Yesterday, in my series on Graduation and all of the tasks, trials, and joys that come along with it, I wrote about the decision-making process of whether to even have a party or not. You might think that a party is obligatory, but it’s not. I think it is really up to the graduating student as to what he or she wants to do. If you have decided to have that bash, however, you now have to come up with a plan—the theme, budget, menu, decorations, etc. Planning the party can be a challenge in the midst of everything else you are doing to get the child graduated!
For us, it started with a date and a location—after that we were able to formulate the menu and the other details around that. At first, I fantasized about hiring a caterer or at least having all the food prepared by someone else. A little research and a closer look at my budget and I realized that was just out of the question. As much as I would love to just be able to hang the streamers and open the doors of the venue for the caterer, those dollars will be better spent elsewhere (paying the rent and keeping the lights on, for example.)
I wanted my daughters—the graduates—to be as involved as possible. After all, this is their party and they are on the eve of adulthood now. Besides, less involvement from them means more blame and resentment if things don’t go the way they want. They actually sketched out some menu choices and then we fine-tuned it. They have decided on the guest list and have chosen the decorations. Of course, we broke up these projects into do-able chunks since they are both busy taking tests, filling out forms and getting all their ducks in a row to get on to college—but they still have taken on a great deal of the planning work.
My advice is to really keep it simple, do-able, and keep the focus on the graduate. We are going to have a slide show with pictures of the girls over the past 18 years set to music, and we’re having the party poolside, so entertainment is taken care of. The menu is simple and the focus will be on enjoying the celebration with the girls.