Top 5 Must-Haves Before Your Graduation
So you’re graduating soon, congratulations! A graduation is a huge milestone in your life, and you deserve to celebrate with your friends and family. Whether you’re graduating from high school or just finished grad school, there are a few things you need to prepare for your graduation!
Announcements/Invites
Having a personalized announcement of your graduation is essential to send to your family. This not only announces your accomplishment, but it can also serve as an invitation to the Ceremony itself or to the party you’ll throw afterward! Sure, Facebook events are always an option, but they certainly don’t do justice to the importance of your graduation. Give your big day the announcement it deserves!
Cap and Gown
This may sound obvious, but most schools require graduating seniors to purchase or rent caps and gowns through a specific vendor. If you have yet to order your cap and gown, THIS IS YOUR REMINDER! If you forget, you probably won’t be allowed to walk at your Graduation; at the very least, you won’t look the part.
Commemorative Poster or Album
Having a physical item to commemorate your graduation is a fantastic souvenir to last a lifetime. This doesn’t even have to be for you, but is also a great gift for family members and loved ones who have watched you grow up. Don’t forget, this is a big day for your family as well! This milestone is something your family will want to remember for years to come, and having a physical album will give you something to show your own family that you might build in the future.
4. Commencement Plan
You may be wondering, “Why on earth do I need a plan for commencement?” Well, the day of your actual ceremony can get hectic! Depending on how big the ceremony is, it can be easy to lose your loved ones in the crowd, or they may even miss your big moment walking across the stage! If you are a university graduate, make sure your family knows which college you’ll be graduating from so they know when to look for you. I would also highly recommend deciding on a specific meeting spot to meet your loved ones who attended your graduation ceremony. When your class is released from the ceremony, there are guaranteed to be swaths of people making even the smallest school stadium feel like the longest lines at Disney World. If everyone agrees to meet at a specific place, it will save you the struggle of trying to call and talk over hundreds of strangers to find your people
5. Senior Photos
I may be biased, but taking your senior photos is a huge part of celebrating your graduation! I still cherish my senior photos to this day. I don’t even use my college degree these days, but I’m still proud of what I accomplished. My favorite part of these photos isn’t even the photos of me, but the people who were captured with me. I could not be more grateful to have high-quality photos with the people I love and who helped me to even get to my graduation. It was also a bonus that my graduation photoshoot was just a blast on its own!
After going through two big graduations myself, I can say that these 5 things will make a genuine difference in how things go when you graduate. While not having every item on this list certainly does not make your accomplishment any less important or official, having all these items can make your day just a little more special and memorable.
