Graduation party

[debbiemomto4]

DD graduated from High School. Yay! Headed to college so I need to plan a graduation party. You think after doing this before I would have it down pad but she is having more people than my other kids. Trying to keep it to about $500. So I have about 60 people coming. It will be in yard. I have an above ground pool and enough property there. It's on 7/14 but I was doing summer classes so I'm just starting to think about it now. I'm just happy I got invitations out 3 weeks ago!
So I figured I will rent tables and chairs... Cook some of the food... Someone said how about a picnic food type theme... Invitations say 2 till...
I know ds is coming home from work at 7 with some friends...
Don't want to have to rent a tent because that will run to about $350 and that will eat up a lot of my budget..
Ideas? please..

 

[Heluvsme]

Congratulations to your DD!!

I love that you have a pool, built-in entertainment!!
I would plan it for the evening, no need for a tent that way, the sun will be going down...

I love the picnic idea! Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, if you belong to a warehouse club like Sam's or Costco the $$ can be kept way down that way. Chips, salads---macaroni and potato, maybe a couple watermelons sliced up, some coolers with soda and ice.... I think you'll definitely be coming in under budget.

Can't forget about a cake.... again, I know at Sam's you can order a large sheet cake, they'll write your message on it, for a really good price. Even with adding in the disposable cups, plates, and napkins I think you'll be in under $500.

Luau themes are cheap too, we've done a luau theme and it was very budget friendly. At our Dollar Store they have tiki torches for $1 each. They also have leis (although they are the cheapy plastic ones) for $1 each. You could this theme, I think, for well under $500 as well. Have a plate of fruit out...pineapple, grapes, watermelon---it's colorful and if bought at a warehouse club, very inexpensive. Some hamburger buns and several pork roasts thrown in crock pots with barbecue sauce and crushed pineapple---voila! Hawaiian pulled pork sandwiches!!

Have a great time whatever you decide!!!

Dawn

 

[debbiemomto4]

I love the pulled pork idea!
I don't want to grill because it will be me doing the grilling then. Maybe I will get some burgers in case there is no food left for ds and his friends though. They work at the Bronx zoo withthe camels and are usually very hungry when they arrive!

 

[debbiemomto4]

I love the pulled pork idea!
I don't want to grill because it will be me doing the grilling then. Maybe I will get some burgers in case there is no food left for ds and his friends though. They work at the Bronx zoo withthe camels and are usually very hungry when they arrive!

 

[brymolmom]

I think it's fine to avoid renting a tent UNLESS you don't have room for everyone in your house. Do you? What are your plans if it rains? I'm sure you will get a lot more no-shows if it is bad weather - but you need to be able to have at least 40 in your house I would guess. Make sure the garage is cleaned out and ready to put some of those rented tables in if needed. OR if you are worried about fitting everyone - start asking around now and I'm guessing that one or two friends have smaller tents available to borrow. It will be a pain to put them up, etc. but you need to have cover for everyone in the event of rain.

I likely would do the hot dogs and hamburgers idea - pretty cheap. I would do a crockpot or two of either ziti with sauce and cheese and/or cheesy potatoes. I would also ask my family to bring a crock pot full of something (not everyone will agree with this but in my family it is by far the norm). If you don't have alcohol that would save you a bunch of money.

Something I have done for really hot days - instead of buying 4 plus cases of bottled water - I have used one of those huge orange thermoses (like roofers use) and just filled with ice water with cups next to it. This is especially good because most of the time you end up throwing out half of each water bottle at the end of the party because people put them down and don't take them again because they don't know which one is theirs. Here again, you might have a friend with one of these you can borrow.

Personally at such a late date - i would skip the theme. Maybe get some streamers in the school colors and a handful of balloons from the Dollar Store. Most older teens don't care if there is a theme. And getting things last minute will likely be way more expensive.

Best of luck!

 

[DebMcDonald]

We just did my DD's graduation party last weekend. We borrowed tents from friends along with chairs. I also asked people to bring chairs. My biggest expense for us was a water slide. We also have an above ground pool, but wanted something for the little kids to do. We rented a 15 foot slide and it was a HUGE hit. It was $265, but well worth every penny. My food consisted of pulled pork, hotdogs and hamburgs and lots and lots of salads. I ended up feeding people twice because everyone was just having fun and stayed. I also didn't do cans of soda's because I feel that at the end of the night you throw out half empty cans everywhere and I did that with the water everywhere. The soda bottles were fine, no waste, but next time I would also do a nice jug of water and fill it with lemons and limes and that way water is covered too with less waste. We ended the night with a fire pit and s'mores for everyone that was still around. All said and done have no idea how much I spent, but she DD had a great time.

 

[ceecee]

Without tents you will need shade of some kind if it's hot or rains. DD went to several without tents and they got so hot most people ended up crammed into the house. At one, they swam for a 1/2 hour and it got way too hot so she and lots of the others left shortly after that because they had a small house and there was no room.