Graduation Announcement Wording

If you have a high school senior in the house, you are probably juggling college decisions, summer job searches, party planning, prom, a growing case of senior-itis and thousands of other things. We’re here to help you check one thing off your list: the graduation announcements. The good news is they’re fun and easy to do. If you have a senior portrait, or some other photos you’d like to include, you are halfway done! The other big part is deciding on your graduation announcement wording.

Graduation announcements and invitations come in all shapes and sizes, and the difference between an announcement and an invitation is all in the wording. These days, the terms are used interchangeably, and usually the wording can be customized to your needs. Before you can decide on the graduation announcement wording, you’ll have to answer a few questions:

1. Are you planning a graduation party or open house?
2. Will the recipients be invited to the graduation ceremony?

If you’re planning a party or open house, you will need graduation invitations, which can double as graduation announcements but include all the party details. If you are not having a party, you may want to start with graduation announcements instead, which simply announce that your son or daughter is graduating and from what school. Most graduation announcements also have room for details if you’d like to invite recipients to the actual ceremony or to a party, but you can also leave this information out if you wish. If space at either event is limited, you may want to consider printing party or ceremony details on separate cards, to be inserted for invitees only.

Essential things to include on a graduation announcement:
Name of grad
School
Year of graduating class
Photo (usually the senior portrait)

Example:
We are proud to announce
the graduation of
Jennifer Ann Listrom
from Jefferson High School
Class of 2013
on Thursday, June 6
Jennifer will be attending Loyola University in Chicago this fall.

Essential things to include on a graduation party invitation:
Name of grad
School
Party details (date, time, place, RSVP info)

Example:
Please join us for an Open House
to celebrate the graduation of
Jennifer Ann Listrom
from Jefferson High School
Class of 2013
Thursday, June 6
6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
1425 Jackson Street
Jennifer will be attending Loyola University in Chicago this fall.

Optional things to include on either:
Graduation ceremony time, date and place (if recipients are invited)
Grad’s future plans
Candid photos or baby photos
Favorite high school memories
Inspirational quote

If you need more inspiration for graduation announcement wording, start browsing through some of our graduation announcements. You can use the wording on our samples, or feel free to get creative and write your own. Remember, it’s all about the grad. Whether through words or pictures, be sure to let his or her personality shine!

There are plenty more graduation invitation ideas where these came from! Look for more posts on this topic on our blog.