My D’s graduation is set to begin at 6pm on a Sat night. We think it will last at least an hour. Though her class is small, 163, there will be some standing around afterwards and a 1/2 dr home. We will probably have around 30 people over.
Where should I order from?? I must be getting old cause the thought of putting out rich, heavy foods is making me anxious. Any ideas?
By the way, I’m feeling very close to you all, 2 new discussions in one day for me.
How casual/fancy do you want it to be?
We are pretty laid back. We want everyone comfy and having a nice time. If we wouldn’t becoming straight from graduation I’d say jeans and Tshirt sort of people. Food-wise, I’m just at a loss.
Sounds like you want to order in. If it was me in my area, we have a great chinese place that also does decent sushi. It’s easy to accommodate meat eaters and non meat eaters. I’d order a variety and set up a buffet. Chipotle has catering for a burrito bar. If you want to spend more, I’m sure you could hire a caterer. I’d set out something buffet style and get a yummy graduation cake and an assortment of drink options.
Does your daughter have a favorite restaurant/takeout? Any great places near you?
A problem is that you won’t have time to warm food up before guests arrive and you won’t want to wait around for a delivery to come. I would probably get some deli platters, hero sandwiches or wraps with salad, pasta salad etc. You can get everything earlier in the day and then just put everything out after graduation. Also I’d get dessert. The food is less important than celebrating together. Congrats to all.
@doschicos Her favorite meal is a NY strip steak. I like to sushi idea and the buffet style. We have a lot of restaurants near us but many are chains.
Many chains will cater.
Is there a family member that doesn’t need to partake in the “standing around for awhile” post grad part who can hope in one car and go pick up the food and set it up buffet style so its ready when others arrive? All the serving stuff and utensils, etc can be ready to go ahead of time. I know in my family there’s a person or two that would welcome the opportunity to make a bee line out of there. 
My son’s senior college recital was early. We actually had a luncheon before the graduation…about 2:30. Then afterward, we had desserts. Just a thought.
We had salads and wraps which we ordered from Whole Foods. They were awesome. We also ordered dessert trays.
After the recital, all we had to do was get the beverages out. That was about 8 p.m.
Food truck!
I would second Thumper’s suggestion of using Whole Foods to get prepared items. Also, are there any older teens or college kids home for the summer who you could hire to help you set-up and clean-up?
@CheddarcheeseMN, interesting idea. Never thought of that one.
@thumper1, I like the wrap thought too. Yes, I’m sure there will be plenty wanting to get going. We had thought about doing it early but nixed the idea. But wraps, sushi, pasta, and dessert sound good to me.
Thank you everyone.
I’d hire my cleaning lady for the evening. I’d order food from one of our local deli’s. They deliver trays of rolls, sandwiches, and pastries, also beverages. The cleaning lady would have everything set up while you are at graduation.
(IRL, never did this for a graduation, but for after funerals)
I’d also get paper plates, etc and either balloons or flowers in the school’s colors to continue the theme.
I’d be cautious with sushi, as it can spoil if not kept at correct temps or left sitting too long. We did hire a sushi chef to set up a sushi bar at brother and SisIL’s place for grad party combo–our D and their S. The chef brought ice and pans and trays to keep everything cold.
We had the rest of the catered food delivered, so it was easy–Japanese food.
Have been to a bunch of different parties but love having catered food rather than preparing it myself when am busy attending the event and celebrating with loved ones. It costs a bit more but is less stress.
I recommend wraps or subs as well.
Thanks again for the help. Didn’t think of the keeping the sushi on ice, @HImom. Thinking wraps, wings, pasta, cheeses, fruit, other desserts. Will run it by rest of the family. This is looking more and more like a Super Bowl meal. Ha! Thankfully, we still have a month 1/2 before the day.
Costco’s and BJ’s have good selection of deli kind of food. Costco’s cakes are excellent. I’ve used them for grad parties before and have been very pleased.
I find it hard to imagine a graduation with 163 kids that would last for only an hour.
@Consolation I really have no idea. I know when she went to last year’s she wasn’t there too long. If it’s longer it makes it a bit easier food-wise. I would think 1) less people would show up to the house 2) they’d be starving, so anything I would serve would be appreciated. Hahaha