High School Graduation
by Mary Dell Harrington | April 8, 2022
We asked our community of parents for some of their best ideas for graduation party decorations and they gave us this treasure trove of tips. From deciding on a color scheme to what refreshments to serve, these super-creative ideas can be scaled for small gatherings or enormous, multi-family open house parties with large guest lists.
We are a reader-supported site and receive compensation from purchases made through some of these links.
Graduation party decorations
What colors to use?
Should the party colors be from high school or college? There is no right or wrong answer and your teen may have astrong feeling about using one, both, or “none of the above.”If your teen wants toinclude colors from both schools, here are some very clever ways to do that.
Graduation invitationsand announcements in high school colors, party decorations in college colors.
Indoor decorations college, outdoor decorations high school
Graduation party high school colors, college colors for going away party in August
Use high school colors for plates/napkins for the main course and use college colors for dessert
High school colors for the party in backyard and plant annual flowers in colors of the college
High school colors for party and hang college t-shirts behind the serving table
Set up a candy buffetwith high school colors on one side, college on other
Your teen may also choose “neither” and might prefer to decorate with a favorite color or a totally different palate. Their choice — any color scheme that appeals to their eye is completely fine.
Tabletop and decorations
- Create a special photo op space for the Snapchat and Instagram crowd with a festive background.
- Decorate white chinese take-out boxes with the school logo and fill with your grad’s favorite candy on each table.
- Create messages in a bottle for your guests to write on. Leave pens, and strips of paper on each table. Fashion a retrieval tool and send these bottles to your grad along with care packages in the fall.
- Ask guests to signJenga blocks that your teen can take and play at college. This clever idea doubles as an ice-breaker at the dorm.
- Order a poster from your grad’s new college or football stadium and ask guests to sign it. This could be an instant way to dress up a drab dorm wall so roll it up afterwards or have it mounted on foam board to take with you in the fall.
- If your senior is a sports fan, college flags and banners are an easy way to decorate. For the serious fan, this will handily double as instant dorm decor.
- Create a display area with photos, albums, mementos of your teen’s life. Include a few pictures from the early years of the now grown-up graduate. Family and neighbors will remember when the 6-year old in the picture trolled the neighborhood sidewalks with a flashy Big Wheel every Saturday morning.
- Borrow or order a tailgating canopywith your grad’s college logo and set-up a backyard tailgate. A tent like this will be very handy at football games over the next four years.
- Life-size Custom Standees or Big Head Cutoutsare a very personal way to celebrate your grad.
- Choose a photo from each year of the graduate’s academic life. Place them on your front lawn in ascending order (from birth to graduation) and use to create a Photo Walkway or a Photo Wall for the party.
Food and refreshments
From super-simple to over-the-top elaborate, refreshments will vary depending on the time of day, number of attendees, and your party budget. One mom reminded us that accurate quantity calculations are impossible and said “you will always be a little wrong on quantity, so pick things that can be frozen and just do your best!”
- Food bars have replaced buffets as a popular way to serve teens and we have heard of families preparing tacos and fajita bars for dinner and made-to-order pancakes or omelets for brunch.
- Consider hiring food trucks for the party. They bring all the ingredients, prepare and serve dinner and drive the mess away afterward. Kids love this very trendy approach to eating.
- If you want to avoid serving a meal at your party, plan one for the middle of the day and just have snacks.
- Cookies, cakes and cupcakes are a big part of any graduation party. Decorate with the colors of your grad’s high school, college or both. Baking these yourself is a labor of love, but if you have a favorite bakery, take a look at Pinterest and collect ideas.
- Booking an ice cream truck to come to the party is usually a huge hit for the grads. What’s a sweeter sound than that jingle announcing the arrival of ice cream?
- If you plan to prepare a big meal, go with regional favorites — barbecueor chile in the southwest, clam bakes in the northeast, crawfish boil in the southeast.
- Think about a brunch with breakfast casseroles, lots of crispy bacon, pastries, biscuits with varied jams, mini Quiche, juices, and lots of coffee.
- Have lots of water iced down and readily accessible, especially for very hot daytime events.
