 |
 |
 |
 |
JUNE 2010
Throw A Great Graduation Bash
Without Spending The College Fund
by: Christine Smyczynski
Time passes much too quickly. It seems like just yesterday you were putting your child on the bus to start kindergarten and before you know it they are preparing to graduate from high school. This is cause for celebration! However, throwing a big party can be expensive if you don’t have a plan.
When my oldest son graduated from high school two years ago, we pulled together a party for family and friends that was fun as well as reasonably affordable. Outlined below are some helpful hints, from my own experience, as well as ideas I picked up from other parents.
1. Make a list.
This does seem obvious, yet a lot of people start doing things without first planning it out on paper. Ideally, you should start planning several months in advance, so you don’t have any last minute surprises. Start by listing out all the details, no matter how small, as they come to mind; you can always refine and rewrite the list as you go along. Next, we’ll go over what should be on that list.
2. Who will you invite?
Do you want one big party that’s a mixture of relatives, neighbors, and friends, or if your student has lots of relatives and lots of friends, do you want to split it up into two separate parties? You will also want to set a limit on the number of people you invite according to your budget and space considerations.
Most of the parties we’ve attended over the years were a mixture of friends and relatives, as most people only want to do this once. I’d recommend sending out paper or e-mail invitations to all your guests, rather than having your student verbally invite his classmates. This way you have an idea of how many people are actually coming. I bought invitations at a party store, but you could also design and print something out from your computer. They don’t have to be fancy, just the day, time and place, along with an RSVP date a few weeks before the party. You want to get an approximate head count so you can plan your refreshments.
We sent out invitations, but my son also verbally invited some of his classmates and they said they might come. I didn’t know these friends or their parents. Unfortunately, most of these people were no shows. I suspect that the parents said, “You didn’t receive an invitation in the mail” and they discouraged them from attending. I know I would be hesitant to let one of my kids go to a graduation party if they didn’t get an invitation and I didn’t really know the family.
3. Where will you have the party?
This depends on the number of guests, the size of your house/yard, and how much you want to spend. You could get by with a few hundred dollars or less for a small gathering or spend thousands of dollars on a lavish affair with a multitude of people.
Most people find it’s most economical and easier to host the party at home, although if you either have a large crowd or a small house and can get a good deal at a restaurant or banquet facility, you may want to host it somewhere other than home.
Many people rent a tent if they have the party at home. However, tents don’t come cheap. I looked into renting a tent and it would cost between $300-$400 for an average size tent. I thought that was a bit much to invest for just one day. Besides, between our family room, living room, dining room, and large kitchen, we had enough room to accommodate the 50 or so people we invited. We did purchase a canvas gazebo tent for about $80 at a bargain outlet to have as shelter outside. While we did have to set it up ourselves, we will have it for future outdoor parties.
As it turned out, the day was chilly, overcast, and had scattered showers, so for the most part, the party was inside, although my son and his friends ate outside in the gazebo. We did end up renting four 8-foot-long folding tables and 40 chairs from ABC Rental, which cost us about $150 including the delivery fee. (We could have saved half if we went to pick the stuff up, but we would have needed a truck). We set up two of the tables in our living room, abutting them with our dining room table and the other two tables we set up in the gazebo tent outside.
My friend Mary had a unique solution to hosting graduation parties for her kids. She lives in a small house, with a small yard on a busy street. However, her sister, who loves to throw parties, lives out in the country with a huge yard and a pool. Her sister offered to let her have the party at her house, especially since they pretty much know all the same people.
As an aside, if you have a pool, you may want to consider hiring a couple lifeguards, perhaps some college age kids who have lifeguard training, to monitor the pool.
4. What about choosing a date?
My son graduated from St. Joe’s, which holds graduation in mid-May, so we had our party the weekend after the ceremony. The weather was a bit cooler than if we had the party in June or July. Since nothing says you have to have your party right after the actual ceremony, we may consider waiting a few weeks to have the party when my other son graduates next year.
My neighbor’s son graduated in June but they didn’t have the party until late August, mainly because his mother, a college professor, had the opportunity to teach a summer course out of the country for several weeks and didn’t return home until August.
You may want to coordinate with your graduate’s friend’s parents, so that you don’t have parties on the same day. Most people have the parties on the weekend, mainly because everyone has more time than during the week.
5. What will you serve?
You have a number of choices; do you want to serve a meal or just snacks and cake? If you decide to serve a meal, do you want to prepare the food yourself, have it catered or a combination of the two? Your best bet is to consult your graduate to see what they want. My son is a picky eater; he likes mainly pizza, wings, and pasta, which is fine for a teen crowd. However, if you have a mixed crowd with older relatives, you may want to include some healthy and less spicy selections too.
For our party, I prepared the appetizers, chips and dip, taco dip, pretzels, a veggie tray and cheese and crackers, along with a fruit salad to go with dinner.
For dinner we ordered from a nearby pizzeria that also does catering (Johnny Labella’s in East Amherst). We had penne pasta, roast beef and turkey, mashed potatoes, and chef salad, along with a sheet pizza and 100 wings. It cost us less than $500 to feed 50 people, with tons of leftovers. I could have probably ordered less, but when you have teenage boys at a party you want to make sure you don’t run out of food!
I had also ordered a sheet cake from BJ’s, which was about half the price of getting it at a bakery. Be sure to remember to get paper products for the party: plates, cups, napkins and plastic silverware.
There are numerous caterers in the area, just look in the phone book or ask around your circle of friends and acquaintances. My hairdresser is the one who referred me to Johnny LaBella’s. Some other places I’ve used for parties in the past or have had their foods at other people’s parties include Chick-N- Pizza Catering, Charlie the Butcher’s Catering, Lebro’s, and Buffalo’s Best Food, which has a really good chef salad.
For beverages, I served pop, lemonade, and iced tea. I also had wine and beer available for the adults. However, if you do serve alcohol, you have to be vigilant that the teens don’t get at it. One of our friends suggested keeping it in one specific cooler and place the cooler next to where all the adults will be sitting so it can be monitored. (i.e., set it up next to grandma and grandpa as they usually sit in one spot all evening).
The Bottom Line
Between food, beverages, paper products, table and chair rental, and other incidentals, we probably spent around $700, which seems like a lot to spend all at once, but is a reasonable amount for the amount of people we had. You can slash your costs by only serving snacks instead of a full meal, preparing your own food rather than having it catered, and trying to borrow tables and chairs from friends and family. One family we know were able to borrow chairs and tables from their local firehall because their son was a volunteer fireman.
The whole idea of the party is to have a celebration to celebrate your child’s accomplishment. It can be as simple or as fancy as your want, however, try to stick to a budget and don’t feel you have to impress people. Don’t forget, you have college tuition to pay for the next four years! And before you know it you’ll be planning their college graduation party.
