Graduation Party Supplies in all of your favorite school colors are available now. An open house can be a huge amount of work, so you’ll want to start planning you’re graduate’s celebration now. Graduation is a very busy time of year, so keeping organized as you plan will help relieve some of the stress and keep you from getting overwhelmed. The very first thing you need to decide for your open house is your budget. You don’t have to set it in stone, but have an idea of what your limit is going to be. If you have the budget to have it all, congratulations, but most of us will have to figure out what our must-haves are and what is a lower priority. After budget, your biggest decision to make is what type of party do you want to have. Are you planning an open house with a small guest list, or hundreds of invitees? Will it be held during the day or evening? Will it be on a week-end or during the week? Where do you plan to have the party? Once you know when, where & how many to plan for, you can dive in to the details.
If you’re holding your open house outdoors, have a back-up plan for inclement weather. Most rental companies offer sides for their rental tents, but it may cost extra. If the forecast shows any possibility of bad weather, it’s better to be safe than sorry. And if it doesn’t rain, consider it an insurance premium because if you hadn’t gotten the sides it surely would have rained buckets.
Renting tables and chairs can be a big expense, however your rental company should be able to guide you on how many you really need. Besides the number of people invited, some of the things to consider are the time of day for your open house, length of your open house, and how many other classmates are having an open house the same day. Are many of your guests going to stay a short time, or are most going to stay for an extended amount of time? You don’t want to waste money on empty chairs, so consider having a few higher bar type tables for guests to set a drink or plate on. You’ll have the expense of a table rental, but will save on the 8-10 chairs you would need to go around a regular table.
A major part of planning a graduation open house is MENU. What to make, how much to make and how to store it all is a big chunk of the stress of an open house. You don’t want to be left with enough food to feed an army, but you don’t want to run out half way through either. And you don’t want to spend all of your time in the kitchen instead of celebrating your child’s accomplishment. If your budget doesn’t allow for a caterer, plan foods that can be made ahead, or take very little prep time. Crock pots and roasters are perfect for open houses because the food stays warm and there are so many time-saving easy recipes to choose from.
A popular crockpot choice is BBQ pork for sandwiches. A few crock pots of pulled pork can feed a really big crowd without costing much and with minimal prep time. Another popular option is a taco bar with taco meat and re-fried beans kept warm in crockpots. The best taco bar I’ve seen was a kiddie pool full of ice on a round table with the bowls of cheese, lettuce, sour cream, etc. set around the inside to keep them cool. Shredded lettuce and cheeses are widely available and the taco meat can be cooked days ahead and refrigerated, which drastically cuts your time in the kitchen.
If your graduate is a big pizza connoisseur, feel free to order pizzas from your favorite pizza place. Place your order well ahead of time & plan delivery for staggered times during your open house so there is always warm pizza available. Besides the standard cheese or pepperoni, order some specialty pizzas to make it a bit more interesting.
If you are already working with a rental company for tents, tables and chairs, look in to what they offer for food preparation. Most places rent chafing dishes in various sizes, but they may also rent concession equipment like hot dog rollers, cotton candy makers, popcorn machines and slushee dispensers.
Besides a meal, most open houses will have a cake for the happy occasion. In the last few years there has been an explosion in the cake world with tv shows like Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss showing the fun things that can be done with cake. You don’t have to limit yourself to a grocery store sheet cake with roses in the grad’s school colors. If your budget allows for it, order a custom graduation cake that tells a story about your graduate. The stair-step cake is a popular option. Customize it with a baby picture and a graduation picture, sports or clubs they participated in, high school mascot and college mascot, the possibilities are endless.
Planning the menu is quite a bit of work, but once that’s done you can get to the fun… decorations! Discount Party Supplies has every decoration you could think of and more. There are flag banners, yard signs, balloons and centerpieces in every color you could need. Card boxes come in several different styles including one shaped like a grad cap.
Another fun decoration is a collage of childhood pictures. You can display the pictures in a number of ways, but one fun way would be to run string between tent poles and hang pictures along it with clothes pins. Another option is to put them on foamcore and display them on a stand. Make sure to include pictures with their friends and a few embarrassing pictures too.
This is a big accomplishment and they only have one high school graduation… start planning now so you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the day with your graduate.
