Graduation Party Planning!

It’s hard to believe our baby girl, Elizabeth, is graduating!  It sounds cliche to ask where has the time gone, but really where has it?

 I want to celebrate this event beautifully for her as we have had so many major changes and moves over the past four years, that we glossed over other milestones like confirmation and “sweet sixteen”.

We are still working on the home that we built two years so this event has really kicked us into high gear to get some outdoor projects done.

I’ve been furiously pinning ideas and here are some of my inspiration photos for this party:

Firepit

We’ve had this on our To Do list for awhile and hubby is in the process of leveling off an area and building a retaining wall. I am envisioning something like this:

source

Lights!

I love this idea of wrapping a few trees with small white lights.  These trees will frame the fire pit area.

source

More lights

I like these larger string lights to frame out the patio area.

source

I am working on some easy drop cloth curtains to frame the covered patio area, something like this.

Dock

I don’t know if this will happen in time but we would like to build a floating dock for easy access to fishing and boating on our pond.

source

Signs

We’ll have an area for lawn games so I think these signs would be really cute.

source

Stations

We are planning a beverage station and snack station on the lower patio, with a buffet dinner on the upper level sunroom and deck.  Here’s some photos I have been pinning.

source

source

source

source

I love these little daisy cut mason jar toppers from this Etsy seller.

For the little guests, I think this idea for a bubble station is super cute!

Photo Booth

I like this idea of hanging a frame from a tree with a few props.  I think the kids will have fun with this.  And,  we’ll encourage them to post photos on Instagram.

source

source

source

Fun Decorations

I love these giant latex balloons.  My daughters are going to craft the tissue paper garland to attach to them.  We’ll use the balloons to direct traffic flow to the backyard and pond area.

source

source

Lawn Games

We are planning to set up badminton and quoits.  I thought this DIY twister game looked fun … another project for my daughters.

Flowers

I haven’t decided on a color scheme yet but I am thinking fairly neutral with maybe a pop of orange here and there  I would like the decorations to compliment the rustic setting of our home.

I have a lot of “Hens and Chicks” so I plan to incorporate them into some table centerpieces.  Something like this.

source

And  some colorful blooms to add a fun pop of color!

source

 Here’s  a few other ideas that have caught my eye:

sources: suitcase, card display, bugspray station

I figure if we accomplish 75 percent of what I am dreaming up, that’s a win!  So right now it is all hands on deck to pull this celebration together … and lots of prayers for nice weather on June 18th!