Announcing your Graduation

Congratulations grads! Your big day is nearing and though you're probably drowning in work, there's no doubt that you're excited to close that book. Your friends and family will be excited for you, too – you just have to make sure to get the word out.

Most graduates send out announcements to let their loved ones know that their achievement is nearing, and friends and family are always grateful for the reminder. Sometimes grads send these as an invitation to the ceremony, or sometimes they send it after the ceremony along with photographs as a keepsake. This, of course, depends on how many guests you're allowed to have and whom you would like to attend.

You can personalize these announcements or make them in bulk, depending upon how personal you like to be.

Then comes the party planning. This is the tricky part for a lot of graduates, because the majority of their friends are often graduating as well. That's why so many graduates choose a date that's a few weeks into the future, because the first few weeks following graduation are usually booked solid with events. Whether you choose to have it in your own backyard or make it into a night out on the town, you've got to make sure you leave enough time to plan the party, send out invitations, get food if necessary, and decorate.

It's your call if you'd like to send separate graduation party invitations and announcements, or make them into one. If you're sending out invitations to other recent graduates, you could personalize their invitations by sending them a photo of the two of you from the big day or even a graduation bear as a way to congratulate them while still sending out your invite.

The most important part of the big day, though, is to just have fun! It's your last hurrah, so you shouldn't be stressing yourself out if everything doesn't go perfectly as planned.