Senior year is winding down, your child has been accepted into an awesome school, all of “the lasts” are beginning, and you want to start planning a graduation celebration! But where to begin? You’ve probably attended a few grad parties over the years, so you may already know the general flow of activities: an open house (come as you’d like over the span of several hours), a spot for gifts, a slideshow, bulletin board, or scrapbook set out to honor the last 13 years of schooling and loved ones gathered to celebrate accomplishments and the upcoming stage of your grad’s life!
So how can you make your party stand out? How can you honor your grad’s accomplishments and look forward to the next chapter? We think an easy and fun way to do both is to utilize school spirit! Using your grad’s future college as party inspiration gives you the color pallet, a mascot, and probably some apparel, so your party planning is halfway done. In addition, we’ve got a few ideas for what this school spirit-themed grad party needs, and thanks to VistaPrint, an easy way to get it done!
Five Must-Haves for a School Spirit Grad Party
1. Invitations
First up: get the word out! The best part of a school-spirited grad party invitation is that it doubles as a college announcement for your graduating senior–and there are so many ways to do it. Use a photo of your senior on the campus of their soon-to-be school or one of their Senior photos with their new school apparel.
VistaPrint makes it easy to customize a combination invitation/announcement with your grad’s future school colors. Let guests know where your student is headed, what they’ll be studying, and any honors they’re accepting. Then invite them to celebrate high school graduation and a college send-off. Of course, don’t forget to use the new college colors as invitation accents! (Bonus tip: While you’re ordering invites, order coordinating thank you cards too!)
2. Yard Signs
The party starts as soon as guests roll into your driveway, so make a statement from the beginning!
Yard signs, banners, balloons, and the like are the perfect pop at your entrance that will quickly set the stage for the rest of the party. VistaPrint offers yard signs and banners that coordinate with their invitation designs to keep everything cohesive and on-brand for your school spirit theme!
3. Themed Food
Have some fun with the food! Include snacks that are the same colors as your grad’s future school, but you can take it a step further by naming dishes after the school’s mascot and creating cute labels for the spread.
We love a “Hot Dawg Bar” for your Georgia Bulldog-bound grad or a dessert buffet of peanut butter and chocolate treats for your future Ohio State Buckeye.
4. Color Coordinated Decor
There’s no such thing as too much school spirit. Let the school colors lead the way in decorating this graduation celebration. Tablecloths, balloons, banners, even flowers in school colors will be the perfect backdrop to a day of celebrating this exciting next step.
Kick it up a notch by creating a photo booth for friends and family to get their photo with the grad. Use a personalized graduation banner from Vista Print and include some fun props, like school mascots and school apparel. Add a polaroid camera to the photo booth and let guests take home their picture with the grad in a frame or a cute photo stand.
5. Fun Takeaways
While we don’t think favors are required for a grad party, it is a fun way to let your theme carry on. School-colored and personalized M&M’s (or your grad’s other favorite candy) can be easily wrapped up in festive bags or boxes.
Cookies, cake pops, or cupcakes individually wrapped in a color-coordinated bag or box will look adorable set up on a table and will be a fun treat for guests to enjoy on their way home.
No matter how you choose to do it, a graduation is an exciting celebration!
Sending your grad on their next great adventure is something you won’t want their friends and family to miss, which is why we’re so grateful for how easy VistaPrint makes it to personalize grad invites, announcements, yard signs, and banners!
If you need more inspiration for a grand graduation celebration, check out our GiveIt blog for ideas. Did you know you can register for graduation? If your grad doesn’t have one, start a registry or locate all those registries in one spot at RegistryFinder.com.
