Outdoors Graduation Party?

Question

I graduate from school in May in Biotechnology….I want to have an Outdoors Graduation Party for the people who helped me thru school, work, and life because I could NOT have survived without them (I don’t want this party to be about me, but about THEM) . I will have probably over 20 people for it (mostly people over 21 years of age).

My questions are:
1.If you had One Thousand dollars to spend on it, how could you get “the most bang out of your bucks”?
2.What is the best and easiest way to print out flyers for it?
3.Would it be better to have food Catered or to do it yourself on BBQ Grill and in kitchen in terms of money?
4.What type of foods would you make?
5.Are there any good Websites that would help me to have the best Outdoor Graduation Party?
6.What type of alcohol would you serve without going overboard in terms of money?
7.What are some of the Pitfalls that I should avoid while planning and preparing for it?
8.What other things should I consider that I forgot to mention above?
9.Can anyone share any good and bad experiences in terms of Graduation Parties?

I will leave this question open until May……I want to thank everyone who will help participate on my Quest for making this Party happen.

P.S…..I wish I was a Billionaire because I would invite all of you who participate in Yahoo Q & A….You guys helped me be a better person and student!!

Answer 1

Congratulations in advance! Most summer graduation parties are outdoors and its an excellent way to celebrate the occassion. It also helps to keep the event casual, relaxed and fun. I applaud your desire to thank all the people who helped you get to this achievement; however, you must remember that they will all be proud of you in this accomplishment and equally desire to congratulate you. In addition, our social norms tend to encourage those invited to a graduation party to give a gift. If you truly want to redirect the focus, you may want to indicate on your invitation "no gifts please" and for those who cannot resist redirect the gift to something chartiable such as "In lieu of gifts, please make a contribution to the University Scholarship Fund" or some other good cause you have a strong relationship with. If it has meaning to you, the contribution will be meaningful to your friends and it will provide them an outlet to express their excitement and pride. Even in today's me society, we all feel better when we give and we look for opportunities to do so. To answer your more specific questions, I outline some suggestions below.

1. Definitely do alot yourself (which includes with the help of friends and family). It will help keep the party more relaxed and casual. Too much professional help can tend to stiffen the crowd. I don't know where you are located, but in many places you can't count on perfect weather and you aren't going to want to pre-schedule a rain-date; tents are a good idea for both rain or shine as they protect against soggy food and guests as well as a sweltering sun. You should have enough tent coverage for both your seating and serving tables. This is one place to spend a few bucks. Rent the tents, tables and chairs and have them setup by professionals. No one will see these people.

2. The best invitations are made on the computer, but print them, don't email them. You can get invitations made for the computer in many styles which can help you out with the creative part so you only need to concern yourself with the text. It may still be a little early to find a good selection, but by March stores and web sites should have a nice assortment. One place to try is Factory Card and Party Outlet. They do a big graduation party supply business, have stores in 20 states and sell on the web at http://www.factorycard.com. Make sure the invitations let your guest know what the theme of your party is, venue (inside/outside), location, start and end times, and dress. As I mentioned earlier, for this type of party make mention of your desire not to get gifts (if thats what you want). Also, if you will have any activities, its good to mention them as your guests may feel remorse if they do not come prepared to participate. You may or may not need to include directions; if you do, put them on a seperate insert.

3. Grilling food is always great, but you will need to manage it properly as you are the host and need to mingle and entertain. Your guests are coming to celebrate with you, not watch you cook. If you have someone else to do this, you will probably be better off. If you can manage it without taking time away from your guests, then fine, but with only $1,000 total, you will need to be careful. Food, Beverage and the tents/chairs are going to be your big tickets unless you plan to have some entertainment. Think summer picnic. If you grill, I suggest you stick to burgers, brats, chicken and/or pork tenderloins to keep the grilling easy and brief. The tenderloin is a fantastic meat at a great value. The tenderloins and chicken breasts can be marinated in a teryaki sauce or rubbed with southwestern spice mixture for very simple preparation, but fantastic appeal. Boil the brats in a dark beer before grilling. Things that you can purchase precooked on the day of the event would be Italian beef sandwiches, pulled pork BBQ, and pastas like lasgna or baked ziti. There is also always cold cuts. Some regional favorites are crab, clam or lobster bakes, but your getting expensive. Buy potatoe salad, cole slaw, and pasta salads at the deli unless you have some special recipes and make sure you have condiments and toppings (lettuce, sliced tomatoe, sliced onion, sauer kraut, mustard, ketchup, relish, etc.) for all tastes. Bake cookies, and brownies for deserts; stay away from things that require slicing. This is an outdoor party and should be relaxing and fun, not work. Finger food is best. Make sure there are bowls with nuts, chips and dips all around. Some candies (M&Ms, Andies mints, Kisses) will round out the deserts

