Your thoughts on High School Graduation Announcements

[cruisnfamily]

So, when I've rec'd these in the past, for somebody I wasn't particularly close with, say a co workers child, where everybody involved would know we weren't attending the graduation ceremony, I've always thought them to be a "gift request". Like wow, they only sent that because they want me to send a gift.

But NOW, with DD18 ready to graduate in June, I have a different opinion. I want to send them to everybody I would send a Christmas card to. NOT as a gift request, truly, truly not looking for presents. Just because I want to share with everybody that this is happening and how proud we are, and I actually think some of the out of state relatives might be offended if they didn't get an announcement.

The way our announcements read, it's almost like an invitation to the ceremony. Basically listing that child will receive diploma on such an such a day, place, time, etc.

So your opinions.....
send them to everybody
send to a few close relatives who will be attending ceremony
something else?

 

[gator75]

I;ve thought about this as well. my ds is a few yeas away from graduation and while we know alot of people they don't necessarily know my son that well. I would probly send them to close family and friends. because i like you agree after that it looks like a gift hunt.

 

[Rora]

So, when I've rec'd these in the past, for somebody I wasn't particularly close with, say a co workers child, where everybody involved would know we weren't attending the graduation ceremony, I've always thought them to be a "gift request". Like wow, they only sent that because they want me to send a gift.

But NOW, with DD18 ready to graduate in June, I have a different opinion. I want to send them to everybody I would send a Christmas card to. NOT as a gift request, truly, truly not looking for presents. Just because I want to share with everybody that this is happening and how proud we are, and I actually think some of the out of state relatives might be offended if they didn't get an announcement.

The way our announcements read, it's almost like an invitation to the ceremony. Basically listing that child will receive diploma on such an such a day, place, time, etc.

So your opinions.....
send them to everybody
send to a few close relatives who will be attending ceremony
something else?

When I graduated from High School, parents only sent annoucements to people who were invited to the actual graduation ceremony.

Since we could only invite X number of people, we made something almost like a photo Christmas card (you know like the photo with the family on it that says Merry Christmas on the bottom?) with my senior picture on it and said that I graduated and was attending Whatever University in the Fall. We said something along the lines of "We just wanted to share the good news!" and made it clear that it was simply just an annoucement, and not a gift hunt.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I am graduating high school soon and we are sending them to my entire dads side of the family.
We do not have really any on my moms side..

But we are close with my dads side. That is A LOT of people..so, basically those are the brothers and sisters of my grandparents haha.

We are sending it because there are only a few grandbabies around and they are proud of me graduating.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I said close friends family attending ceremony however I also think it includes relatives and friends that are close and unable to attend.

 

[golfgal]

From past posts in this subject, high school grad announcements are VERY regional. Around here, everyone sends them-they are sent along with an invite to an open house grad party, not just an announcement alone. They are usually a photo the the grad announcing the graduation and the date and time of a grad party similar to a photo Christmas Card. I know in other parts of the country this is not the case. They are generally sent out like a Christmas card list-to people you want to invite to your party.

 

[MushyMushy]

I think I've seen on the DIS that different areas have different attitudes about graduation announcements. Where I live, it's common to send announcements to everybody you have contact with. We don't necessarily send a gift to everyone we get an announcement from because we don't see it as a gift grab. It's a "hey, I'm proud of my kid, look at what he's accomplished" sort of thing.

I say send them. You know your intention isn't as a gift grab, so show your pride in your kid!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I said close friends family attending ceremony however I also think it includes relatives and friends that are close and unable to attend.

 

[abdmom]

We don't send announcements for graduations in Canada.

 

[TimeforMe]

Yes, I do believe it's a regional thing as I never heard of them nor would ever even think of sending one.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I'd send an e-mail and make a Facebook post to announce the graduation. That would be to everyone. For actual invites to the graduation, I'd send an evite to just the people I thought would be interesting in attending.

 

[Meriweather]

We sent them to all family and the closer friends, whether they would be attending or not.

 

[Hannathy]

I would have chosen #2 BUT you included attend the ceremony and most High schools only give you 2-4 tickets so I couldn't choose that. Everyone can't attend the ceremonies so that option is out.

We only sent them to close family and close friends. The only people attending the ceremony were us.

 

[NMAmy]

Around here and also where dd attended high school in NM, graduation announcements go out to everyone along with an invitation to a graduation party. Very few people attend the actual ceremony--grandparents, siblings, and parents mostly but the whole extended family and friends come to the party.

 

[Feralpeg]

I;ve thought about this as well. my ds is a few yeas away from graduation and while we know alot of people they don't necessarily know my son that well. I would probly send them to close family and friends. because i like you agree after that it looks like a gift hunt.

When DD graduated, we sent announcements to family and close friends. Most would not be able to attend the ceremony. We just wanted to let them know that we were proud of her accomplishment.

Sadly, too many people look at announcements as a request for a gift. I find that silly and depressing. I never look at an announcement or invitation as a gift request. Of course, I only send gifts when I truly want to do so. If a gift isn't given from the heart, it shouldn't be given at all. Giving because it is expected just seems wrong to me.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I think I've seen on the DIS that different areas have different attitudes about graduation announcements. Where I live, it's common to send announcements to everybody you have contact with. We don't necessarily send a gift to everyone we get an announcement from because we don't see it as a gift grab. It's a "hey, I'm proud of my kid, look at what he's accomplished" sort of thing.

I say send them. You know your intention isn't as a gift grab, so show your pride in your kid!

Agreed. It's that way where I am from. I forget how many announcements my parents sent out but it was a large number. They were worried that if they forgot ANYONE the individual in question would be ticked off, as in our small town, anyone who even knew you to say "hi" to you on the street expected you to send a HS graduation announcement when your kid graduated. To have NOT done so would've been seen as a serious social snub.

 

[Kasmooth]

I would not send out announcements for high school graduation. I think it must be a regional thing because in MA I rarely hear about anyone sending them out.

 

[mamacatnv]

I think I've seen on the DIS that different areas have different attitudes about graduation announcements. Where I live, it's common to send announcements to everybody you have contact with. We don't necessarily send a gift to everyone we get an announcement from because we don't see it as a gift grab. It's a "hey, I'm proud of my kid, look at what he's accomplished" sort of thing.

I say send them. You know your intention isn't as a gift grab, so show your pride in your kid!

This is how I look at them. I love getting the announcements from family & friends. IMO this is a big moment and parents should be proud and announce it any way they feel comfortable. As Golfgal said like so many other "life events" region dictates some of the etiquette. I'm from the West Coast, we all kind of do whatever it is we want

I've never viewed announcements as a gift grab. Depending on the kid/parental relationship dictates whether or not I send a gift.

In our DS's we included a party invite for those we were inviting along with a brief blurb about DS's future plans etc. Kind of like a very mini version of the annual Christmas letters I love to get

BTW - OP, congrats!

 

[RunningGirl]

DD is graduating in June and I placed the minimum order for announcements. I will send them to my and DH's immediate families and to a few very close friends. But, like a lot of places, we only get a couple of tickets to the actual ceremony so I couldn't select the second option. We do have family coming in from out of town and will have a big party for them and close friends the day after graduation.

 

[msjprincess]

Truthfully I never heard of it before reading the DIS. I've received invitations to graduation parties but never an announcement. Personally I wouldn't send them because I would worry that people would think we were looking for gifts. But I guess that's because it's not done around here.