Claudia Williamson

As the school year is coming to an end, graduation party prep is in full swing for the class of 2025.

The second semester is going to be over before seniors know it and along with the many exciting things that come with graduating high school, graduation parties are starting to be planned. Planning the perfect celebration takes a lot of arrangement, organization, and effort, and students still find themselves balancing schoolwork, extracurriculars, and party planning all at once.

For many, the venue or location of their graduation party is very important and is what ties the whole thing together. Some students opt for backyard gatherings, transforming their spaces with many decorations, and creating a very fun setting for guests in their homes. Others rent out spaces in country clubs or other locations, to accommodate bigger groups and have a change of scenery. The choice of location is important when planning, especially if the graduation party is celebrating more than one person. The more grads being celebrated, the more likely that more people will be in attendance with both family and friends coming to honor the recent graduates. “I’m doing mine with Tori Hopkins and Amelia Haberman, who goes to Edina and we are doing ours at Interlachen Country Club because we wanted to have a lot of space because there are 3 of us,” senior Midge Sanderson said.

Themes and decorations are another important aspect of planning. Many students decide on a color scheme, whether it’s pink, white, and gold or white, green, and gold. There are so many different themes to choose from so it is crucial to know the colors one may like to make the planning much easier. When it comes to decorations, students also incorporate their future college’s logo or colors somewhere in their party along with personalized tables to show off their high school accomplishments. No matter the decorations, graduation parties are meant to celebrate the students and all they accomplished in their four years of high school. “The colors we think we want are pink and orange and gold, just bright and very fun,” senior Lauren Carlson said.

Beyond the many logistics that come along with planning a graduation party, seniors take the opportunity to attend as many as they can as it is one of the last times they will be seeing some of their classmates. Graduation party season is very busy as many may overlap and be on the same day or on the same weekend when seniors are traveling from party to party. Graduation parties mark the end of a chapter but also open up a new chapter of students’ lives as they are growing up and moving onto a more independent lifestyle. These parties mark the very end of high school which makes it so special for seniors to get to as many celebrations as they can. “Lauren’s gonna drive us to each one as we hop from grad party to grad party. That’s all we’re gonna do from Friday to Sunday for about three weeks,” senior Frankie Hyde said.