Graduation Parties - Are they that BIG of a deal where you live?

[Allison]

They are big around here, but they aren't a gift grab because the kids that go to each other's parties don't take gifts to each other. I know when we had our kids parties we planned them so they flowed with the other parties so the kids could party hop.

Yes, this. They are open house kind of parties where people come and go and stop in to say congratulations. Gifts aren't mandatory.

 

[JanaDee]

A BIG deal? No. The norm? Yes. They are mostly held at people's houses, with a tent and some yard games. There is a lot of food and beer and students/friends hop to different parties. The parties are typically stretched out over a month or so past graduation.

DS's party will have around 50 family and our friends/neighbors, and then however many classmates come. The kids don't bring a gift and aren't expected to bring a gift. It is an open house and people will be in and out during that time.

 

[scrapquitler]

Here,

The title speaks for itself. Are graduation parties that big of a thing where you live?

We live in a fairly mid-sized town.

I'm going to be graduating high school at the end of next month, and have already gotten numerous invites on Facebook for graduation parties. Half of the invites are for close friends parties, but the other half of the invites are for people who I haven't even talked to this entire year. And then I see that the parties that I am invited to are inviting 70, 90, 100, 150+ people, and the invites are going out to people who the party throwers aren't even friends/family with! And I'm sure that gifts are expected at each graduation party.

I would never even consider having a graduation party that huge. I am going to have a small party and invite family and maybe a few close friends, but no gifts expected.

I guess that I'm looking at it as a gift grab. What are your thoughts on this? Are they really that big of a deal in the area that you live?

gifts are expected for RELATIVES, but not for friends. If you are graduating, and you go to your friends party, a gift is not expected unless it is a really close friend.
The parties here are more like open houses, lots of people invited,a nd most people just pop in for a little while then leave.

 

[HM]

Very few people have them where we live. The town/schools/volunteers put together a big overnight bash for the seniors after all the schools have had their ceremonies each year. Each of my kids were invited to one or two as seniors....but neither could attend as we start family vacation as soon as school lets out each year.

 

[Hrhpd]

The title speaks for itself. Are graduation parties that big of a thing where you live?

We live in a fairly mid-sized town.

I'm going to be graduating high school at the end of next month, and have already gotten numerous invites on Facebook for graduation parties. Half of the invites are for close friends parties, but the other half of the invites are for people who I haven't even talked to this entire year. And then I see that the parties that I am invited to are inviting 70, 90, 100, 150+ people, and the invites are going out to people who the party throwers aren't even friends/family with! And I'm sure that gifts are expected at each graduation party.

I would never even consider having a graduation party that huge. I am going to have a small party and invite family and maybe a few close friends, but no gifts expected.

I guess that I'm looking at it as a gift grab. What are your thoughts on this? Are they really that big of a deal in the area that you live?

Open house graduation parties are huge here. Most of the seniors bunch in groups and host open houses. Everybody usually just invites the entire senior class and then some additional friends and family. There is a lot of planning among the kids so that parties in their groups don't overlap. We have claimed the lunch hour on the following Saturday.

The kids spend the weekend cruising parties to say goodbye to all their friends.

Gifts certainly are not expected, especially not from the fellow seniors. Witty cards with a fond memory of the senior are what most kids give each other. Except for family, there are rarely checks in them nor are the expected.

Our son graduates from high school next month on a Friday evening. We will go out to dinner with family and have a quiet celebration with just family that evening. The next day, we are having a large graduation open house with 4 other families with lots of food and drink (no alcohol.) After our party, the boys will head out to say goodbye to all their friends at other parties.

 

[MattsPrincess]

I graduated in southeastern Michigan, and yeah, it was a big deal. The school didn't host anything (other than Prom, but that's different.)

Graduation parties would usually be held in the family's backyard or in a local park. The ones at houses would be an open house, parks would rent out a pavilion or two. Lots of food, cake, etc. Picture boards up with photos from throughout high school. If the student was involved with anything that won them trophies, etc those would usually be on display as well. A big poster board for everyone to sign. Gifts were usually a card with money, and came from family members. Other graduates weren't expected to bring anything.

 

[goofy4tink]

Here in central Mass, there are a lot of graduation parties. Are they huge? No, not really. We do have a group in town that puts together an overnight party the night of graduation. It's a really fun night, and the vast majority of graduates go to it. So, that means most graduation parties are seldom on graduation day! And sometimes the day after...if the graduate can still function after the all nighter!!
I know that the kids tend to invite a ton of people via social media. And I know that my dd was kind of picky about the parties she went to. She went to only the parties of her good friends...and that's what happened with her party. I think we had a total of about 25-30 kids over the course of the afternoon. The issue is that there are usually multiple parties on the same day. As far as gifts go, the kids usually just get a small funny gift or a small gift card at Staples or iTunes. I think the best idea we had was to rent a karaoke machine. We had a lot of chorus/theater kids....man, they loved that. Food was just off the grill. Very simple.

