Updated February 2021, Originally posted April 2020

Families are busy rescheduling and discovering new ways to recognize important life events that have been impacted by current conditions in our cities, states, and across the world. We’re so amazed with the ingenuity people are finding to connect, celebrate, and share these life moments with each other.

If you have a kindergartner, high school, trade school or college graduate in your family, you are now the event planner for your child’s big day! We’ve gathered some great ideas to help you:

PLAN AHEAD

1. Pictures - Take cap and gown photos or photos of your child wearing their favorite outfit. Print these from home, use your local photo lab or upload and order from Walgreens to provide a quality photo memory that will be treasured forever.
2. Announcements - Once you have your graduation photo package, Plymouth Cards offers photo cards for all those wallet-sized photos. You can order these now with custom printing that include your graduate’s name, graduation year, school, degree, or other information. Or get creative and have us design a one-of-a-kind announcement. Our customers have ordered these for high school, college and kindergarten graduation cards. You can find our two wallet options here. 
3. Graduation - Once you have your photos and graduation announcements, mail them with the new plans you’re making. This will remind friends and family to mail graduation cards so they can be opened at your home graduation event. If you’re signed up for a free video chat service like Zoom, you can include that information in the announcement, inviting everyone to join you virtually for the big day. (Here’s a short tutorial on how to set up Zoom) There are other options such as Skype and Google Meetup.
4. Decorations - Order decorations for your front door and yard to make graduation day special. Here are a few we found on Etsy. If you search there, you will find your school colors and more.

5. Main Event - Plan an area for the official graduation ceremony, such as a stage in your backyard or home. You can add other decorations and print a ceremonial graduation certificate to hand to your graduate when they “walk the stage”.
6. Music - Find and save your graduate’s school song, the Pomp and Circumstance music and other fun music that adds to the occasion.
7. Speech - Every graduation has a speech! Plan for a family member in your home to be the “guest speaker” for the graduation ceremony. Or, search for a commencement speech on YouTube to play, we found five options here: Five Commencement Speeches That Will Inspire You Even If You Graduated Forever Ago 
8. Celebration parade - Contact local friends and family to arrange a one-hour window for them to drive by and wave to the new graduate. Encourage them to decorate their cars to add to this special achievement in your child’s life.
9. Commemorate this unprecedented time with a special Christmas ornament designed with the Class of 2021 in mind. Your graduate will have it for years to come unlike the t-shirt that they outgrown. 

CELEBRATE!

Don’t forget to designate someone to take photos and video of your graduate’s special day! You’ll want to save and share these moments for many years to come. 

Let us know how you’re planning to virtually celebrate a family member’s big day with new options that can be catered to your family’s specific circumstances. We’d love to hear how Plymouth Cards played a small part in sharing your photo memories!

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains one affiliate link for Walgreens and any purchases made through such link may result in a small commission for us (at no extra cost for you). We only include affiliate links to high quality products we have used.