Idea Board: Graduation Party

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This weekend, we're coordinating a graduation party for Mike. Mike is graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in Building Construction. It was pretty easy to come up with a theme for this one. Too easy, in fact. We had two themes: the Gators and Construction. So we set out to find the best way to blend the two themes together without going over-board on either. (Mike's not a big themey person.)

Above is the idea board that we put together for Mike's party. We're throwing a laid-back barbeque at Mike's house on Saturday afternoon. Here's what we're planning:

1. To tie in the Gators and graduate theme, we're using a cluster of Gator and graduate balloons as a centerpiece on the welcome table. This will also serve as a gift table at the entrance to the party.

2. Pastashoppe.com offers a ridiculous array of pastas to fit your needs. We found this great UF pasta, which is perfect for our delicious pasta salad. Check out their site, they've got tons of great unique pasta shapes for every meal you can imagine.

3. Upside down toy hard-hats will serve as chip bowls along our buffet, tying in the construction theme.

4. This is a back-yard barbeque. So we're breaking out the folding tables and umbrellas and dotting the yard with shaded areas for guests to kick back and relax while they chow down on some delicious grub.

5. Construction tool candles will be the perfect topper to the cupcakes on our dessert buffet. We won't be lighting them, but we still love these!

6. Bob the Builder was a must. We scored big when our local party shop had BTB stuff on clearance (70% off!). We scooped up napkins and wrapping paper to use as fun construction-themed accents.

7. Adorable Gator cookies will also be featured on the dessert buffet, as a reminder that "it's great to be a Florida Gator!"

8. A "build your own" burger buffet is the feature of this party. Guests will have more than a dozen fun toppings to construct the burger of their dreams!

Finally, the background of the idea board also serves as the background for the invitations and the menu cards along the buffet. You can't see it too well here, but it's the blueprint for Mike's college, which adds another great touch to both the UF and Construction theme!

We can't wait for this party on Saturday. Check back next week for lots of photos and an event recap! Congrats, Mike!