A sophisticated and preppy style is what young Jalen exudes. His respected attitude and fine manners are much to be admired by people his age. I had the honor of styling Jalen's graduation this summer and while most of you are thinking "we're just getting BACK to school"...this party exemplifies planning early to get the finer details together. Jalen's mom and I went to high school together and I'm honored to know her. She is a stellar single, working mom AND an entrepreneur (see her awesome business here). We crossed paths again at a vendor show late fall last year and she booked me right then and there. And lucky for her, because by the time spring rolled around, I was booked for graduation season (HINT, HINT).
Guests were welcomed with a poster print "movie release"of Jalen's graduation done by kieraphoto. This set the tone of the party with a sophisticated, stylish picture of Jalen. For the party room, I created three focal areas to highlight different aspects of the event and of Jalen's career. I used old books, chemistry beakers, other "big boy" school supplies to create a look that spoke to Jalen.
For starters the seating area and dessert table spoke of his high school career. Styled around the black, old gold, and white colors of his high school, the dessert table had a big pop with the mod fabric back drop. The finer detail of the "Class of 2012" ribbon in gold really brought the old gold into play. In the seating area, Jalen's collection of honors were pulled together to create centerpieces.
The food buffet and mantle area focused on his college choice. I created a simple design incorporating the college colors and collegiate letters to emphasize the university. The food menu was written on a chalkboard to give the "school" effect and all the food items were named for places on campus.
Finally, the favor and gift table pulled all the concepts together. Photo collages made a nice backdrop for the gift table and I carried decor concepts from the rest of the party onto this table to keep the room flowing. For the favor table, Jalen chose a great quote about the journey of life and had them printed on luggage tags (see the connection...journey...luggage? CLEVER!) as a token of his appreciation. I displayed the tags in a briefcase to tie in the school, college, job theme and wrote the quote on another chalkboard to pull the whole look together. Guests signed a copy of "OH! The Places You'll Go!" as a keepsake for Jalen.
Planning early always allows the finer details that speak volumes to shine through. Jalen's senior pictures were taken by the very, talented and dear friend Kiera of kieraphoto. We all worked together to come with great ways to incorporate Jalen's beautiful pictures into the party. The glittery cake bunting detail was handmade by The Purple Pug who closed up shop late spring because she was BOOKED. So, while you're gearing up your kids for back to school, gear up for the end of the year and start thinking about graduation. I only book three graduation parties and one spot is already stolen:)
Vendor Credits:
Event styling, photography, paperie: Party Pretty Design
Poster Prints/Photobooks and respective photography: kieraphoto
Cake Bunting: The Purple Pug
