Graduation season is rapidly approaching. Congratulations goes out to not just the students, but to the parents as well! Raising a child is a busy job that too often goes unrewarded, but at this time of life a parent can bask in the glow of their freshly graduated child and feel proud of both their accomplishments that were required to complete this journey.
Providing your child with a great Open House is an essential part of marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next. It’s a place to display mementos from their school years, while sharing stories with family and friends of their accomplishments.
Location is key. Make sure your event is located within the school district your child attended, or near to – this allows fellow classmates the ease of attending. You also want to consider the size of the venue as no event feels warm and welcoming, like cramming into a space too small. Choose a venue that has plenty of extra area to eat, mingle or dance, should you so wish!
The best open houses most often have an array of finger food selections as opposed to a large feast, teenagers like to “grab-and-go”. Some great versions of this style spread include; nacho bars, ice cream sundaes, a pizza bar, all desserts or sandwiches of all varieties. Not only are they simple and quick for the guests, but easy to accommodate many people on a smaller budget!
Speaking of budgets, it’s always a good consideration to see if your student would want to do a joint open-house with a fellow classmate. Not only will this assist in the planning of the event, but also minimize your own personal budget.
A few alterations to consider:
- Setting two separate times for family and friends. This alleviates any Great Aunt Martha’s from getting annoyed by the crazy, wild youth and their potentially over assertive mouths. Provide family with a different invitation that suggests their time from (2 – 4) and then the friends and “rowdy” group from (4 – 6), as a suggestion.
- A door prize, or gift? Sure, why not! Have tickets handy and give one to anyone who attends and give an extra ticket if they brought a gift or card. Do a drawing at the end of the event and call the winner! Some ideas; a gift card to the local pizza place, a gift basket full of snacks, or something with your school’s mascot on it. People always love a thrill and a chance to win something.
- Don’t do a sheet cake! As much as this is a staple to all open houses in the Midwest, it’s also an easily avoided tragedy. People either order too little or way too much and no in between. Instead, do cupcakes, cookies, donuts or all the aforementioned!
Don’t fret to much overthinking the décor, a great party is established by the atmosphere more so than the decorations. Frame a few of your favorite snapshots of the graduate throughout the years and scatter them on the center of the tables. This simple suggestion gives lead into some fun stories and memories.
The best counsel that we can give to hosting a paramount graduation party for your child and you, would be to let Country Barn Estates provide you the ease of hosting, with a venue large enough to handle all size of party and an atmosphere so inviting, no décor is needed!
