Graduation Invitations and Announcements

A few weeks before you graduate high school, you'll begin to send out graduation invitations and senior announcements.  Depending on your individual school, you'll either be given a certain number of standard invitations that will consist of plain cards with your information printed neatly across the inside, or you'll be able to make invitations on your own.  If you have the option of making your own invitations, I recommend it.  You can choose your own colors and even share a few of your senior pictures on the front cover.

There are several different websites you can use to make your own senior announcements.  All you'll have to do is pick out a layout, upload some photos, and then type the information you want to use in the appropriate boxes.  Shutterfly is a great website that is easy to navigate and filled with cute ideas and tools, and you'll automatically receive discounts for signing up onto the site and ordering large bundles of invitations.  Ali created her announcements through Pear Tree, which had some layouts that were adorable.  I also found some cute cards on Zazzle and Tiny Prints.

To the right, you can see my senior announcement.  Some are much fancier and more colorful than this, but I decided to go with a simple, one-sided card.  I shared my favorite senior pictures and then the information about my school and graduation times.  I made this announcement at Shutterfly and also ended up ordering a collage of senior pictures and several 5x7 and 8x10 prints to give out to family members and eventually put on my senior table.

There are generally two types of cards you could send out: an invitation and an announcement.  An invitation will share the time, location, and date of your graduation.  An announcement will simply state that you've graduated from high school and perhaps share the university you plan to attend.

Some people print out both announcements and invitations and send them out depending on whether or not they want to invite someone to their graduation.  However, I've only decided to print invitations.  If someone doesn't care to come to my graduation, then they probably won't anyways, so the invitation serves as an announcement.

Something else I'll be sending along with several of my invitations is a small profile card.  On one side will be another senior picture (I have so many favorites, I have to share them somewhere), and on the other side will be details about a private graduation party I'll be having at my house a few days before my actual graduation.  At this party, family and friends will stop by, have lunch, and share well wishes and perhaps some gifts.  The reason I decided to print the party information onto a profile card was because my party will be slightly more intimate than my graduation, so I'll only be sending party invitations to a few close friends.

Try to send out your senior announcements at least two weeks before you graduate, if not longer.  Most people who receive your invitation will place the card in a public place to help them remember the date of your graduation and to proudly display your senior picture.  The best time to send your invitation is possibly three to four weeks before your actual graduation.  You want every card to arrive on time.
Any more questions?  If you have any more links to websites that have cute graduation announcement card layouts, feel free to share the link below.