With graduation right around the corner, make sure to start the graduation party planning early! I’ve got the best graduation party ideas that are you are going to absolutely love.
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Whether you are graduating high school or college, it is a big moment and you want to make sure to celebrate! Throwing a party is all fun and games until you realize someone has to plan that party.
That’s where I come in! Lemme help you with the best graduation party ideas to make your party the best one of the year. I’ve got the perfect graduation party decorations, graduation party foods, and sentimental ideas that’ll make planning your party a piece of cake!
This post is all about graduation party ideas!
Decorating ideas
Grad cap mason jars
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If you are looking for a cute, easy, and inexpensive centerpiece idea, these grad cap mason jars are absolutely perfect! You could fill them with candies and put them out on each table for a little something extra.
Plus, you can theme the colors of the candy to either your high school colors, future college colors, or the color scheme of your party.
Balloons
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It’s not a party if there are no balloons. For a graduation party specifically, you can get so creative with the balloons.
Number balloons are super cute and popular these days, so getting your graduation year is a perfect idea. With those, you can get coordinating colored balloons or graduation themed balloons.
Photo centerpieces
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For a more sentimental centerpiece, try these photo centerpieces. You can even put pictures from different years in each one and have people try to guess what year is what.
String lights
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String lights literally make anything cuter!
For an outdoor party, decorate the backyard with a bunch of these string lights. By the time it gets dark, they are going to look super cute and add an amazing touch to your party.
Card holder
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To keep going with the graduation themed decorations, try this grad cap card holder. This is such a fun spin on a basic and boring card holder.
Straws
It might seem silly, but don’t forget about the little details like straws! You can never have enough graduation decorations.
These straws are so cute to put out on a drink table to keep the theme going.
Photo backdrop
This goes along with the balloons I mentioned earlier. Use those as a photo backdrop to get the cutest pictures to remember your party!
You can use your graduation year in balloons, smaller balloons, banners, flags, and anything else you like to decorate your photo backdrop.
Food ideas
College themed dessert table
For my sister’s graduation party last year, we made a college themed dessert table! Everything from the table cloth to the food to the flowers were themed in her college colors.
On her table, we included a cake, chocolate covered Oreos, cookies, donuts, candies, and more!
Cookie dessert table
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This is such a cute themed dessert table! Whether you want to make a bunch of cookies or buy them, try making a whole table spread of them.
The chalkboard labels are another cute touch to tell your guests what type of cookie is in each tray.
Also, the coordinating trays make the table look a million times more impressive, so try to find some matching trays if you are going to make this table!
Candy dessert table
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For anyone who has a sweet-tooth, this is the perfect dessert table for you.
A candy themed table is such a cute idea for during the party for dessert or even as a graduation party favor in goody bags. You can either use the photo above as inspiration for fun school puns or include color-coordinated candies.
Donut Wall
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Who doesn’t love a donut wall? Literally donuts on a wall, there is absolutely nothing bad about this.
You can even take this up a notch by getting custom donuts in your high school or college colors.
Grad themed paper goods
It isn’t a grad party without grad themed paper goods! If you don’t want to use these the whole time, maybe only take them out for appetizers and/or desserts and then use regular plates for the main meal.
Grad themed party favors
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These are the easiest and cheapest grad party favor that all of your guests will love! All you have to do is stick the stickers onto the bottom of regular Hershey kisses and you instantly have the perfect party favor.
Then just put a few in a goody bag and give them to each guest as they leave.
Sentimental ideas
Memory wall
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This is such a cute way to display a bunch of photos from throughout your childhood! You can even organize it by year and include photos of you from every grade.
Graduation shadow box
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This is more of a personal gift, but such a cute idea for a sentimental graduation gift. Put all of your high school memorabilia (grad cap, tassel, cords, certificates/awards, medals, varsity letters, diploma, etc) into a shadow box to always have the perfect memory of your life in high school.
Yearbook photo banner
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This is such a cute way to show all of your photos from over the years. Find your yearbook photo (or any random photo) from each year of your life and hang them all up together.
Line the driveway
Going off the last idea, if you don’t want to buy the banner, you could also line the driveway or walkway leading up to the party with all of your yearbook photos!
POlaroid guest book
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As a fun relic of your graduation party, try making this polaroid guest book. Have you and your guests take polaroid photos throughout the party and then tape them all into a scrapbook with fun messages.
This post was all about graduation party ideas!
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