This post may contain affiliate links. With my daughter finishing up her time in high school next week, I wanted to make it special. Thank you to Minted for sponsoring this post and helping me come up with ideas how to plan a successful graduation party on a budget! It is hard to believe Caitlin will be walking across the stage and receiving her diploma in a few days! We could not be more proud. As much as I want to plan a blow-out weekend, we don’t have unlimited funds.

My high school graduation was less than stellar. I didn’t have any family to come, so I didn’t even walk. I picked up my diploma from the office the following week. It was such a disappointment! I knew when I had kids, I would do my best to make their graduation a big deal. For Caitlin, we have family coming into town, so we will have a full house. In order to not break the bank, I came up with these great tips for ow to plan a successful graduation party on a budget:

• Plan Small: Caitlin goes to a small high school. This means she has a smaller pool from which to invite. If you can keep the number of kids down to less than 25, you will save one everything from food to invitations.
• Host It At Home: Instead of renting a venue, we are hosting Caitlin’s graduation party at the house. This is saving us more than $250. Yikes! That would hurt the budget, huh?!
• Don’t Cater: We have family coming into town for Caitlin’s party. I am going to put them to work too! They are going to help make the food. This will save a huge chunk of change. I can make a lasagna meal for less than it would cost to order pizza. I am making her cupcakes and we are serving water instead of soda.

• Find Invitations On Sale: The one thing I won’t skimp on are invitations. Since we have a small number of people coming to the graduation, we didn’t order graduation invitations from the school. That saved me hundreds of dollars. I did want to have a keepsake for Caitlin’s memory box, so I ordered her foil graduation party invitations from Minted. I got a great discount on them and they are Be-U-Ti-Ful!
• Make Your Decorations: If you know how to create fun printables, you can make a ton of your own decorations. We are making Caitlin’s cupcake toppers and water bottle wrappers. The backgrounds are in her school colors, which she will love. We are going to buy some streamers and balloons from the Dollar Tree. I will probably only spend $10 on her decorations.
• Make Your Own Entertainment: We are going to play games, sing karaoke and have a treasure hunt. We are doing karaoke through the laptop, with it going through the big TV in the family room. We are playing Head’s Up, which is a free app on iTunes. I am making a playlist on Spotify for the background music. I am not spending a dime on entertainment!

If you are looking for great prices on your graduation needs, I highly recommend Minted! You can choose from several Graduation Cards and gifts. This is part of their yearly Grad Event. Currently, you can save 15% on these graduation goodies!

Graduation season will be here before you know it. So stock up on gifts and cards for the graduates in your life. I have to tell you, I was super impressed with Caitlin’s graduation party invitations from Minted. They are printed on high quality paper and the printing is spectacular. The foil accents really tie it all together.

This event is the perfect opportunity to save a bit of money no matter what event you have coming up. You can custom print photos with beautiful foil borders to make your family photos pop. If you’re looking for a gift for a friend or loved one you can’t go wrong with Minted! You can also order paper products like personalized stationary, Birth Announcements, and Wedding Invitations.

Minted has fantastic gifts that are completely customizable. Which makes them something you’ll never see anywhere else. You can also get amazing one of a kind custom Wall Art like this commemorative Joyful Dots print I had made. It shows Caitlin through the years and she is going to love it. I think it makes the perfect graduation gift. or choose from one of their elegant premade art prints. The website is quite easy to use. The only hard part is deciding what you want your custom art to look like. Be sure to follow Minted on social media on Julep, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.

Do you have a new grad in your family? If so, what are the plans to celebrate the occasion? I would love to hear in the comments below!