Group graduation parties: Less expensive or more fun?
I’ve heard of many high school seniors’ families throwing group parties this year for graduation, and I’m wondering if they are doing it because it’s more fun to be with all their friends or because it makes more sense financially to share the costs for a party, especially in this economy.
The other trend I’m noticing is for the family party to be thrown before the actual graduation night as not to interfere with the graduate going out with his or her friends after graduation.
I can remember from my high school graduation that I couldn’t wait to leave my parents’ party to head out with my friends.
Are you throwing a group graduation party this year? Have you noticed others doing it? Are they throwing it a week or even two before graduation? Why do you think they are doing it?
What do you remember about your graduation party?
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68 comments Add your comment
YUKI
May 20th, 2010
2:29 pm
JTAL- AMEN! I don’t understand anyone who wouldn’t want to throw a party for their kid’s birthday, no matter what age.Kinda taking the fun out of a being a kid! And why wouldn’t you want to buy friends and loved ones gifts to help them with their first home or first child? Wow, glad the majority of my friends and family do not feel that way and neither do I. I enjoy buying gifts for people that they can enjoy.
YUKI
May 20th, 2010
2:30 pm
JATL I meant..oops!
zoe
May 20th, 2010
2:42 pm
LM, teachers feel the same way you do about Memorial Day weekend graduations. We are not allowed to miss graduation without a good excuse.
DB
May 20th, 2010
3:01 pm
@Allie: I will agree with you on one part, there are a lot of tacky people out there when it comes to gifts. Sending out an email and announcing where you are registered is TACKY, TACKY, TACKY. I personally like the idea of gift registries, because if you don’t know a couple’s tastes or what they have (a real problem if they’ve been living together prior to marriage), then the registry gives you an idea of what their likes and dislikes are.
All in all, Americans are very generous people. Yes, you chose to marry or have children. But if the world wants to celebrate with you and share your joy, what’s wrong with that? We had an interesting blog a while back about whether or not baby showers were appropriate for second and third children, since showers for first children are meant to welcome a new mom to motherhood and to let others share the excitement and joy of a big step in your life — if I remember, it was pretty evenly divided between those those thought that showers after the first baby were inappropriate and those who thought showers for each baby were nice. Either way.
The person who told you that the main purpose of parties was gifts was WRONG. I had a shower for my second child that was “no gifts, please” — it was a nice lunch with my favorite people. More and more birthdays parties for my kids friends, especially for older kids, are “no gifts please”, because they just want to have fun together — and most of their friends have everything they need and most of what they want. But you can never have too many friends or memories of fun times with those friends.
motherjanegoose
May 20th, 2010
3:18 pm
@ zoe…just curious, would you rather have to go back say on June 4,5,6 and do graduation then?
To me, once teachers are out for the summer…they do not want to go back. Most I meet now are counting the days but I certainly do not know all teachers. Maybe they would prefer to be out for the holiday weekend and then come back in a few weeks…not me but some may!
Yes DB , being around friends and making memories is what I enjoy too. I loved my surprise 50th party and it was not about the gifts. It was about those who wanted to be there to celebrate with me!
Darvis
May 20th, 2010
3:29 pm
I’ve always considered group parties to be much more fun than parties alone.
TT
May 20th, 2010
3:40 pm
JATL – i totaly agree that 4 yr old enjoys the party and presents and i am for it. To each its own, but i did not see a 4 yr old who can handle 20 guests. I have been to a few of those and the kids end up crying. I think those parties are for parents and not for the kids. I think 4-7 friends is enough to enjoy time and celebrate.
Mike Luckovich Sucks
May 20th, 2010
3:42 pm
“Apparently, the hotel room was filled with kids who had various amounts of clothes on and off with the entertainment being a keg that was provided by an uncle who had rented the room and left.”
Now that sounds like I need more of. :)
Mike Luckovich Sucks
May 20th, 2010
3:43 pm
Oops. “..sound like what..”
