Patio Grad Party

[mahobayb]

I am so very proud of my nephew, Derek.

He has grown to be such a wonderful young man.

I told Derek that I would hold a graduation party for him at my home. I am not much of an entertainer and now I am getting nervous. My sister and sister-in-law have said they'd help and you can bet I will take them up on it.

I have a covered patio, so that will keep the sun off directly.
I plan to plant my annuals in his school colors, maroon and gold.

Does anyone have any tricks or hints to make the patio look festive yet pretty? I want him to be as proud as I am of him. Also, I'd like to route the incoming traffic to the back of the house without having to listen for knocks on the front door. Any tips would be appreciated.

[sailorgirl]

String some white lights on the underside of the patio canopy or set up tea lights in paper bags around the backyard.

Just post a sign on the front door, and get some of those lawn signs realtors use at the hardware store paint arrows directing folks around back.

[crasherino]

If its going to at night or twilight, you could pick up some tiki torches on the cheap. that always makes a party feel festive.

[waterguy]

Is he graduating from HS or College.

[chicagoans]

Is this a family party or a friends party, or both? For the friends, I think the focus will be food and music. But I agree with the posts about lights and I love the thought of the flowers in school colors! Also I like having lots of little candles in votive holders.

I'd ask him to bring his MP3 player and make sure you have a system that his can plug into. (If he has a different type than yours, see if he can bring a system or get his playlists to you.)

We recently went to a casual rehearsal dinner/BBQ. The hosts wrapped all the flatware in brightly colored bandanas of all different colors and tied them with raffia. It was really cute and colorful, both before the meal when all the bandanas were in a big basket and during the meal when everyone had one. Or, if you already have brightly colored table cloths, then you can get plain napkins and still tie them with raffia or ribbons in the school colors.

Ideas from a grad party we went to last year: had a smoothie machine making icy drinks; had lots of those cup holders on stakes that you poke into the ground and lots of lawn chairs; rented an ice cream cart and had different kinds of ice cream bars in it.

Depending on your budget, you could get koozies made with the school logo and graduation year. These would make nice take home items for his fellow grads.

If you can get a bunch of pictures of him and his friends and some school pictures, you could make a montage that could play on a TV or computer monitor somewhere -- if you can make one visible from the patio. Or print them off, paste them on a poster board, and have his friends sign it.

For the last time you mow the lawn prior to the party, make sure you put the bag on the lawn mower to catch the clippings; if you do the green thing and let the clippings stay on the grass, everyone will have lots of little green grass pieces on their feet.

It's lovely that you're doing this and I can tell how proud you are of him! He's sure to enjoy the party.

[liamsaunt]

Is this a daytime party or evening? How big is the patio, and how many people are you planning to invite? I had all these ideas for an evening event typed in and then in rereading your post I started to think it was a daytime party.

[mahobayb]

I am planning to have it in the early afternoon. Mainly because the sun will start bearing down around 6ish on the patio. The end of June can be quite uncomfortable.

There will probably be between 20-25 people.
Most of them will be from the other side of his family . My side is very small, maybe 8 total, including Derek and his two brothers.

I told him to invite a few of his friends.
He grinned and said his friends wouldn't want to hang with his relatives I think a few of his friends will come.

The patio is about 12' wide and 20' long. The roof of the house comes over the top and there are three brick pillars holding it up.

He is my oldest nephew and the first to graduate
High School. Here I go bragging....but I am the Aunt and I get to brag. His rowing team took the gold!!! Any ideas on how to incorporate rowing into this?