cookies, truffles, chocolate gift baskets, chocolate cookies, chocolate fountains … the list goes on and my mouth is watering as we speak.

Like other things that make a graduation party special, the personal touch can help give your chocolate plans some extra meaning. You can get your chocolate treats made in the shape of a boy or girl, graduation caps can be fashioned from chocolate moulds and chocolate cakes can be decorated with names, rhymes and even pictures of the person who is graduating.

Edible Chocolate decorations and treats can be placed around the house in various locations and jars and bowls can be filled with delicious chocolate treats. Continental themes can be brought into the equation if you ask people to bring chocolate from different regions of the world giving your guests a huge variety to choose from.

Roll up some white sheets of paper and tie them off with ribbons to make fake diplomas.  Shred up paper in the school colours to create confetti.  Using a graduation cap as a table centrepiece also adds a nice touch.

The key thing to consider when buying graduation favours is to think about the personal touch. Chocolate and candy can be put moulded into specific shapes so car shaped favours for a car lover or guitar shaped favours for a musician would add a personal touch. Candy wrapping can also be Personalized wit names, favourite colors, logo’s etc so you could have the persons name with the colors of their favourite sports team on the candy wrappers. You can use your knowledge of the person and your imagination to come up with all sorts of ideas for great Personalized Graduation Favors.

Games ideas will largely rely on the type of party you’re throwing and the theme.  Try picking games that your younger guests, and especially the graduate, won’t feel silly playing. 

Consider a murder mystery or a ‘pub style’ general knowledge quiz.  Name that tune or every high school student’s favourite pastime – the ‘most hated teacher’ dartboard.  You don’t even have to use real darts if you are worried about injuries.  The suction cup darts work just as well. 

After working out how much cake you will need, you need to decide on the flavour.  The graduate’s favourite is always a good place to start; after all, it is their day.  The design of the icing is where your imagination is truly used.  Consider following the theme of your party for the design, from white icing to depictions of the graduate’s hobbies, you could add in a few graduation caps to keep with the purpose of the party. 

One cake idea is to bake a roll cake.  With this style of cake, add a red ribbon around the middle and it will appear as a diploma scroll.  Another cake idea is to shape it based on the graduate’s favourite sport or hobby, maybe even something following the graduate’s plans for the future.  For example, several cake layers could form a stack of legal books for a lawyer.

Another treat for the partygoers are muffins and cupcakes.   Additionally, with the appropriate moulds, you can melt down chocolate and create anything from little chocolate graduates to chocolate caps.  Mix in a little mint essence or orange flavouring to add a little variety.  Cookies are another good choice and they are easily baked, and cut into any shape. 

Graduation is an important time and throwing a party is certainly a way of personally marking the occasion beyond the ceremony at the school.  Have a good time and congratulations on your child’s graduation.

Planning the party is without any doubt the most important and most difficult part of throwing the party.  You want to do it right, you want to make your child the star but how.

First, and, decide on your budget.  Even with a small budget, you can achieve something great without lessening the quality.  All you need to do is use your imagination.  Your budget dictates the size of your guest list.  It will limit the number since you need to be able to feed them and the location for the party must be big enough.  Even if you choose to use your home, the most common choice, remember your house is only so big and you need to consider the impact on your neighbours.

Next, you have to decide on the food you serve.  As with everything else, your budget has an effect.  You can have a barbeque, order in takeout or bring in outside catering if you can afford it.  As most, if not all, of the guests will be underage, don’t have alcohol. 

You need to send your invitations well in advance.  This allows people to respond in a timely fashion.  There is no need to have enough food for fifty people if only thirty are going to attend.  To save money, you can buy pre-printed invitations from your local stationary store, order professional, personalised invitations or write them yourself.

Purchase supplies and not just for decorations.  Make sure people have somewhere to sit, plates to eat from and above all, have film in the camera.  Some people may not be able to attend but would like to see what happened.  Besides, the graduate or yourself might like a photo album to remember the day.  When it comes to decoration, try to order a cake with icing that matches.