I only did the ad, because it was essentially a donation that brought down the cost of the yearbook. (Actually made it free in the elementary school.)
For D1 we chose a Bible verse and wrote a few congratulatory words ourselves. After perusing the congrat ads in the previous yearbook, we avoided using the words “proud” and “congratulations,” just to be different.
For my Jeopardy-loving son: Enjoy what you’ve accomplished, look with confidence to the future, and remember to phrase all of your answers in the form of questions. 
Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” This is the phrase that keeps me going through tough times.
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It is better to incur a mild rebuke than to perform an onerous task.
I didn’t put an ad in the yearbook. During senior year the school tries to sell a lot of stuff to senior parents and I felt like I was writing checks all the time. Between applications and all the senior events it adds up. I may be a bad parent but we didn’t order a yearbook or senior portraits. We did take lots of pictures from senior events and graduation and made a photo book. I bought an inspirational journal with a quote on the cover and had D1’s friends write notes for her in it during a graduation brunch. I did get her card and wrote a heartfelt note for her. Whenever I come across nice quotes I add them to her journal for inspiration.
We bought D her yearbook-I think that even though most people stuff them in a box the year after graduation and never look at them again, the kids love to get each other to sign them and then read through. That’s not something I’d skip senior year. We just did the senior portraits yesterday. We got a long-time photographer friend to do them and he did a great job getting D to pose-even my own phone shot looked great. D is H’s only child and my youngest-it was important to us to get professional portraits done. We didn’t buy a super-expensive package, and didn’t do some of the popular on-site shots you see everywhere, but I suspect I’ll treasure the one where the photographer pulled H and I into some shots-The emotion on my face was real and he knew just how to capture it.