4. I think I answered that in #3.

5. For party supplies and decorations check out factorycard.com. They also have a party ideas site, but it is brief.

6. You should only need beer and wine, but you know your crowd best and some groups have more specific requirements. Common extensions would be Mike's hard lemonade or some of the premixed smironoff drinks. Remember that you will have minors and you cannot make them feel uncomfortable with the presence of achohol. It will be your liability for any underage drinking and these days there can be fairly harsh consequenses. Make sure you have plenty of water and other soft drinks. In addition to soda, the sport drinks have become popular at outdoor parties.

7. Make sure that you are free to do the preparation in front of the scheduled time of the party; at least a full day of free time to run around and pick up stuff and set things up. As much that can be prepped in advance and then easily set out at the last minute the better. You should plan to complete all setup activities two hours before the start of the party so you have time to relax and get yourself in the right state of mind.

8. Entertainment and Activities. It is not necessary to hire entertainment, but its an option. If you don't make sure you setup some form of music. The best thing it to hookup an iPod or other MP3 player to a decent stereo system (protected from the elements). Create a long playlist in advance and you won't have to keep changing disks. And if you have to respond to special requests, all your songs are right there; no searching for the disks. Activities are even better such as horseshoes, bag toss, badmitten, volleyball, etc. let off some steam and have some fun.

8. Don't forget paper/plastic plates, napkins, cups, plastic cutlery, table covers, serving utensils, foil chafing sets, sternos, papertowels and trash cans (with bags).

Hope that helps; have fun!

Answer 2

1. Do it yourself, maybe with the help of one or two close friends. You will enjoy it more because it will be a gift truely from you to those who gave of themselves to you.
2. Print out your flyers on your computer or at a local library.
3. The BBQ sounds best, people really enjoy picnic foods. If you're not good in the kitchen purchase some potato and pasta salads from a deli.
4. Ribs go over well and are a bigger thank you than say a burger. I would serve potato salad with that, possibly BBQ baked beans, a mexican corn salad or corn on the cob, a fresh veggie try and corn bread. Lemonaide and other beverages as well.
5. http://home.ivillage.com/entertaining/partyideas/topics/0,,4tkm-n5,00.html
6. Beer and wine, that's generally all people want.
7. Stressing out. It's not the food that makes the party, it's friends getting together to have a good time.
8. Music. If you have a good system use it. Encourage friends to bring CD's. If you have friends that play instruments, encourage them to bring them for a sing along. If you can have a campfire it makes the music sound even better towards evening. Also, be time conscious, for example, if you have a mosquito population in your area call it quits before dusk. Make sure you have plenty of good seating. If you need to you can rent a couple tables and chairs.
9. We had a wonderful graduation party in October, about 50 people. It was outside and we did the cooking, Chicken, salads, and so on. . . The only draw back was that people didn't want to leave, it got very late and I was getting to tired to clean up.

You say that you have until May, so start making little purchases now, good paper plates, cups, utensils, tablecloths. If it's done a little each week, you'll save a bundle in the long run.

Congratulations

Answer 3

Well I would make the food myself I'm sure you have a few good Buddy's that would be willing to help you order chicken wings those are always great. Buy kegs of beer and wine cheap and it goes along way. Best place to do flyer's is on your own computer use any color paper and theme you want no extra charge. Relax everyone loves you and will be grateful of your appreciation.


P.S. CONGRATULATIONS

Answer 4

set up tents so no one leaves if there is going to be drinking !! make a fire pit make hamburgers and hot dogs chips etc...have a keg or so ( have flyers made at an office place ) if you don't have a good spot find a private campground that will let you have alocohol have fun be safe!!