5 Ways to Celebrate Graduation This Year

Every high school, college, and graduate student looks forward to celebrating their years of hard work and long hours with a commencement ceremony. By now, families would have flown in from all around the world to congratulate their beloved students on this huge milestone and new chapter. This year, graduation ceremonies are put on hold until further notice—but you can still celebrate the graduate in your life in many grand (and safe) ways!

Graduation is more than just a party — it’s a time to honor a student’s years of commitment and dedication to their studies. It’s a moment to wish graduates lives of abundance, happiness, and success.

Venus ET Fleur® is here to honor the graduates in your life and present you with five graduation ideas to celebrate this momentous occasion!

1. Virtual Party

The safest way to celebrate is by hosting a virtual graduation party through a group video call. Find a video service that can host multiple people on one call. Set up a date and a time and invite as many friends and family members as you can. Make it a surprise party for an extra dash of sparkle.

Rather than sitting in front of a laptop with a single champagne glass in hand, make this momentous occasion even more effervescent by decorating your house with balloons, streamers, and flowers. Another option is to simply decorate one wall to use as a backdrop. Enhance the space with a couple of Thalia Vases with Gold Eternity® Roses and Eternity™ Hedera Leaves. These gold flowers will add a layer of sophistication to your decorations. Blow up a few clear balloons that contain gold confetti, and add a few black latex balloons for a more luxurious aesthetic. A solid black backdrop with white and gold streamers is all that you need to fill up any plain, white wall space.

Share stories with your loved ones, propose a toast for the graduate student, and watch them enjoy this grand day.

2. Car Parade

Many schools have announced they will be hosting a car parade or a drive-through graduation, where families can sit in their own cars and drive through a designated loop, while pre-recorded speeches play over the radio. If your school is not hosting a car parade ceremony, then set up your own to honor and celebrate your graduate.

Send festive invitations to your neighbors, family, and friends, set a time, and tell them which streets you will be driving through, so that they can sit out in front of their houses and wave congratulations to the graduate. Decorate your car with balloons, flowers, confetti, or washable chalk paint. Paint their name on the car doors or wave a banner out of the window.  This is an excellent way to provide your graduate with a feeling of close-knit community and celebration safely.

3. Host an Intimate Mock-Ceremony At Home

Have all of the family members in your household dress up for the occasion, as if it were a real graduation ceremony. Set up some chairs in the living room and decorate the walls with celebratory banners, balloons, streamers, and elegant flowers. Our Fleura Vase with Eternity Roses comes in several different color choices, so your decorations can coordinate with school colors. Choose one family member to host the ceremony and instruct the graduate to “turn the tassel” on their cap. You can even print programs for the event.

You can keep this ceremony within the family, or you can set up a webcam and host a video chat with distant relatives and friends, so that they can watch the ceremony take place from their homes. Make a night of it! After the celebration, have a festive cocktail hour or dinner party in honor of your graduate.

4. Organize a Photo Shoot

Although your beloved graduate may not get their photo taken shaking hands with the president of their university, you can still organize a photoshoot for your graduate.

The graduate can suit up in their school’s cap and gown, or you can order one online for them to make their own. Per tradition, students can decorate their cap to reflect their personalities. Take your graduate(s) to the local park, a lake, a mountain pass, or to any empty field to take some scenic graduation photos.

Elevate the images with props. Ask the graduate to think about which hobbies they enjoyed during their time of study, or ask them what props they can bring to show off their major. Those graduating from culinary arts schools, for example, can pose with knives or loaves of bread. Business and communications majors can hold a globe or dress up in a suit underneath their gown for some serious business. Fashion design major? A sewing machine and a wearable work or two that they created can serve as excellent props.

Don’t forget to bring a couple of different-sized arrangements such as the Small Square White Classic with Gold Eternity Roses.

5. Give Graduation Gifts As Planned

Your recent grad deserves an opulent reward after their years of studying and working hard, even if the graduation ceremony and the after-parties are moved online or delayed. If you do not live with the graduate in your life, then you can make their day shine by sending them a gift via mail.

A thoughtful and gracious gift idea is to send them a Lé Clair Cinq arrangement in a classic clear, acrylic box. You can choose a school color, or select golden roses for a luxurious and timeless graduation aesthetic. Another option is to select pure white roses to symbolize new and fresh beginnings as your star moves forward in life with grace and knowledge.

Venus ET Fleur curates each arrangement with one of our expert floral design specialists, so your graduate student can feel especially adored and honored. Browse our collections today to learn more about how you can send an arrangement of beautiful, gracious flowers and brighten your graduate’s life.