Graduation season is officially upon us, which means everyone will have multiple graduation parties to attend this summer. 

If you’re a recent high school or college grad, congratulations! Looking for help on how to plan your party and where to get unique rentals to help make your party stand out? Well, you came to the right place!

A graduation party is not only a party to celebrate you and all of your accomplishments, but it’s also a chance for all of your friends and family members to celebrate with you. 

There’s many steps and factors that go into planning a graduation party, but don’t worry we have all of the information you need and many of the supplies for you to rent from us as well. 

1-2 Months Before The Party: 

• Set a budget – Make sure to create a set budget! While having everything you could think of at your party would be great and exciting for you and your guests, you want to make sure you’re not breaking the bank. Thankfully, Just In Case Party Rentals is willing to work with you to make sure you can have the party of your dreams. 

• Pick a date and time – Can’t have a party without deciding when to have it! Some people decide to have it a few days after their graduation ceremonies and others decide to push it back a month or two. We would recommend having it during a weekend where most people are off from work and have the most availability. However, if you decide to have it during a weekday, try having it later in the evening after everyone is done with work for the day.

• Choose a venue – Can’t have a party without deciding where you would like to host it at. Graduation parties can be hosted in a variety of venues. For example, you can have it in your backyard, a park, a banquet hall, or at a special restaurant that’ll let you rent it out for private parties. Just remember if you’re booking out a special venue to look into places to make sure you like the space, it’s big enough for the amount of people you would like to invite, it can fit any extra rental items and to go over pricing to ensure you are sticking to your budget. 

• Create a guest list – We would recommend on deciding on how many people you would like to have first. If you’re hosting your party in a special venue, make sure to ask them what their minimum attendance requirement is and then you can use that as your starting point on how many people to invite. The guest list is entirely up to you! Invite anyone who you would like to join you on this special occasion. From family members to past teachers, anyone who receives an invite will be honored to know you would like them to be there with you. 

• Create and send invitations – We would recommend to have everyone you would like to invite all written down on a list to ensure you don’t end up forgetting to invite anyone. Also make sure to get everyone’s addresses in advance if you don’t already have them. Then you’re not chasing people down for their information and to make sure your invitations are sent out on time. 

• Decide on party theme or party colors – Deciding this early can help you keep your eyes peeled for any items for you to be on the lookout for so then you’re buying all of the decorations in advance and as the party gets closer. 

4-6 Weeks Before The Party: 

• Book catering or plan the menu – If you’re planning on cooking everything yourself for your party, make sure to decide right away on what you would like to have. That way you can make sure you have all of your ingredients in advance and are all set with actually making it all. If you’re catering for your party, we would recommend looking at multiple options and decide what business has the most options that you and your guests would like. Once you have decided on what catering business you want, call them right away to discuss pricing and to have your date reserved. You could also look into doing a fun snack for your guests to munch while they wait for the main food to be ready or delivered. Just In Case Party Rentals has concession rental options like popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones! 

• Dessert – We think dessert is it’s own category because if you are ordering it, most of the time you have to go to a different business for it. If you’re ordering a cake from a bakery or special cake maker, then be sure to do some research on multiple places to ensure their prices are right for you and to see if they can do the design you would like to have. If you’re making your own cake, make sure to have a list on what you need to bake it. We would also recommend looking on Pinterest to help you find some inspiration for cake designs. 

• Rent tables, chairs, and tents – Depending on where you are having your party, you may need tables, chairs, and a tent or two. If it’s in your backyard or a park without pavilions or not many places for your guests to sit, then you should get all three because you most likely won’t have big enough tables or enough chairs at your home for everyone. We recommend renting a tent as a precaution for if there happens to be bad weather conditions. Just In Case Party Rentals has many different sizes to fit your party size and space you’re hosting your party at. This way you and your guests can still enjoy your party! If you’re having your party at a specific venue, we’d recommend talking with them to see if they have enough chairs and big enough tables for your event. If your party is outside at a specific venue, we’d recommend asking to see if you are allowed to bring a tent. Just In Case Party Rentals has all three options for you to have at your event. You have the option to come pick everything up and drop it back off yourself, or we can come save you some stress and set it all up for you! 

