<p>What are the customs for your family and area?</p>
<p>Did you invite the relatives? If so, which ones? What if there aren’t enough tickets for more than the immediate family to attend? Don’t the kids want to hang out with their friends elsewhere, meaning the guest of honor mostly doesn’t want to be home?</p>
<p>Graduation is on a weekday in our town.</p>
<p>I’m mulling this over and wondering whether I should invite the grandparents to attend (both sets live well out of town).</p>
<p>We invited our only close relatives, H’s mother and brother, who both came up from Florida for the occasion. They (along with our son) maxed out the 5 tickets we had. D was very close to her grandmother, who has since passed away, and it was a treat for both of them that she was able to be there. There was a round of parties at various kids’ homes in the days just afterwards (the graduation was early in the week) and our family went out to a celebratory dinner the following weekend with a close friend of D’s and her family. So D wound up spending some time at home and some with her friends - it all worked out well.</p>
<p>I had dessert (we have an evening graduation on a Thursday) with my immediate family. It wasn’t a big deal, out of town relatives sent gifts.</p>
<p>My school is so big each student can only get 6 tickets, so we don’t make it a huge affair. I have a feeling my college graduation will be HUGE, as I’ll be the first in my family to go straight to a University after high school.</p>
<p>We had limited number of tickets, so we only invited my parents because they lived close by. The weekend before the graduation I had a barbecue party at a hotel for our daughter’s closest friends and their parents. It was a beautiful evening in June. The party was suppose to end at 9 (that’s how long I had scheduled the bar to be open), but people just wouldn’t leave. We ended up staying much later and we have the bar bill to prove it. Most of us have known each other since kids were in the grade school. The party favorite was a DVD of pictures of the kids from grade school to high school, which we also played at the party.</p>
<p>I don’t think graduation will be a big deal. The kids usually go out to lunch as couples before the ceremony. Families get 4 tickets for the ceremony that’s held on the football field. That night they have a lock-in party so there won’t be any tragedies. </p>
<p>I think the band banquet will be the biggie for us. The parents put out the spread. The seniors pass down legacies and each one tells their of memories. We are a small school and the kids have grown up with each other so the dvd covers from diapers to seniors. That will be a 3 kleenex box night for me.</p>
<p>My kids go to a small school, but we don’t use tickets. Somehow everyone who wants to come is able to squeeze into the gym. If tickets are an issue, just invite all your relatives to an open house. It doesn’t have to be at the same time as graduation. We held ours on a weeknight, the day after graduation, but that was for the handful of relatives who came from out-of-town. No alcohol was served, so I didn’t have to worry about fellow classmates sneaking a drink.</p>
<p>H.S. grad = big house party a week or so after the fact. But strangely enough for a college graduation, no big and well attended celebration, just a immediate family dinner in or out, and a gift. That’s the norm it seems.</p>
<p>Our HS has graduation on the lawn unless it is pouring out, with no control or limitations, so parents show up during the wee hours of the morning to rope off seats, some taking more than their fair share. I will have H save an aisle seat for my disabled mom and we will stand WAY in the back…I think D would want it that way anyways!</p>
<p>We will have the party a couple of weeks before graduation, since other weekends are full of other events, studying for finals/regents and Father’s Day, so most of the relatives will come for that instead of the graduation itself…</p>
<p>I got 8 tickets for mine, so I invited my aunt, my parents, the couple I babysit for and am pretty close to, who asked to come, my mom’s best friend and her boyfriend, who I’ve grown up knowing, and a family friend. This caused some family drama since my Grandma was upset she wasn’t invited, but she has never wanted to be a part of my life before, so I felt like I would rather be surrounded with people who really love me and would WANT to be there. </p>
<p>Afterwards we went to a very simple restaurant for dinner and sat outside on the patio- the people I babysit for picked up the kids (3 and 4) and brought them along- very informal, and very fun!</p>
<p>My parents had told me since I was young that I could either have a graduation party or pick a trip to go on with the family, so we went to Costa Rica the week after I graduated. The whole “party hostess” thing just isn’t me or my family. </p>
<p>All in all, it was a GREAT time and I thought it worked perfectly for our family!</p>
<p>Our school uses a big auditorium at a local college so there are no tickets and you can invite anybody, but it’s a very big school so I figured the extended family wouldn’t want to sit through it anyway. We took the grandparents, but not aunts and uncles etc. </p>
<p>It seems around here everybody has an open house for their grad. They’re all pretty much the same–in fact one of my son’s friends said he didn’t think he’d ever eat pork bbq sandwiches again because he guessed he’d already eaten about 400. 
