One of the cool things about graduation parties is that they’re completely centered on you, who you are and what you enjoy. While it’s great to decorate your garage completely green and white in representation of Eastern Michigan University’s colors, there’s so much more you can do to personalize your graduation party, not for your school, but for you.
An example of personalizing your graduation party is by revolving the theme around your major. At celebrations.com, they give an example of a graduation party that had a medical school theme.
Candy was put into pill bottles, bubbles were put into test tubes and given as party favors, eating utensils came in latex gloves and there was a party game themed around the parts of the body.
If you’re not in medical school, you can still get creative and have an awesome party theme.
Graduates who are going into education can celebrate with school ID cards with their contact information (especially if the graduate is moving for his or her job) for guests, cafeteria trays for the food area and a teacher’s desk for gifts and cards. You can even have the food match the theme by having apples, gummy worms, sandwiches and milk – what’s a more classic school lunch?
Granted, you don’t have to focus your graduation party around your major. If your graduation party is right after finals and convocations, you may even be temporarily sick of your major. If this is true, you may wish to go with a more classic graduation theme focused on caps, gowns and diplomas. Around this time of year, a lot of stores like Meijer, dollar stores and Hallmark gift shops will have a lot of cute little decorations.
Websites like the aforementioned celebrations.com have other ideas you can do by yourself, too. You can also theme your food by having Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups turned upside down and “glued” to a small chocolate square using melted then frozen chocolate fudge topping. Also, instead of a signature book, you can fill a fishbowl with rolled-up notes that look like diplomas instead of a signature book.
Going along with the stereotypical graduation theme, add some little extra things to personalize your party for who you are. Have a display of all your college textbooks that you haven’t sold. Have a planner showing what your summer plans will be, including when you start your job if you already have one. Display some of your best papers and exams. Put some of your favorite drinks for late-
night study sessions in your minifridge for your guests to enjoy.
These extra little things will give your guests some perspective of what you’ve actually accomplished. They also give some of your more distant family and friends a little more information about your life.
Of course, you can go the other way too and theme your graduation party around your career. By having the name of your business prominently displayed along with having facts of what you’ll be doing, you’ll make it easier for your guests to understand your plans instead of constantly having to explain them again and again. Also, including things like a stereotypical office coffee-pot to keep your guests warm if the weather isn’t the best and a briefcase full of pictures of you instead of just posters can be fun and creative.
Of course, these are all just ideas for themes. Ultimately, you should pick a theme that really describes you. If you love sports, then that should be an emphasis at your graduation party. Same idea if you are a huge Disney buff. There’s no rule that says it has to be your birthday or wedding before you can throw a party that really expresses who you are.
