Planning a Graduation Party...

I believe I posted back when my other daughter graduated, but how to plan a big graduation party bears repeating! This is my middle daughter, Doodle, who is graduating high school in June. She has senioritis already and can't wait to start college. Before her sister graduated, I had never planned a big party. We had had birthday parties at the house, but had never gone with a venue or anything like that. So, all that I have learned, I learned by trial and error. Lots of error. Many, many errors. I think you get the idea.
The first thing you need to do is pick your day. With Izzie's we had to have hers after her graduation because she graduated on a Thursday and her party had to be on a Saturday. With Doodle, she's graduating on a Saturday, so we are having the party after the ceremony. I actually kind of preferred Izzie's way because it gave me an extra day in between for preparations, but we are going with it!

Next, pick a venue. As you all know, I am cheap. I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars just for a location. With Izzie's graduation, we rented a pavilion at a local park for 25$ for the whole day. Since Doodle's is going to be at night, we couldn't do a park. So, I started looking around and talking to people. My sister in law has used a Ruritan Club for her daughter's parties for the past few years. After looking into a couple other venues, I discovered that they were the least expensive and I get to use it from 8 am to 10 pm! Around here, you have to book early, so the hotels were out. I tried emailing them to get a price quote and they won't even discuss anything more than 1-2 months out. By that time, I have the announcements already mailed! So, think outside the box!

Then comes the food. With Izzie's, we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had chips. With Doodle's since I only have about 2 hours between the ceremony and the party, I thought about getting it catered. Like through Subway or Chick Fil A. Then I remembered Sam's Club. We are members and I was leaning toward having subs anyway. It's always hot here by June so I didn't think people would be wanting to eat something cooked. I did some cost analysis and getting ham and turkey, cheese, rolls, mayo, mustard, chips, drinks, and some salads prepared, it'll be around 100$. You can't get that anywhere else. Now that's give or take, because if my husband shops with me, it'll be more than 100!
Most of the decorations I get at the dollar store. They have great ones every year for graduations. So, for under 500$, we will have a fabulous graduation party celebrating Doodle! Do you have any party planning tips or tricks? I can always use more in my arsenal!