</p>
<p>I asked the parents of my son’s 3 best friends if they wanted to do a combined open house the day of the graduation. It was very pracitcal in that they’d all invite the same kids from school so that part of the guest list overlapped completely, and then we each invited assorted family members. People here like to have outside parties so we planned for outside but had plan B in place in case of rain–which thankfully didn’t happen. I’d be happy to give you details on what we did if you e-mail or PM me. </p>
<p>We had to host a family party a little earlier in the spring, and I just told the extended family that this was the grad party. It sounds jerky, but my husband’s from a big family and I didn’t want to invite them all to the open house. The other families we were hosting the party with had a lot fewer relatives so I didn’t feel like I could dump an extra 26 people into the guest list and still expect to split the cost evenly. I also wanted that night to be about my son and his friends. So, the granparents were invited to both, but otherwise you could say we had a “family” party and then a “friend” open house. </p>
<p>The dvd slideshow is also very big around here. Many of the ones I’ve watched have started with the first baby picture and gone through senior year. Frankly, I didn’t feel like I could face sifting through baby pictures without getting a little overwrought, and I knew my son would not be at all interested in that, so I took a different tack. I made a slideshow with music by his favorite band, and I asked his friends to send me digital pictures. I made it really just about the high school years, and also focused on all four boys, not just my son. </p>
<p>I was happy with the way everything turned out, and it really saved us a bundle to share the cost with three other families. Feel free to send me questions.</p>
<p>Our school has an outside graduation on the football field. Tickets are limited and usually it is ridiculously hot. It is a 4pm event with time between the graduation and the lock in party that night for the kids.<br>
We did not have out of town relatives, just our immediate family and then a family dinner before the lock in.
Some of the kids/families do open houses between the graduation and the lock in with food, friends of the parents, etc. Generally the kids are barely present at these get togethers and it always seemed to me that it was a ploy for graduation gifts. The parents were way more into it than the actual graduate. I’m sure if you have a large family and those people want to come by,as the above poster mentions, it is different.</p>
<p>for older D- small private school- held in a theatre off site.
Invited immediate family who live in area.
My mother came with a friend- which is who my younger daughter and I sat with. My husband met his parents outside, ( they don’t normally go to events) and sat elsewhere with them ( they hate me- however they did come briefly to D to congratulate her after graduation.