You May Also Enjoy Reading:
Party Ideas: How to Celebrate YourSenior’s Big Day
Photo credits: Marybeth Bock, Kelly Radi
Home / Articles / Parenting Teens in High School / High School Graduation / Best Tips for Graduation Party Decorations, Food, and More 2023
About Mary Dell Harrington
Mary Dell is the co-founder of Grown and Flown, the #1 site for parents of teens, college students and young adults, reaching millions of parents every month. She started the Grown and Flown Parents Facebook Group and is co-author of Grown and Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults (Flatiron Books) now in paperback.
Read more posts by Mary Dell
High School Graduation
90 Inspiring Graduation Quotes for the Class of 2024
by Lisa Endlich Heffernan | November 10, 2023
Graduation is more than just a ceremony; it’s the culmination of hard work, dreams, and the threshold of a new beginning for our young adults. We want to offer hope and encouragement and let our graduates know how proud we are. As they prepare to turn the page to an exciting new chapter, the right…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
2024 High School Graduation Songs Guaranteed to Make You Cry
by Lisa Endlich Heffernan | November 10, 2023
Three notes into Pomp and Circ*mstance,and I was a sobbing mess. The iconic high school graduation song can reduce any parent to tears. But we went looking for more modern versions of this timeless tear-jerker, and here are the graduation songs we found. If you want to make a video or create a graduation playlist…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
Must-Have Decorations For an Easy and Inexpensive Graduation Party 2023
by Katie BinghamSmith | June 14, 2023
We are gearing up to celebrate my son and his high school graduation. His father will be hosting a small outdoor party after his commencement ceremony in his backyard, and we wanted to make it as memorable as possible. After all, graduation represents years of hard work, and we want our graduation celebration with friends…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
Dear Graduates, Your Middle School Teacher Remembers You
by Amy Keyes | June 8, 2023
Dear Graduates, I want you to know that I remember you.
Continue Reading
College Graduation
5 Reasons Why Parents Cry at Every Single Graduation
by Helene Wingens | May 23, 2023
I’m not a crier, but still, I had to fight the urge to have a complete meltdown at my son’s graduation this weekend. The good news is that I succeeded in keeping a tight lid on the tears as my third and final child graduated from college. I’ve been to many of my kids’ graduations…
Continue Reading
High School Senior Year
A Letter to This Year’s High School Graduating Class
by Suzanne Pickford | April 6, 2023
It may be hard to fathom in this moment, but your high school identity is not necessarily the identity that you will carry with you for the rest of your days. More than likely, you will be changing quite a bit in the next few years.
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
Best Graduation Party Ideas: 10 Things Not to Forget (2023)
by Elizabeth Spencer | March 7, 2023
My husband and I refer to our firstborn as our “learner child”: we figure some things out on her and make (slightly) fewer mistakes with her younger sister. Case in point: our older daughter’s high school graduation party a few years ago. With the 20/20 vision of hindsight, here’s what I now know I needed…that…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
“You’re Gonna Miss This” and 17 Other Favorite Graduation Songs for 2024
by Lisa Endlich Heffernan | March 5, 2023
It’s graduation season and time to celebrate with graduation parties and every party needs a soundtrack. Teens are proud of their accomplishments and parents are a mixed ball ofemotions. While the soundtrack ofhigh school graduation songsmight bePomo andCirc*mstance, if you are looking forgraduation songsfor a playlistfor thatend of an era video orgraduation party, think more…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
How to Throw a Group Graduation Party: Save Money, Time and Stress
by Marybeth Bock | March 5, 2023
It’s that time of the year when many parents of high school seniors debate the pros and cons of throwing their teen a graduation party. For some, it’s a family tradition and a given that you host such a bash to celebrate this happy milestone. For others, hosting such a party can strike some fear.…
Continue Reading
High School Graduation
It’s Graduation Season and Everyone Is Asking, Where Did the Time Go?
by Diana Griffin | June 22, 2022
It’s graduation season, and all over social media, mamas and papas in my circle proudly post photos of their offspring in their caps and gowns. My oldest completed the first two graduations and will speak at her high school graduation in just a couple of weeks. And repeatedly, the refrain is, “where did the time…
Continue Reading