• Book entertainment or music setup – You can’t have a graduation party without having some sort of activity or entertainment for your guests! The world is your oyster on what you would like to have at your party. Just In Case Party Rentals has just about anything and everything you would like at your party. From bounce house inflatables to dunk tanks, we will make sure you will have everything you want to make your party a memorable one. We recommend checking out our website to see what we have and so then you have everything decided before you call us. Make sure to book your rentals as soon as possible because the summer is our most busiest and booked time of the year. For music, you could rent your own DJ with Just In Case Party Rentals as well. That way you don’t have to worry about not being able to use your phone for most of the party or worry about any of your devices dying during the party. We even have a special Graduation DJ rental option on our website! 

2-3 Weeks Before The Party: 

• Confirm RSVPs – Ensure everyone has RSVP’d for your party and remind them the location and time as well. We recommend creating a Facebook Event Page so then you don’t have to text everyone separately, have a big group chat, or forget to include someone. 

• Reconfirm with vendors – Even if they said everything is all set, it still doesn’t hurt to double check with them. You can also give them any additional information on where to drop off, set up, and pick up their items.

• Buy decorations and party supplies – If you haven’t already started to buy decorations and party supplies, we recommend to start doing that around the 2-3 week marker. This way you’re not last minutely buying any decorations on the day of your event, or risking having certain items being sold out. 

• Create a playlist or finalize music – If you haven’t already decided on what kind of music or made a playlist for your DJ to have, make sure to get this step done so then you can have all the music you want playing at your party, prevent any music you don’t want playing, and to ensure they’re prepared and ready for your party. 

• Order any custom items (optional) – If you want to have a special banner or posters for your party, make sure it’s all set and ordered because there’s nothing worse than having an item arrive after the date of your event. If you want any custom items with your graduate’s face or school logo on banners or tent covers, you can also get those items from Just In Case Party Rentals. 

• Plan a graduation display table or photo booth station – Most graduation parties have a table dedicated to the grad by having a plethora of items from their high school or college years along with photo collages featuring pictures from some of their most favorite memories. We recommend having all of your desired items all collected so then you can just grab them once the day of your party arrives. Then for your photo collages, you could create a new album on your phone with all of the pictures you would like to show at your party, so then you don’t have to go digging through your camera roll. Depending on where you get your photos developed, you more often than not can get those printed within the same day. However, we recommend having that step done before the day of your party so then it gives the business and workers time to print them. Some parties also have a photo booth station for people to use. Just In Case Party Rentals now has that as a rental option, and we can also create our own templates for your photo booth! If you do want to rent a photo booth, then this step should be moved to the 4-6 week category to ensure you are able to have it at your event. 

1 Week Before The Party: 

• Set up a gift table or card box – When you are having a graduation party, you should expect to receive some sort of gift from multiple guests. Whether it’s a wrapped package or a nice little card, there should still be an area dedicated for gifts. This way all of your guests’ gifts are all in one place for you to grab at the end of the party and it’s easier for them to just set them all down once they arrive. 

• Create a checklist for day of essentials – When it comes to the day of setting up your graduation party, let’s be honest, you’re going to be stressed with your mind going a mile a minute! So to help ease some of that stress and to help you be more organized for the day of set up, we recommend creating a checklist with everything you have to do for the day and for the days leading up to the party. While you’re creating your checklist, you may realize you need some miscellaneous items. For example, drink coolers, garbage cans, or propane tanks. Fun fact, Just In Case Party Rentals also has these items for you to rent! Once you finish everything on your checklist, you will then be able to take a big sigh of relief and get to fully enjoy your day. 

Day Before or Day Of Party: 

• Prep food (if you’re making it yourself) or confirm the catering arrival time – You’re not going to have enough time during the day of your party to make all of the food, so try to get as much of it done as possible the day before. If you are catering food, there is nothing wrong with triple checking with the company you are ordering food from by ensuring they’ll be there on time, so then your guests don’t have to worry about standing around hungry. 

• Assemble party favors – If you’re having party favors at your party, assemble them the night before or earlier so then they’re all set and ready for you to grab on the day of. To make this task go faster and more fun, you could have some of your friends and family members help you assemble them as well! 

• Decorate venue and set up tables – If you’re hosting your party at a venue that isn’t your house, then we recommend getting to your venue at least one hour and telling any rental companies to also come at the same time as you before your event starts to ensure everything is all set up for when your guests arrive. 

• Find places for food and rental equipment – Making sure you’re prepared with where you want your food and rental equipment is important because then it makes setting up for the catering and rental company employees easier and more efficient! We recommend having this detail a little in advance and to make sure to give it to the companies as soon as you decide to book with them, so then they’re prepared for when they arrive to set up. 

• Have fun and celebrate! – Congratulations! Your party is complete and all you have left to do is to enjoy it.