Tipping Your Cap – Outdoor Graduation Party Tips

Graduations are an important milestone in everyone’s life. Whether you (or your children) are moving on from kindergarten, primary school, high school, or university, there are some common elements any good graduation party should share. So before you start planning your great foray into graduation parties, have a think about how this party might differ from the others you’ve thrown before with our top outdoor graduation party tips below.

Fancy Hats

Those iconic graduation caps are a must-have at any graduation party. If you’re hosting an after party for the school’s official graduation ceremony, be sure to hold onto your cap and bring it along to the party. Otherwise, there are online marketplaces where you can find a variety of graduation caps, in the standard black style or with any embellishments you might want, like the theme colours of your school for example. For children, making your own graduation cap with hot glue and felt, or staples and black paper, is a great activity and will make for a fun graduation party!

Set the Scene

Depending on your guest list, you might consider putting up a marquee in your backyard, or booking a scenic lakeside venue and setting up a marquee there. In any case, the bigger the area the better, and a marquee is the best choice to stop any weather warnings from ruining your big day! The great outdoors offers far more than just mosquitos and rain – it offers fresh air, a blank slate for decorating, and a far more spacious option than your living room. A marquee will solve the rain problem, and bug repellent is widely available at local stores. Children and carefree college graduates alike can run freely through the grass, and nothing will stop this graduation party from being the talk of the town!

Fancy Finger Food

The first question anyone asks when they’re going to a party is “will there be food?” We’ll save you some trouble: the answer should always be yes. But of all the endless culinary options available to the discerning palate, what food should you choose to serve at a graduation party? A graduation is a dignified affair, so hors d’oeuvres are the best option. The fancier the better – if you’re thinking about small pieces of sushi, skewers with olives, and bread biscuits topped with salad, you’re on the right track. These shouldn’t be too difficult to arrange yourself, but if you’re planning a larger graduation party, it might be worth hiring a professional catering service.

Remember, when it comes to food, it’s always better to have too much than to not have enough. Your guests can take home leftovers, or you could hoard it all for yourself and feed your new graduate for weeks. If you’re throwing a kindergarten graduation party, it’s smarter to stick with the more typical finger food options, like mini dim sims and fish fingers. You can reserve the fancier options for the adults who are fine with trying new things, along with a good selection of wine. Keep the finger food theme going with dessert – serve little cakes and baklava to satisfy everyone with a sweet tooth.

Diploma Decor, Certificate Chic

No graduation party is complete without appropriate decor. Think fancy – get big balloons with gold and silver ribbons, fairy lights to adorn the walls and border the windows, and you can even tie serviettes with a little ribbon to emulate diplomas. The school or university should have its own colour scheme you can borrow to keep your decorations in theme, but there’s a lot of black involved in every graduation, so you can always use black if you don’t like your school colours.

Throwing a good graduation party will help you say goodbye to the last stage of your life so you can start preparing for the next one. Sticking to this advice will make your graduation party a complete success, so why not have some fun once your exams are done? Throw your graduation cap in the air and throw a party.

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