How to Decorate a Banquet Hall for Graduation

Graduation decorations should focus on the graduate and his achievements.

Whether you are honoring a high school or college graduate, a banquet hall offers a space to socialize and a blank canvas for decorating. All of the decorations should be colorful and congratulate the graduate for his achievements. When celebrating a graduation, fill the hall with decorations in the graduate’s school colors and mementos of his years in school.

Themes

Choosing a theme will help guide your decorating. You might want to comment on the graduate’s future with a theme, such as “your ship has set sail” or “blast off to the future,” and center the decorations around a nautical or space theme. Popular books for graduation, such as “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss or “The Little Engine that Could” by Watty Piper, might inspire the decorations as well. Type significant quotes from the book and place them on banners around the banquet hall to add to the theme.

Tables

Most banquet halls have tables for you to rent or use free of charge during a graduation party. Cover the tables with plastic table coverings that represent the graduate's school colors or pictures of graduation caps. You might also find confetti featuring miniature graduation caps and diplomas at a party store to sprinkle on the tables for an additional decoration. A bowl of chocolate candies in the graduate's school colors or wrapped mints displaying the year of graduation will give guests something to snack on as they wait for the main party food or socialize after eating.

Decorations

Ask the banquet hall if you may tape items to the walls and ceiling before determining what type of decorations to use for the party. If you are allowed to tape items to the walls and ceiling, hang colorful streamers across the room in the graduate’s school colors. Use your computer to make a homemade banner congratulating the graduate or have one custom-made at a print shop and hang it near the entrance of the room. Balloons in the school colors help fill the space and hide the usually drab walls of the banquet hall. Art easels will hold posters for guests to write special messages for the graduate.

Photographs and Mementos

Since a graduation party focuses on celebrating a milestone in the graduate’s life, fill the space with photographs and personal mementos. Snapshots in photo frames make simple centerpieces for the tables at the party. Set aside a corner of the hall for personal memorabilia and display photo albums, scrapbooks and awards the graduate has won. If you enjoy working with technology, create a video or slideshow showcasing some of the graduate’s achievements and photographs and display it on a television or project it on a large screen.

Food

Keep the food simple, as most guests will not stay at the graduation party the entire time or will want to eat as they move from table to table and socialize. Disposable plates, silverware and napkins will make cleanup easy. Even the plates and utensils you use should fit with your decorations. Purchase plates in school colors or in patterns that fit with your overall theme. Include some of the graduate’s favorite foods and include pictures of the graduate eating those foods or quotes from the graduate related to them on the food table for an additional touch.

References

• GraduationParty.com: Party Themes
• Celebrations: Graduation Party Ideas
• Disney Family Fun: Graduation Party Ideas for Kids