graduation party Archives | Heavenly Homemakers

Need some graduation party food ideas? I’ve done this a time or two and I do have some ideas…

Here I am, almost ready (or not) to graduate our Boy#3.

I’ve done this before, so I haven’t been quite as emotional this time around. That is, until I pulled this gem out of the archives. I haven’t stopped crying since…

This was Elias with Keith last winter just a few weeks after the precious babe was placed with us. One of my favorite things about watching Elias grow into a young man ready to graduate has been seeing him with our foster and adopted kids. He has been selfless and servant-hearted as he’s helped us care for and love these babes.

I sent him off to prom last year, and soon we’ll be sending him off to college.

Fun fact, taking in foster children and adopting little ones who’ve experienced trauma has influenced Elias’ career path. He’s chosen to go to York College and major in Psychology. We’ll see where God takes him from there. What a fantastic young man!!

Curious how we have a homeschool graduation for our kids?

It’s a pretty special time, and it looks like this.

And now that I’m teary-eyed, we will talk about food.

I’ve always left most of the menu choices up to my graduate. It’s their celebration, after all! Of course, I do guide them toward choosing food that is fairly easy to make for a large crowd. And I also steer them toward a menu that will allow me to have most of the food prepared ahead of time so that I can enjoy the party with our guests!

Graduation Party Food Ideas

These are ideas I’ve either used myself or have eaten at parties we’ve enjoyed with friends. There’s really no limit to graduation party food ideas, but I do think these should be taken into consideration:

What does the graduate want/like?
What can be made ahead of time?
What works well to feed a crowd?
What can be turned over to friends and extended family so that the immediate family can enjoy the guests and the graduate?

So with that in mind, here are some great party food ideas!

Taco or Nacho Bar

It’s quite simple to make nacho or taco fixin’s ahead of time. Set out a buffet of chips or taco shells, meat (in a crock pot to keep it hot), cheese, salsa, sour cream, olives, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and whatever else you might like.

Baked Potato Bar

Bake potatoes in a crock pot like this (or in an Instant Pot on manual pressure for 10 minutes). Set them out with a variety of toppings like taco meat, chopped ham, bacon bits, shredded cheese, sour cream, butter, salt, pepper, green onions, tomatoes, black beans, chili, jalapenos, banana wax peppers, olives, steamed broccoli, steamed peas, and whatever else you might like.

Smoothie Station

A friend of ours did this for their son’s graduation and it was brilliant! They had several tables set up with blenders, and had friends running each smoothie station. Party guests could select their smoothie ingredients, and they offered choices like frozen strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango, pineapple, and banana. They had milk, yogurt, and orange juice as add-ins. Whipped cream to spray on top – fun straws and colored napkins. It was fantastic!

Finger Foods

A table filled with finger foods like cheese and crackers, chips and dips, veggies and dips, fruits and dips, meatballs, smokies, cookies, and such? You can’t go wrong! It’s simple and fun!

Here are our favorite dip ideas:

Simple Cake or Cupcakes

No need to serve an entire meal if you don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with setting out cupcakes or a special cake for the graduate, and leaving it at that! Consider the cake flavors and colors that the graduate likes, then bake and decorate accordingly. (Or order from a bakery because if you have a graduate, you probably don’t have time to bake and decorate.)

Dessert Bar

How about serving a fun variety of dessert options cut into small portions? Cheesecake is always a hit! A variety of cookies on trays, cupcakes, donuts – what are the graduates favorites? Go with it!

Fun at the Grill

Serve burgers, hot dogs, and brats for an outdoor party if the weather is nice. Set out fixins, chips, fruit, and veggies. It’s simple, yet most everyone loves a meal like this!

Here are our favorite special burger recipes:

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

It’s super easy and quite inexpensive to slow cook a large pork butt or two. Shred it and serve with with a variety of sauces and buns or tortillas. Add chips, fruit, veggies, and drinks – and you’ve got yourself a simple but great party!

Coffee Station

Here’s a fun idea for setting up an Iced Coffee Bar. Use the same concept for hot coffee too!

The ideas for graduation party food ideas are endless! Make the most of your time celebrating your graduate!

You know how boring I am when it comes to picking paint colors for my walls? (“Eh, should we go with white…or off white?”) That’s pretty much how I think when it comes to throwing parties.

For our son’s graduation party last week, I was thinking of serving something exciting like eh…cake and punch? Thankfully, I teamed up with two other moms for the occasion, celebrating our three graduates together in our church fellowship hall. This meant that the buffet table was amazing and if you can believe it – since mine wasn’t the only brain involved in the planning – the tables featured none other than…decorations. (I mean, I would have at least pulled out some table cloths. Though I would have had a very difficult time choosing between white or off white.)

Aside from pitching in on the overall cost and the work involved in putting something like this together, my only food assignment was to order a cake and cupcakes and to arrange for a popcorn machine.

Check out these cupcakes! We were soooo pleased with these – and would you believe, they were made by a 10 year-old girl who is already running her own business? These trays were completely empty within 30 minutes of the party starting. Obviously, I didn’t order enough. They were incredible cupcakes!

grad party 1

We chose to put a scripture on the cake instead of the graduates names. Asa’s biggest request was that he didn’t want a freaky frosting color that would turn all the guest’s teeth freaky colors. Therefore we went with white frosting with a white border. Hmm. Now I’m wondering if we should have gone with off white. (Relax. I’m kidding.)

grad party 2

The popcorn machine was running the entire two hours of the party, and our friends set up a fun stacked oreo cake.

grad party 3

The most amazing part of the food buffet was the Crostini Bar the other moms came up with. I’d never seen anything like it. It was gorgeous!

grad party 6

The table featured crusty breads, meats, cheeses, dips, spreads, grapes, and meatballs.

grad party 4

See how much better that is than a simple table of cake and punch? Though I will say that I’m noticing several lovely shades of white and off white in the bread baskets there.

grad party 5

Last but not least – my favorite part of our graduation party: Our very own godly graduate:

grad party 7

Asa was so honored by all the people that showed up to celebrate with him that day. Over 200 people came and went. It was every kind of awesome.

I cannot tell you how much we loved this day. God is so good to bless us with such a wonderful celebration with so many wonderful people. I’ve been reveling in the memories all week long (in between taking naps).

So, what’s your favorite: white or off white? (That is soooo not a real question. I just couldn’t resist.)