Your graduation party is one of the last events you and your classmates may share for a very long time. I preferred a huge, everyone was invited style party, but in many cases, an intimate party setting is more appropriate. Depending on your interests, there are many options for your final Ho-rah!
Due to the time of the year that graduation occurs, a Luau is a fantastic theme for your event, whether you’re a guy or a girl. You can set a sit down menu to host 8 people or serve food buffet style to accommodate 50 people.
For a small gathering, you could serve food like deep fried coconut shrimp, a pineapple-basted ham, Teriyaki chicken skewers, and dessert like Pineapple upside-down cake or tropical fruit salad. I also would suggest a rice dish like Brown rice with a light teriyaki sauce mixed in, as well as diced pineapple and red bell peppers.
For a larger gathering, you can purchase a whole pig from retailers like Wal-mart or Winn-dixie, and roast it over an open fire pit that you can dig in your own back yard.
Decorations could easily be made by stringing tropical colored crepe paper around the borders of the party area, and you can purchase cut outs and plastic tiki masks at Party City or through internet retailers. I am a fan of www.orientaltradingcompany.com for all party decorations, games, and favors. For lighting, tiki torches are available at outdoor stores for about $2 each and with 5 or 6 randomly placed torches, you can ward off bugs, as well.
Music for a luau could include old Beach Boys albums, Hawaiian artists and Soca artists, as well as reggae music. It doesn’t hurt to be creative! You can also supplement dancing and socializing with activities like hula hoop contests, belly dancing contests, musical chairs and limbo!
Another great party idea is a Fiesta! Perfect for outdoors, you could play music like reggaeton, salsa, and samba. You can offer prizes for dance contests.
A Fiesta is a great, inexpensive party option as you don’t need too many decorations, as Spanish fiestas mostly focus on the food and music. Spanish Food is relatively inexpensive, I would serve margarita mix marinated chicken leg quarters as the main dish (which run about $.69 per Lb), yellow rice, black beans and fried sweet plantains. You could always cater from a Spanish restaurant or Pollo Tropical. For appetizers, you could put out dishes like taquitos, chips and salsa, and guacamole. For dessert you could try a lot of Hispanic options like Flan, Guava pastry, or Dulce de leche filled crepes.
For guests over 21, you could serve a great home-made sangria. Cut up fresh citrus like oranges and limes, and a fresh mango or pineapple and marinade the fruit in a pitcher thats 3 parts red wine (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon works best) and 1 part lemonade or orange juice. Add a splash of sprite to the mix for a little carbonation right before serving.
For a more upscale party, you could throw a masquerade themed party, or a costume party (to celebrate Halloween a bit early!). I suggest serving a mass of finger foods and hors devours for this type of occasion, due to the easy access for guests. You can decorate with a rustic old mansion theme, covering the walls with a dark colored paper, hanging red veils over the light sources and lighting candles strategically throughout your house. You can offer prizes for best dressed, most creative costume and use a more modern playlist, possibly with a party DJ.
For a smaller group, a dinner party would be a wonderful party theme. You can call it your “Culinary tour through Italy” and prepare or hire a personal chef to prepare a 6 course meal featuring things like Fried Calamari or Mozzarella sticks as an appetizer, a Caesar Salad, Minestrone soup, Fresh bread, and a main course such as Chicken Parmesan or or Eggplant Rotini that you can serve with fresh pasta marinara or Fettuccine Alfredo, and end the delightful dinner with an array of desserts like Tiramisu and Cannoli, with fresh brewed espresso. You can purchase some of those Italian place mats from a local Italian restaurant, and set them on the table. You can also decorate the dining area with pictures of Italian architecture, or Italian influenced paintings.
My favorite Graduation party idea for 2009 would be a paint party! You can serve colorful food items like blue corn tortilla chips and spinach dip, make colorful pasta salads and set out make your own dishes like Thai lettuce wraps (bib lettuce which you stuff with carrot, red cabbage, grilled chicken and an array of Asian influenced sauces) or fajitas (grilled meat with onion, red, green and yellow bell peppers, stuffed in flour tortilla shells with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese sour cream and guacamole). Finish off the feast with confetti cup cakes and multi colored cookies.
For the fun part of a paint party, I’d suggest laying 2 or 3 large tarps over your grass and requesting everyone dresses in all white attire. Purchase all different neon colored paints like pink, lime green, electric yellow and blue, usually water based for easy cleaning. basically, put these paints in buckets with brushes, squirt bottles and on the floor to squirt, pour and paint everyone in attendance. At the end, send everyone home with a souvenir photo for keepsake and a towel (either personalized or plain) so they don’t ruin their vehicles.
Play upbeat music, like Club House or Electro and dance and play until everyone is completely covered! It will be a great time for everyone involved!
There are so many options for a graduation party theme, but you want yours to be the best and most memorable. Be creative! Do something that your guests wont have a hard time getting involved with. Have fun!