 

[Minnesota!]

I graduated in 96 and they were a big deal. You handed out invites to everyone in your class, and then of course, your family. Big events. All backyard events, of course, nobody renting out halls or the like.

From what I can see, driving around on June weekends, they are the same way. Houses all decorated in school colors, and cars parked along the street as far as the eye can see

ETA: Most people bring gifts. Not necessarialy the students...close friends, yes. Random classmates you handed your invite off to? No. But, all adults. We generally give $25 to kids we don't know well, and $50 to close friends kids, etc.

 

[Kbee]

A BIG deal? No. The norm? Yes. They are mostly held at people's houses, with a tent and some yard games. There is a lot of food and beer and students/friends hop to different parties. The parties are typically stretched out over a month or so past graduation.

DS's party will have around 50 family and our friends/neighbors, and then however many classmates come. The kids don't bring a gift and aren't expected to bring a gift. It is an open house and people will be in and out during that time.

This is how it is here too

 

[Earstou]

Double post!

 

[Earstou]

Pretty big deal here, but some kids don't have parties as there are so many going on it would be hard to fit them all in! Everyone party hops, and most are open house. Kids don't bring presents usually and the adults that do give a present, usually give money, but not big amounts.
DD's party probably had over 100 people, and I have no clue how many more she actually invited, as I found out afterwards she copied invites and handed them out to whomever ! Open house with a luau theme, even had a hula demonstration by a relative. People told us it was the best party they'd been too!

DS and friends decided to have a party together, which was great because he is opposite of dd, and didn't invite anyone himself! We rented a shelter house at a local park and had a candy buffet and grilled food. Probably had 100 there also, but this was for three friends.

 

[bethy]

Yes for High School, no for college. The high school parties are mostly for family plus the friends who party hop all weekend. It's actually relatively fun and low key. Yes money is given as gifts.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Nope. I'm in my 40s and have never been to a graduation party.
Not a thing here at all. The grad goes to the grad dinner/dance/after party. That's the celebration. It's not a family event.

 

[JanaDee]

Nope. I'm in my 40s and have never been to a graduation party.
Not a thing here at all. The grad goes to the grad dinner/dance/after party. That's the celebration. It's not a family event.

There is no such thing as a grad dinner/dance/after party here.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Where/When I graduated, they really weren't big deals. For the most part, if anyone had one, it was mostly just family. Now, when my sister-in-law graduated high school (in a different state), it was a big deal. My husband and I showed up for her graduation and found out that there was going to be a big party for her at the house and that we were all expected to clean the house in preparation. Everyone, that is, but my sister-in-law, who got to spend the day hanging out with friends. And when I say we had to clean the house, I mean we really cleaned that sucker. We cleaned the oven, the blinds on the second story windows of the living room (hard to explain, but the living room is two stories high and we were cleaning the blinds on the upper windows that no one could even see), swept the garage, etc. It was a rather big soiree, but not formal. So it was a big deal for her and a lot of her friends had similar parties. Interestingly enough, my husband didn't really have a big party, though, and neither did his brother.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

For most people where I live in Georgia, they aren't a big thing. People will do a BBQ and invite close friends and family and that's it. We were going to do one for our DS when he graduated but he asked if we could put the money towards his gift instead.

We were giving him the money to build his own desktop computer at his request and giving him the extra money enabled him to add a couple of gaming things he wanted in it (upgraded video card for sure!). So that is what we did.

Honestly, I really liked that better than a BBQ since it was less work for me.

The High School has an all night after graduation thing at Dave and Busters every year - that's what all the newly graduated students go to.

 

[Colleen27]

Where/when I graduated it was huge. I was at several parties every weekend from graduation until the 4th of July and a lot of kids tried to coordinate with their friends not to overlap so people wouldn't have to choose which to attend. The parties weren't anything fancy - mostly open houses with pizza/cake or backyard BBQs - and it wasn't expected that every guest would bring a gift/card. But socially they were a big deal, a sort of last hurrah before everyone goes their separate ways for college.

Around here it really isn't like that. We've talked about moving DS's senior gift trip up to the summer between junior and senior years so he wouldn't miss all the fun and he said grad parties are mostly a family thing and "no big deal" so it doesn't matter if he's away for a chunk of the summer. But around here the kids aren't scattering to the winds after graduation either - most kids stay at home and go to the local community college - so maybe that's why.

 

[CdnCarrie]

The school/PTA/student council doesn't do anything for grad? So it's all up to families to host private parties? That is different.

There is no such thing as a grad dinner/dance/after party here.

 

[JanaDee]

The school doesn't do anything for grad?

Other than the graduation ceremony, no.

 

[Kae]

Around here school does a breakfast before the graduation practice. Most people have open houses thru the summer.

Kae