This will be my third graduation party. I will be doing subs this time. I have found 6-foot subs that are wonderful at 6 dollars (per foot). This is much cheaper than doing meat, cheese, bread separately and a lot less time-consuming. I am so excited.
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My brother-in-law and I are graduating from the same college this May and are combining our graduation parties into one. He is a business major and I am a psychology major. We are on a budget and looking for suggestions.
By Trisha from MO
Can't you just have a get together with family and friends, instead of having a theme of some kind. The parties I have been to, people just have age together and visit.
Hi, Trisha. My suggestion is a simple wine and cheese open house with coffee, tea, sodas and some chips and dips and finger sandwiches for those that don't want wine or cheese. :-) Open houses are great for several reasons:
#1 You set the time limit (1:00 - 5:00 or 7:00 - 11:00, or whatever works around the rest of your day), and the venue (your home or apartment) is already paid for via rent or mortgage.
#2 An open house gives your guests the opportunity to drop by as they can around other obligations they have for the day - and chances are, around graduation time, they have more than one party they've been invited to as well as just regular scheduling limitations they may have.
#3 The informal, casual atmosphere is comfortable and gracious for all of your guests. They don't have to worry about a new outfit or a theme they might feel obligated to adapt to.
#4 A simple open house needs no expensive decorations or themes or pretense, just a clean apartment or home to host the get-together.
#5 You are probably in enough debt after finishing a college degree program and wine, cheese, coffee, tea, sodas, chips and dips are inexpensive and appropriately modest for the celebration.
Good luck and congratulations to both of you on your graduations!
Sounds like a great idea and I do like the ideas given above. You can save money by texting the invites as long as you give all the details required. If you do need to choose a theme you can pick the one that is simplest to set up and easiest for guests to find costume. You might not use wild west but it does give the idea of one where you can find cheap items. You can also borrow as much as you can. Xmas tree lights, streamers and tinsel are easy to find from relatives.
You might not use these ideas exactly but you can hopefully use them to help you create your own.
I am giving my daughter a college graduation party and I need help. The party is June 4, so I only have 6 weeks to get it together. I have rented our local hall to have the party at and the invitations have been ordered. There will be any where between 100 to 200 guests.
I am checking into what the cost is for a live band and for a DJ. That is all I have so far. I want to give her a nice party, however I am not rich, so I have to spend wisely. Can you give me some decorating ideals and types of food to serve for a lot of people, that is easy to prepare. I would also appreciate any other ideas anyone has that would make this a fun and memorable party. Thanks Bunches!
By 1 proud mommy from Eureka, CA
For food, sloppy joes, potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, pickles, cake, punch, coffee, tea. Decorations balloons. As a whole in my part of the country DJs are cheaper than live bands. I would have made the party an open house type affair that way you don't have to worry about entertainment. However, if the hall is large enough to have a dance, if you know people that have some games that you could borrow, I would do that. I'm referring to games such as "Corn Row"(that is what I have seen it referred to different places), what it is, is a slanted board with a hole in the raised end, and then you stand away from the low end and toss bean bags to try and get the bag through the hole. Where I live that is quite popular and then another one looks like ladders and comes with balls attached to each end of a rope and the player tosses that to try and get it over different rungs of a the ladder.
With games like these set up on one end of the room you wouldn't need a dance and even if you had to buy the games it would be considerably cheaper than a dance. When the apartment complex that I live in has the yearly picnic they have a couple of these set up and people of all ages try their hand at it. I don't know a whole lot about college graduation parties, they people that I know don't have college graduation parties, we believe there should only be one party and that is for high school graduation.
I would get the balloons in her school colors w/ a few graduation-y mylar ones. Dollar tree sells a lot of nice graduation decorations, too. For food I would go w/ what the previous writer said, or I would get deli platters, salad, fruit salad, and a cake with a graduation/ school-color theme.
I am having a college graduation party and I was wondering if I should use cloth table covers or plastic tablecloths? I am using paper plates and cups.
By cynthia from Visalia, CA
Either will do just fine, but think about this. If you use fabric and make a fine point Sharpie available at each table, guests can write down their names and good wishes for you to keep. Put plastic under the table cloths, though, or you'll have a terrible mess on the tabletop. Congratulations on your achievement!
About the Sharpie: You might want to set a cup full of them on each table, so folk aren't arguing over them, lol!
My granddaughter is graduating from the Univiversity of Georgia in a few weeks. The main present will be money. Any ideas in your files for unique gifts and small celebrations?
By T.J. from GA
