In a time where so much of our life is spent behind a screen, the art of a piece of physical mail means more than ever in life milestone moments. Graduating from high school or college is no exception. You receive email after email from the school prompting you to order “Graduation Announcements” or “Graduation Invitations”, and they rush you with ‘before times run out’ language.
But do you need one or both? Which do you send to Grandma? What does Cousin Eddie receive, and what about your friends and neighbors?
For a student, high school graduation is likely their first major life milestone. If you think about it, the word commencement means beginning. While graduation signifies completing one chapter, it also begins a new one. This moment is certainly something to celebrate and announce.
Read on to distinguish the difference between graduation announcements, graduation invitations and graduation ceremony invitations. Jump to any section using the buttons below.
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A Graduation Announcement is just that … an official announcement of this life milestone to share with those in your circle.
A good rule of thumb is to consider your holiday card list, or who would be on it if you sent holiday cards. Your list should consider close and extended family, your friends and your student’s close friends and anyone who has been a part of your student’s young life and accomplishments. Coaches, instructors, clergy members are all people to consider.
A graduation announcement is not an invitation to attend the graduation ceremony or a graduation party, it is an announcement that your student will be graduating from high school. Similar to holiday cards, you aren’t inviting your holiday card recipients to Christmas dinner, you are cordially wishing them holiday cheer.
Back in my day, graduation announcements were very formal with engraved or gold leaf lettering, but today, a slightly less formal graduation announcement is more typical. The formal option is what the school’s contracted supplier is likely trying to sell you.
At the end of the day, choose a format that reflects the graduate and then be sure to include the following information.
Introductory phrases on the front can include:
On the back, you’ll probably have more room to add a little more information and therefore more room for creativity.
Etiquette experts advise against including a registry or gift ideas with a graduation announcement.
Of course, this is a personal decision, and some choose to include this information.
If the student is college bound, and you choose to include a wish list, this Dorm Room Essentials Guide will help you come up with ideas for what to include.
If the graduate will be heading to a specialized trade and will need money toward a more specific gift, this information can be included in a note in the envelope. An example would be if the student will become certified in welding. A good welding helmet could be upwards of $500.
As graduation announcement etiquette recommends against it, the decision to include a wishlist should be something carefully considered. No matter if you choose to include a wishlist or not, be sure that the student and their parents are on the same page regarding gifts and wishes. This will help when Aunt Betty calls and asks what to get the graduate. You’ll be able to say with confidence, “Cash gifts will go towards a $500 welding helmet” or “A gift card to Amazon will help them purchase some of their dorm room essentials.”
Graduation announcements should be sent out at least 3-4 weeks before graduation.
Shutterfly Graduation Announcements are a favorite. They have a wide selection of designs, and you can customize most of them to meet your very specific design and requirements. Just FYI, if you’ve previously used Costco for photo and photo card printing, Costco Photo has now merged with Shutterfly.
Other options for designing and printing graduation announcements include:
Graduation Invitations are invitations to a party in honor of the graduate. This is not an invitation to attend the actual graduation ceremony. Graduation ceremonies typically have limited tickets available, so graduation parties are a way for a group of friends, family and neighbors to celebrate a high school graduate.
Can you combine the graduation announcement above with a graduation party invitation? Yes. But only if your announcement list (like holiday cards) will be the same for the grad party. Often the graduation announcements are sent to a larger list of people than the list of grad party invitees. Huge graduation parties can be very expensive!
While every person that you send an announcement to may not receive a party invitation, etiquette does dictate that everyone that you send a graduation party invitation to should also receive an announcement.
Today’s graduation etiquette is ok with either printed or digital invitations.
For digital invitations, Evite is the most popular platform and should be fairly familiar to most of your party invitation recipients.
If you’ll have a fair number of the grandparent generation invited to your party, you may want to consider a traditional paper or photo invitation. They will certainly appreciate the personal touch and the low-tech RSVP requirements!