We also had sent an announcement to a family that I provided child care for when I was pregnant and after D was born. We still touch base every once in a while, and I was very moved to see that the mom and oldest daughter who had recently graduated from college come ( and they even rescheduled their family vacation airplane tickets to do so)</p>
<p>The high school graduation for younger D was last spring in the city high school football stadium. It was held in the evening- 5 or 6 a clock I think. We invited immediate family, only ones who came was my older daughter up from Oregon. I was irritated that neither their grandparents ( who had told my H they were coming) or my mother/siblings, didn’t show up. They apparently figured because it was a large school, ( 450 or so in graduating class) there would be too many people.</p>
<p>After both graduations, parents planned special events. For the small private school class( about 18), a boat was rented and they toured the sound until early morning ( about 5), whereupon they were let off at a local dock and walked a short distance to one of the students homes, where they all went to sleep. Then a few hours later, some of the parents came and assisted the host parents to make breakfast.</p>
<p>For younger Ds class, it is always a secret, but I chaperoned one year. What they did on the year I chaperoned was we had about 9-12 charter buses & went to a place like Playland with small rides ( bumper cars and putt putt golf) trampolines ( with harnesses) henna tattooing and lazer tag type things- it was really cool. They provided them with “food”, pizza & pop, but it was pretty nasty, so I don’t think anyone ate much.</p>
<p>We were there till about 2am, then we went to a place that had tables set up like a casino, had pool tables and bowling & dancing ( the music, was really, really loud)- but at the end they turned off the music and had a hypnotist/magician come in and do a show. I heard it was really good, but at that point I was helping patrol for kids who were trying to escape. ( they aren’t allowed to leave except with parent & with cell phones a few girls had decided to call their friends to come and get them)
But everything ended well and we got back to the school at around 7 am.</p>
<p>I expect my daughters graduation was similar- but she didn’t tell me where they went. They also had yellow buses instead of charter buses- much less comfortable.</p>
<p>The HS issues tickets (private school), but anyone can come late or just come after the ceremony to congratulate the graduate. My parents & I sat thru the ceremony for both of the kids but many of my sibs came later just to give leis (garlands of flowers or candy/food). We invited everyone to join us for a celebratory meal & some joined us. Later, we had a joint party for my S & niece (both graduated same year) at a local country club for brunch–extended family & close friends. For D, she & my nephew had a joint party for extended family & a few friends at her house (we catered the food, including sushi chef and magician). It was fun & neither party broke the budget–was glad to be able to split both events.</p>
<p>They had grad night at some arcade place & watched a movie together. Buses transported them to & from & parents were supposed to pick them up in the morning.</p>
<p>D has been invited to some amazing grad parties–sleepovers, parties at nice restaurants with and without parents, and other events. S went to a few very nice gatherings as well.</p>
<p>We have few relatives-invited them all, expected only some. Had 2 grandparents, one out of town family of 4, 1 intown relative (spouse OOS that day, kids grown and OOS) for a midweek grad ceremony-the inlaws drove many miles and their kids had to skip summer school. I fed everyone before the ceremony, cake after with son then disappearing for the all-night (3 am) senior class party. With people staying different nights son got the basement couch that night and a bit of musical beds to accomodate arriving/departing relations.</p>
<p>Son didn’t want a friends et al party but went to some spread out on various summer weekend days- evenings- open house style common here.</p>
<p>College will be easy- one grandparent there, other one may be with us, others can watch live or delayed on their computers if they want to see son’s ceremony without traveling.</p>
<p>S&D’s High School has a quite large population,but has a huge air conditioned (yay) auditorium so grad ceremony is indoors. Limit of 6 or so tickets each. We maxed it out with two grandmas,aunt,etc. One son of said aunt snuck in w/o a ticket,he looked at the time like one of the graduating seniors. Interestingly, this HS has its prom on the preceeding Friday night and the ceremony on the Sunday a.m…they found it cuts down on excess “partying” after the prom.
We had a family/neighbor party following the ceremony for each kid,at home with a combo of brought in items and made in advance items. Some kids had kid only parties in the preceeding and following weeks, though our graduation is really late in June b/c NY schools finish their academic calendar so late in June.The actual grad day is pretty much family oriented.
We didnt do video but I made a theme for both parties having to do with the locale of where each kid would be attending college and a display board of pics,articles,memories,etc.
when D graduated from college, we were out of town so we went to a family style restaurant with her boyfriends family and ours.Neither grandma was able to make the trip. Afterwards, her group of friends went bar hopping.We had a family /friends party later on at home.
We’ll do the same next year when S graduates(hes out of town too).
D will have her PhD in another 2 years…how do we celebrate that??? I can’t wait!!!</p>
<p>Our high school graduates in the morning. (When I graduated from the same school it was in the afternoon.) For each of my kids it was VERY hot. So, we all ran home to shower. After that it depended on what each kid wanted. My son: lunch with my parents’ best friends who represented my parents because they were dead. Older daughter: lunch with a group of her and our friends at a nice restaurant (about 25 of us). Youngest: just the five of us at a very nice restaurant. I just asked and the kids told me what they wanted.</p>