contact information on a piece of paper and pin it to the nearest city or town on the map. It's a great way to keep treasured friends connected.
Music. Ask your graduate to help you by providing you with favorite CDs. If it's a retro party, you'll probably want to raid your own music collection.
Just follow these suggestions, and you'll surely be recognized for your graduation-party planning—with highest honors!
The Office Party Planning Committee
Your Office or workplace may be the cheapest but not necessarily the best venue for your event. Consider your staff too - would they wish to give up a sunny summers day or a cold winters evening to attend a function in the same place that they spend most of the days of the year? Probably not! Works parties should be fun occasions for people to relax after working hard, thus your office may not be the best place for this. If you have many sites dotted around the country a central location is essential to ensure that no office feels left out. You may wish to book up rooms for your staff, or ask for a small donation towards their accommodation, however do remember that as a rule, the more money you ask for, the less people will wish to attend. If all sites are within a local vicinity, you should look into hiring some coaches or mini-buses to safely transport your guests to and from the party. For smaller parties an entrance in a limousine, with a glass or two of champagne, can be a magical start to the evening.
If there is a Conference Centre, or Suite of Function Rooms in a Hotel or similar, which you frequently use for meetings, seminars or training sessions, do enquire as to whether you would be able to hire the rooms for your party. Your employees should be familiar with the location and you may be able to get a discount on your next room hire! Local Restaurants may be able to offer both their venue and catering. If you are planning a large function, you may wish to consider using a Temporary Structure such as a Marquee, as they are adaptable if you wish to progress from a day to evening party, and can be used for an assortment of occasions, from an elegant a la carte dining area or housing a Las Vegas style casino to morphing into a massive dance-floor or a circus complete with fairground rides! If you chose to hire a Marquee, you will need to decide if you need to also hire Portable Toilets, Mobile Bars for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, Dance Floors, Stages and Furniture Hire for items such as Chairs and Tables.
Most Corporate Events are large, well organised affairs. Although this should be an enjoyable party, don't forget that the company is still on show to your Employees. Imagine the personalities of your staff and try to achieve an event which is both entertaining and also upholds any sort of company stature; if the MD doesn't know the accounts clerk, they may not feel comfortable seated next to each other for a seated dinner. Organised Theme nights such as a Murder Mystery or Race Nights are good ways of mingling older with younger or junior with senior members of staff without formal seating plans. For smaller businesses or for companies in which most staff know each other, lighter style catering, such as a finger buffet, Pig Roast or Barbeque, would mean that guests can chat and mingle whilst they dine. Check with your caterer and venue before hiring further crockery, linens or glasswares. Good ice-breaking games include hiring giant inflatables such as a Bouncy Castle or a Bungee Run. A Bucking Bronco will always draw crowds and laughter, or hire a go-karting track. Imagine the joy of knowing you've beaten your boss! Most Office Party Problems are linked with over indulging in alcohol, do ensure that your guests know what behaviour is expected of them, and make them aware if any potential clients will be attending!
If you are opting for a more formal black tie event, you will probably wish to hire a stage, a lighting rig and PA Equipment for Speeches. A small Awards Ceremony is a nice touch for these occasions; prizes don't need to be large or significant, a bouquet of flowers or luxury hamper for Margery the Cleaner for being in your employment for 20 years, pair of cufflinks for Colin who is retiring, a gift voucher for Cheryl in accounts who is getting married. You could hire a look-a-like to present such awards and gifts, just to add a flourish to festivities! Humourous anecdotes from the past year could be mentioned here, but be careful not to cause any offence, for those who should make a speech but have no idea what to say could invest in the assistance of a professional speech-writer! You could also use the stage for your Entertainment; hire a magician, hypnotist or comedian to perform a set, as well as getting some Live Music on stage for dancing later in the evening. There are a wide variety of Musical Entertainments available; from your classic Disco and Karaoke, through to Live Bands such as Ceilidh, Jazz, Country & Western, Blues, Tribute and Original Bands. Whilst your guests are eating, consider what will also be happening; will you provide some subtle background music, perhaps a solo vocalist, a harpist or piper? Or would you rather have some entertainers who can mingle with your guests, for example Caricaturists, Mind Readers, Magicians or Tarot Readers. Circus Performers such as Fire Eaters, Stilt Walkers and Jugglers could quietly amuse your guests whilst they are dining and then create an amazing display on the main stage later in the evening.
Thinking of amazing displays, you should consider the decoration of your venue to coincide with the theme of your event, for example, if you are holding a Casino Night, with Black Tie and Ball Gowns as your dress code, your invites and other stationery should be equally as smart with classic crisp decorations, such as black and white balloons, simplistic floral decorations and classy ice-sculptures. You may wish to have a grand finale of a firework or laser display to end the evening in a memorable fashion. If this all seems a bit much, you can hire Venue Decorators specifically for these finishing touches.
For an unusual event, why not consider a day out? There are many options available to businesses for team building events, or even just a fun day out Paint-balling, Go-Karting or have a day trip to an Amusement Park! Hire a coach, ask your caterers to make a suitable picnic and let the sun shine!
To remind guests of the reason you are holding the event, you may wish to include your company logo on your invites, and personalise other items such as balloons and small novelties to give away in goody bags at your party; if using your party as a networking event, you could ask some clients to ?sponser? or donate goodies towards these goody bags. Having some T-shirts printed to give away as prizes in a quiz, or printing a personalised mini-magazine for the event can be of minimal outlay, but will ensure that your business is remembered. You may wish to hire a professional photographer, or videographer so that you can include the pictures in company newsletters or other future publications. A dvd of the event would be a lovely gesture to present to your guests.
Both Susan Hawkins & Party Pages / Kate Parry / Barry Hopkins / Uncle Wiggy are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Susan Hawkins has sinced written about articles on various topics from Baby Shower, Wedding Cake and Marriage. Susan Hawkins is a writer for Favor Affair, an online store selling and other party favors for all of life's events.. Susan Hawkins's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.
Party Pages / Kate Parry / Barry Hopkins / Uncle Wiggy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Birthday Party, Parties and Wedding Bells. PartyPages.co.uk is the UK's favourite online Party Directory, the one stop shop for all your party requirements. After 15 years performing as Uncle Wiggy, a prestigious Childrens Entertainer, Barry is an expert on all things celebratory!Don't hesitate to. Party Pages / Kate Parry / Barry Hopkins / Uncle Wiggy's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
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