If you have a senior in high school, now is the time to start planning for your graduation open house. The senior year of high school flies by, not only for your child but for you as well. Beginning your open house party planning now will save you from scrambling to pull all the details together during the busy last months of school.
The first thing you need to decide is where you will have the party. Many families choose to have the open house in their home, others, like me, opt to rent a facility to host the event. If you are renting (town hall, community building, park pavilion, banquet facility, etc..) you will want to book your date as soon as possible as they fill up fast. I found that the cost to rent our local community center was a lot less than I would have spent on renting tents, tables and chairs plus I no longer had to worry about the weather (and having 100 or so party guests inside my house!). If you choose to have the party at home, you will want to secure your tent rentals, table and chair rentals, etc… as soon as you can. Don’t forget to rent table linens, too. Remember, everybody that your child is graduating with will also be trying to rent these items as well and it truly is first come first served so get your order in early!
Once you have your date and location set you can move on to the invitations. We did a combination of traditional style graduation announcements/open house invitations (for relatives and business associates) and a less formal announcement card for friends and neighbors. Don’t forget to use social media as well. We used Facebook to invite my daughter’s high school and work friends.
Now that the basics of time and place are set up you can think about the fun stuff: FOOD and DECORATIONS!
The easiest way to serve your guests when hosting an open house is with a buffet. I chose to have the majority of my food catered but many families choose to do the cooking themselves. Whichever route you decide to go, make sure that you have the equipment (or the caterer provides the equipment needed) to keep your hot food hot and your cold foods cold. I went with a simple menu of shredded turkey bbq sandwiches, cheesy potatoes, Asian coleslaw, fresh fruit salad, and assorted chips. For dessert we had a huge cake made by a local bakery, cookies, and chocolate eclairs. We kept it simple with beverages as well, offering ice tea, lemonade, and bottled water. Make sure you have plenty of party supplies on hand (plates, cups, napkins, silverware). I ordered twice as many plates, napkins, silverware servings, etc…as I thought I would need based on the number of guests I invited and I was glad I did.
Decorating for the open house is where you can really showcase your graduate’s personality and accomplishments. Many families choose their school colors as the main theme for decorating (as did we) and then customize it a bit based on your grad’s interests. As a parent, you will probably have the most fun setting up the display highlighting your child’s school years and accomplishments. Our daughter was the captain of her debate team so we used her trophies and “gavel awards” as part of our decorating theme…you could easily do the same thing with a band or sports theme. You can also have personalized banners made with photos at any photo processing center. Have your grad help you with this! My daughter is very artistic and she had a great time setting up the photo board. One of my favorite parts of her “brag table” were the journals and artwork we set out from her early elementary days. There is nothing cuter than reading 1st and 2nd grade ‘journals’ and looking at a kindergartener’s artwork.
Open houses are a lot of work…whether you choose to cater or do the food yourself, rent a location or host in your own home….but they are also lots of fun. It is a chance to celebrate your grad’s growing up years, acknowledging their school and extra curricular accomplishments with family and friends. Plan ahead, order more food than you think you will need, recruit family to help set up and clean up, and enjoy this very special day celebrating one of your child’s most important milestones!!
Lori is a content writer for Discount Party Supplies. Lori is married with three kids and hosts many family gatherings and parties. In her free time, Lori enjoys taking yoga classes and in her secret life she likes going to heavy metal concerts (but don’t tell the other soccer moms!).
