Graduation season is fast approaching and you and the rest of the school staff are tasked with a yearly challenge—planning a memorable graduation party for your students!
And what better way to hold a graduation party than to have it outdoors on a beautiful sunny day?
Outdoor graduation parties are a perfect option to celebrate your graduating class’s effort and success. Depending on the size of your graduating student body, you might settle for a small event or a big one, but either way, you’re going to have to think about catering.
Good food can make an outdoor graduation party a lot more memorable for both the graduating students and even their families. So here are some stellar outdoor graduation party catering ideas you can try!
Choose the Perfect Menu
First things first—you need to choose a great menu to treat the graduating class. So here are some tasty menu options that you might want to consider:
1. Appetizers Galore
Appetizers are a great way to get everyone excited for the main course. A good choice of appetizer is a charcuterie board that offers a selection of meats and cheeses for your guests to enjoy. Also, make sure to have a veggie platter for vegan and vegetarian students.
2. BBQ Treats
Everyone loves a good BBQ, and who doesn’t love some tasty chicken? So try to include some delicious BBQ and roasted meat options in your catering menu. Some great dishes include roast beef, BBQ pulled pork, roast chicken, and even roast turkey.
For vegetarian students and guests, you can include vegetable lasagna.
3. Fruit Pies for Days
For dessert, a nice selection of tasty fruit pies should do the trick! Opt for some popular options, such as cherry, apple, blackberry, and maybe even pumpkin pie if you want to add a bit more variety!
If you’re not too keen on pies, you could also try serving a sheet cake. The best thing about sheet cakes is that they can serve many people. So if you’re expecting a considerable number of people to attend the party, a big sheet cake might be a great choice.
4. Boxed Lunches
This might sound like one of the stranger graduation party catering ideas, but hear us out. At a graduation party, most people want to mingle with their fellow graduates.
For many graduates, the graduation party may be the last time they see their friends before going off to college. So providing boxed lunches will allow them to enjoy their meal later and focus more on hanging out with friends, family, teachers, and fellow graduates during the event.
Also, there may be some events during the event, so boxed lunches will allow graduates to enjoy the festivities without having to walk around with plates in hand.
5. Refreshing Beverages
Make sure to include a selection of non-alcoholic beverages for the graduates and other guests to enjoy. Soft drinks, coffee, hot chocolate, and a variety of fruit juices are all great beverage options for graduation parties.
Since these graduation party catering ideas are for an outdoor event, make sure to speak to your caterer about supplying tents or canopies to house the food.
Come Up With Ideas for the Graduation Party
Now that we got the graduation catering ideas out of the way, let’s talk about how you can make the event fun and unforgettable!
1. Photo Booth with Themed Props
Set up a photo booth with graduation-themed props or keep a book for the graduates’ future plans. This is a fun activity for your graduation party guests and the photos can be valuable mementos for them to take home.
2. Live Music or DJ
You can build up a fun party atmosphere by having a live musician or a DJ. Make sure to play some popular songs that will get all the guests excited and encourage them to dance and have the time of their lives!
3. Games and Interactive Activities
How about some yard games such as cornhole, giant Jenga, or a friendly volleyball match? These games are fun to play and serve as an icebreaker, making guests of all ages happy.
You can even try some other party favorites like pin the tail on the donkey or ring toss or even set up a karaoke machine. If you’re also expecting children at the graduation party, make sure to include some games that are popular among little kids, like balloon popping.
Try out more graduation party catering ideas
An outdoor graduation party is a perfect way to celebrate the graduates’ accomplishments and look ahead to their next life phase. By choosing a great menu, experimenting with graduation party catering ideas, paying much attention to presentation, and including entertainment, you will create a unique celebration that guests will always remember!
So make sure to hire a reliable caterer with a good selection of catering menu packages.
