Rjmakmom Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My oldest son is graduating highschool a year early. Up until last week, he showed no interest in marking the milestone at all, even refusing to participate in the ceremony our umbrella is having. Now he decides he would like to have a party for the family. I really need some ideas! We should be able to use the Parish House at our church for the party, so the venue is covered. Now, help me figure out how to feed and entertain 65-70 people. I can scrounge about $250 total for this party. HELP??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My oldest son is graduating highschool a year early. Up until last week, he showed no interest in marking the milestone at all, even refusing to participate in the ceremony our umbrella is having. Now he decides he would like to have a party for the family. I really need some ideas! We should be able to use the Parish House at our church for the party, so the venue is covered. Now, help me figure out how to feed and entertain 65-70 people. I can scrounge about $250 total for this party. HELP??? I would do sandwich fixings, small buffet buns, fruit, chips, sheet cake. Make a crock pot of baked beans and maybe some good cole slaw or potato salad. Non-mayo based salads are better for parties like this where food sits out. Raw veggies and dip are good salad substitutes too. These salads are similar to the kinds of salads I do for a big buffet http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-coleslaw/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=asian%20cole%20slaw&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-potato-and-garlic-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We just did dd18s graduation party last weekend. We had a simple open house at our home. Lots of refreshments but no 'formal meal'. I did make turkey and cheese rolls and deviled eggs as well as the snack type finger foods so people could have something more filling if they wanted. We set up conversation areas in our dining room, living room and outside in the yard with a picnic table. We decorated in green and white (lots of white and green tulle, and a roll of green plastic table covering) so that the 'party' theme connected room to room. I set up a small area in the living room to show case some of her achievements. I also set out the catalog and brochures from SCAD so folks could look at the school she has chosen. That was it. I sent out invitation and set it up from 1:00 to 4:00 (no one expected a sit down dinner). It was low key, casual and not terribly stressfull. I hope you find a good balance for your kid's expectations and your time available to plan. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjmakmom Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 I was thinking about doing a pasta bar type menu. Different types of pasta and a few different types of sauce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We had great success at DD18's graduation party with cupcakes. 3 cake mixes at $0.99 a box, 3 cans of frosting at $1.19 a can and a jar of sprinkles resulted in 6 dozen cupcakes (which freeze REALLY well, so you can make them ahead of time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I would do sandwich fixings, small buffet buns, fruit, chips, sheet cake. Make a crock pot of baked beans and maybe some good cole slaw or potato salad. Non-mayo based salads are better for parties like this where food sits out. Raw veggies and dip are good salad substitutes too. These salads are similar to the kinds of salads I do for a big buffet http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-coleslaw/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=asian%20cole%20slaw&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-potato-and-garlic-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results That was basically every graduation party in the non-fancy, blue-collar town I grew up in. Ours were always on "open-house". Meaning the only people who spent very much time at the house (and ate very much) were out of town relatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We had a reception/party for our dd today in the parish hall. Do to other activities at the church we decided to have it from 2 - 4. We had a 1/2 sheet carrot cake, some cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, fruit, chips, and another snack, punch and coffee. There were left overs and we had 40 plus attending. The day was beautiful. The kids of all ages had a pinata outside and dd had fun pictures of her and friends over the year running on the screen. It was simple and everyone had a good time. We are exhausted and happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 That was basically every graduation party in the non-fancy, blue-collar town I grew up in. Ours were always on "open-house". Meaning the only people who spent very much time at the house (and ate very much) were out of town relatives. I'm in urban, white collar, upper middle class area and I still see light, easy food like this at many graduations. So many kids are picky eaters, so I know my friends who've done it don't want to get too exotic for fussy grandparents, random relatives, and teens. I've also been at graduations where people grill and have picnic food, which is great, but seems like a bunch more work unless you hire someone to stand at the grill for you. The pasta idea could be fun and economical too (and less boring)! If you do that, let us know what you come up with. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 We just went to a grad party today. Two actually. One served favorite foods - veggie tray, watermelon, hot dogs, mac and cheese, chicken chili and stewed apples. Lots of sodas. I was expecting food, but not lunch! The other the invite said "floating dessert". She had cake balls, a large cake and a fruit bowl. Water and lemonade. I don't think either had as many people as you are saying and both were 1-4. So no meal expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 My friend tried to talk me into a pasta bar. It seemed a lot of work to me, boiling all that pasta ahead of time and then how do you keep it warm? I guess you make it ahead of time ( The day before) and put it in the fridge and then reheat it somehow in a nesco roaster or something. That is the part that slows me down. Bread sticks and a big salad completes the meal. I prefer to do open house menus that you can prepare ahead of time and take no prep time while you have guests over. We have done croissant sandwiches lst and 2nd one, 3rd was a breakfast brunch, 4th was a taco bar. Try to get someone (Friend, sister, neighbor) to be in charge of the food during the open house. Someone maybe you can do the same for them at their open house? Another thing someone taught me years ago, is to plan how your food will be sitting on the table. Draw a diagram and plan out what food will be in what bowls and how the flow of the table will go. Plates first, beverages last kind of thing. That way you are sure it will all fit, you have all the serving bowls you need and you can plan for serving utensils. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) Get some help from other relatives to bring big dishes of pasta salad etc. Order a sheet cake (if time). Have a table set up with examples of all his work for the past several years or photos on poster board of same. A big card (maybe a folded over poster board?) as a Congratulation card everyone can sign (maybe add pearls of wisdom) on another table. And do it as an open house, so folks who have other graduation parties to attend can make an appearance when they can. A three- four hour window is fine. Edited May 20, 2012 by JFSinIL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 (edited) I'd recommend doing an open house, too--just maybe 3 hours, 1-4 in the afternoon, so no meal. I think it's easier to decorate a house than a big, empty hall--just some quickie things scattered around and some strategically placed photos/mementoes would look great-- We decorated with some simple graduation things from the dollar store, and set up a display of his senior picture (you can just take a nice one, frame it up in a dollar frame...), some awards he won, his Tae Kwan Do belts, and a PE award on a ribbon. You can display any paraphenalia from sports/hobbies with a simple pic or two of your son in his uniform or doing the hobby. Hang up a Best Wishes poster people can write on. We had grilled food and a fire in the fire pit, but only about 10 people. Edited May 21, 2012 by Chris in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I just went to a grad open house yesterday. They had a taco bar. They had a large crock pot with taco beef. You could put it on tortilla chips or on a small flour tortilla. It came with options of shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream (loaded into a ketchup squeeze bottle!), salsa, and sliced black olives. They also had a co-worker's wife make tamales! The dessert table had cupcakes and chocolates. They also had a drinks station with punch. The tables had little bowls of peanuts and M&Ms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtsmamtj Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I would do sandwich fixings, small buffet buns, fruit, chips, sheet cake. Make a crock pot of baked beans and maybe some good cole slaw or potato salad. Non-mayo based salads are better for parties like this where food sits out. Raw veggies and dip are good salad substitutes too. These salads are similar to the kinds of salads I do for a big buffet http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-coleslaw/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=asian%20cole%20slaw&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-potato-and-garlic-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results :iagree:this is almost our menu for my daughters celebration!!! T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 We did an open house, served nachos and cake, lemonade and coffee. We had a table with pics and accomplishments, a pic and journal to sign. Spent about $20 on decorations and table cloths. Keep it informal and relaxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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