-5 pts. for me, bad grammar.
jg
May 20th, 2010
3:50 pm
When I graduated from HS 3 of us had a combined party – we had it @ a hall – everyone cooked – had a dj – a photographer and even had the sense to hire an off-duty police officer. We had friends, family, parents, grandparents etc…..my friends still remember it some 30 years later….
None of our kids wanted a party – 2 graduated late and did not want to walk with their class – the other 2 just wanted to be with their friends. One left- hopefully we will have a party in a few years.
What I don’t like is people passing out random graduation party invites. My husband got one from this boy at church – a beautiful invitation and invite to a reception. He barely knows this kid but to say hello. Question – don’t you think that an invite for a gift?
TT
May 20th, 2010
4:00 pm
JATL – you seem very judgemental. One does not need to be labed “killjoy” if one prefers to enjoy the celebration with no gifts. I love no-gifts idea and see meaning in celebration itself, be it Christmas, birthday or mothers day. My kids do not need to buy me anything to show their love to me and vice versa.
DB
May 20th, 2010
4:14 pm
TT: We had a rule in our house, “Birthday age plus 1″. When you were 5, you got to invite five friends, etc. We stuck with that pretty much through middle school :- )
motherjanegoose
May 20th, 2010
4:29 pm
@ DB…no wonder we get along so well…we think too much alike…we had that invite rule too!
I love kids but do not handle kids and chaos. Too cranky for it….:)
Peachy
May 20th, 2010
5:14 pm
JATL- you hit it on the head. It is fun: wedding showers, baby showers, graduation parties…all fun! Life is too short not to celebrate these things, and they are not demands for gifts.
@tech mom – according to Emily Post (the final word on Etiquette) if you take a gift to the shower you are not expected to take a gift to the wedding.
BlondeHoney
May 20th, 2010
10:18 pm
When my boys graduated high school, it was just family & close friends at TGIFridays and that was cool with everyone..college was a different thing, however; we had a BIG party when the boy graduated from FSU withhis degree in Chenical Engineering. And Mom went back to college and is about to graduate with my bachelor’s in business management woo hoo. One of my best friends is throwing a grad party next month for this 49 year old to celebrate and it will be a BLAST :)
Well Allie
May 21st, 2010
1:54 am
Do us all a favor and do not have kids.. We would not want to see those kids deprived of a good slap on the back for hard work they did!
Allie
May 21st, 2010
8:57 am
As I’ve already stated, I’m the first one up for a good shindig; I’m far from a wet blanket. Where I come from, we believe there’s nothing better than getting together & celebrating life – we don’t always need a reason to celebrate anything. Of course we do celebrate new babies, weddings, engagements, etc., but we don’t feel the need to throw a party for every little thing that happens in life. We don’t select our gifts for people, we don’t send them to this store or that to purchase outrageously priced objects – a gift is something you put thought in to, for someone you care about.
But throwing a shower or a high school graduation would be unheard of – it would be a small, immediate family only gathering for a family dinner/lunch; no inviting 20+ people, no announcing what gifts you’ve selected and where they can be purchased. A simply celebration, surrounded by the ones you love, their presence being the best possible gift.
And to “Well Allie” I do have kids, and of course, like every parent, I think my kids are wonderful. Happy well-rounded, adjusted, smart teens. They know that we don’t reward for something we feel is expected but when something fabulous happens, then we celebrate. Both have worked hard to maintain good grades and that doesn’t go unnoticed.
My daughter is a straight A student and her brother is close behind, with plenty of encouragement! Of course my husband and I expect them to finish high school and they are both fully aware of that. Instead of a party after graduation, both have requested trips to Europe (both to visit my side of the family and to travel), and I’m so excited for both of them to do that. Having dual citizenship offers them a host of opportunities that we’d never thought possible, and the lad is already looking at colleges there.
Are You Having Fun at Graduation Parties? | College - U. Got It?
May 26th, 2010
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[...] mom blogger Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, says she’s hearing that one trend this year is group parties. These are catching on partly to share the costs of the event and to allow students to hang out [...]