• Small graduation parties are a great way to celebrate a successful time at school.university graduation celebrates his graduation with his girlfri image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
  
  Graduations are important milestones over the course of a child or teenager's life, marking transitions from one stage of life to another. A party is a fun way to celebrate, after a long graduation ceremony. Many prefer to keep graduation parties small, particularly as students get older and are recovering from long and grueling semesters. It's still possible to keep a party fun--no matter how small the party is--with graduation-themed decorations and foods.
  
  

Decorations

• Decorations can be low-key since it's a small party. However, it's nice to get paper plates, cups and napkins in the school colors--either the school the student just graduated from or the school they'll be moving to. Another idea is to buy flowers in the school's colors. To add a personal touch, you can collect photographs of the graduate from childhood to present, copy them, then print them out as posters and hang them with ribbons. You could also make a photo collage or create a slide show or video to project onto a wall. You might also place a blank book on a table for friends and family to sign and leave fond memories or well-wishes.
  
  

Food and Drink

• No matter how small the party is, the host should provide a range of different foods and drinks for their guests. Graduations for the younger set should include juice and soda--but it's nice to provide wine or beer for the adults. One fun idea is to have a cake decorated with the school mascot. Not all graduates are into school spirit however, so keep the personality and preferences of the honoree in mind.
  
  Choose and prepare foods with the graduate in mind--find out what his favorite foods are and serve them at the party. Consider his extracurricular activities: if he's in the band, you could serve cupcakes with figurines of instruments or musicians. If he is into theater, you could decorate the cake with the sock and buskin, the tragic and comic masks that symbolize the theater.
  
  

Toasts

• Graduations often require speeches--even at the party. At some point during the graduation party, it's nice if the graduate's father, mother or close friend take the time to make a small speech. It's best to have the content of the speech planned out in advance. Common graduation speeches touch on the graduate's achievements (whether scholarly or personal), favorite memories or fun talents. A nice touch is a quote from the graduate's favorite book.
  
  

Music

• Creating a playlist for the graduation party is another way to showcase the graduate's personality. For a graduate fond of her old school or excited about the next one, you can include recordings of the school song. Find out what music she listens to--pop, dance, jazz, classical or others--and create a playlist with her tastes in mind. If this seems intimidating, you can always ask one of her friends to create a playlist; friends often have an excellent idea of what the graduate listens to.