Graduation for Three: Budgeting and Hosting

I am not sure when graduation celebrations grew beyond high school and college, but they have. Now 8th graders preparing for high school have graduation, as to do kindergartners entering first grade. This spring, my family will celebrate three graduations: my stepdaughter is graduating high school and going to college, my stepson is ending his junior high career and already picking classes for high school and my little 5-year-old will be ending his last year as a half-day student and moving into the big time, full-day school. Each graduation marks the end and beginning, and for the older kids that includes attending brand new schools. It's not feasible to handle three separate parties, so the kids will have a joint graduation party.

Why Have One Party for Three Kids?

* The thought of hosting three separate graduation parties is overwhelming
* It also doesn't seem fair to only host one for the senior, when the other two schools are having their own graduation ceremonies.
* Moving onto 9th grade or 1st grade is expected, but because it represents a milestone, we will celebrate each child's graduation.
* Trying to coordinate three different dates would also be impossible.

Let Them Eat Cupcakes - None of the kids are all that fond of the frosting or cream found on store-bought cakes. I usually bake for them, so they like that better. I will be baking up a few dozen batches of cupcakes in different flavors. The cupcakes will be flavored and decorated for each graduating student. There will be lemon cupcakes with vanilla icing for the senior, complete with a simple design or "Congratulations" toothpick flag.

For the older boy, chocolate on chocolate will work, without any special design, because that would be uncool. The little one is the easiest because he will help decorate the cupcakes with whatever decorations we have, from Buzz Light Year candies to non-pareils.

The cost of three boxes of cupcake plus frosting, eggs and oil will be well under $15 and less if I use coupons and hit the sales. Compared to sheet cakes that can cost more than $50, this gives my family more money to spend on graduation gifts for the kids.

Minimal Decorations - Because we have ample space outdoors, there is really no need to go heavy-handed with the decorations. There will be balloons because for the 5-year-old, it's not really a party without them. A roll or two of streamers may decorate the canopy we put up, as well as the chairs.

We will decorate the tables with bright tablecloths while keeping the tabletop decorations to a minimum. We don't need too much clutter on the table at a party where there are lots of people coming and going.

Potluck Meal - Because there will be mostly family at the party, we will asks guests to bring a cold dish or non-alcoholic drinks. In our family, this is pretty standard so we are unlikely to offend anyone by asking. We'll serve grilled veggies, turkey hogs and hamburgers, and cook. Because people tend to go graduation party hopping, it's hard to plan the time for the meal. We usually cook at least twice, to accommodate guests' schedules.

Games for Everyone - It's easy to entertain people of different age groups when you set up the yard with different games. Badminton, miniature golf, lawn bowling, or a small baseball throwing machine translate into all-age fun.

Cohesive Theme - The graduation theme will be "Moving On, Moving Up," which applies to all three kids. Trying to incorporate three different themes would be more expensive and create a confused decor scheme. We'll use arrows and images of road signs as well as ladders to depict the graduation theme.