It is also important to note that the graduation party doesn’t have to be immediately before or after graduation. In our area, the grad parties start up to 3 weeks prior to graduation and continue a few weeks after graduation. Have the graduate ask their friends if already have a date planed to host a party, and do your best to overlap as little as possible with people in your same friend groups.
Or even better, consider a combined party for 2, 3 or 4 graduating close friends. This is a great way to split up the cost of a big party or even add some premium party ideas such as a photo booth or a food truck. These parties will be a fantastic way for the graduate and their friends to celebrate what they have achieved and each other.
If you are not hosting the party at home and will use a venue, book that venue EARLY. Graduation is in the middle of peak wedding season, so indoor venues, park pavilions, community centers, church reception rooms, barns, farms, you name it, all book far in advance.
If you’ll host at home but need a party tent or a caterer or a food truck, you should also book those well in advance.
Graduation party invitations should also be sent out 3-4 weeks before graduation. It is perfectly acceptable to send a save the date email or call out of state loved ones months prior to sending the invitations to give them the heads up for travel planning purposes.
Regardless of the delivery method (digital or printed & mailed), a basic graduation invitation should include the following.
Optional:
As you are ordering your graduation announcement and party invitations, you might want to go ahead and order some personalized thank you cards.
It’s one more thing that you can check off your list in this year filled with a million things to do.
While you’re ordering, go ahead and set your student’s expectations on thank you’s. I have known so many students who drag out writing their thank you notes over the summer and some that have even had to finish them when they return home from college for Thanksgiving. Avoid this if at all possible by agreeing that all thank you’s will be written and sent within a month after graduation!
Many schools today offer limited tickets per student for a graduation ceremony. Somewhere between 6-10 seems to be the average in our suburban area with large high schools.
Since your list of invitees for the actual ceremony will likely only be close family, it is perfectly acceptable to handle this invitation with a phone call. No formal invitation necessary.
For our family, as soon as the graduation ceremony date and time was released, we called both sets of grandparents and let them know the date and to start planning travel.
Don’t forget to let these attendees know about dress code and comfort. Here in the south, a daytime graduation in mid-May can be brutally hot, and evenings can be a little cool. Be sure they are prepared for the weather as well as the venue.
If you will need a wheelchair, wheelchair seating, ADA parking or other assistance, please reach out to your school early on to arrange these accommodations.
Please include your graduate in as much of the decision making and preparation as possible!
If you are creating a photo collage or slideshow, ask your student for their favorite photos of themselves over the years.
Have them work on the guest list, food suggestions, decorations and music.
Have them address the envelopes in their chicken scratch handwriting. Grandma and Aunt Sally won’t judge the handwriting but will love the fact that it was hand addressed by the graduate.
This is their graduation. This is their life event moment. They should be included in the big decisions and a few smaller ones along the way.
Most of the announcements and invitations received during this time are from close friends and family. It doesn’t seem right to toss them into the garbage especially since your daughter played ball with Susie since 5th grade and went to Prom with Sam.
Don’t forget to print an extra copy of your own announcement and grad party invitation as a keepsake. My daughter and her friends collected each other’s invitations and announcements. They are in their scrapbooks. Boys may be a little different and only want to know when the party is 😀.
In addition to announcements and invitations, your student will hopefully receive dozens of cards and letters from loved ones with heartfelt messages and graduation congratulations. Those shouldn’t be discarded either!
A graduation letter box. It can be used for party guests to place cards in for the party and then to store the memories for later years.
If you prefer something that you can flip through over the years, create a custom wood book cover/card keeper. Be sure to get a hole punch as well.
For a more creative project … make your own graduation scrapbook to save the memories, cards and heartfelt letters.
As graduation day draws closer, you might consider sharing the excitement with your neighborhood and local friends with a graduation yard sign or a graduation banner. Our school PTA sells yard signs, but you can also purchase your own if you prefer or if not offered by the school.
Congratulations are in order for the parents as well as the student for the upcoming graduation! We’ve poured our love, dedication and hard work into these students for 18 years. It is time for us all to celebrate.
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