<p>My cousin added an insert into her daughter's college graduation announcement with a picture and inspiring personal message that we have decided to emulate for our high school graduate. We put a picture and the following in our son's announcement:</p>
<p>"Next year, I will be attending xxxx, majoring in xxxx. I look forward to studying hard and playing hard.</p>
<p>When I graduated from kindergarten at xxxx, I was told to remember my ABCs: appropriate dress, be nice, and be colorful; the joy is in the journey. I still remember.</p>
<p>xxxx"</p>
<p>Does anybody else have good ideas for personalizing their high school graduation announcements?</p>
<p>I kind of regret shelling out the money for the traditional cards. A co-worker said she does sort of a scrap-booking page to announce her kids graduation. It's a little more casual and she can add the invitation to the grad party at the same time.</p>
<p>I word-processed my own announcements with a lovely script-y font. It did include the name of the high school & the college of matriculation. I inserted one of the really nice graduation solo photos (not in cap & gown) & chose elegant stationery inside a vellum covering I think, & then a hand-done looking envelope with a print on the flap and/or lining. I may have tied the inside package with a bow or with a tassle. I could do that only because we weren't sending out a million of them -- just to select people; many of those weren't coming to the graduation, but had cared about her all her life, etc. I felt they would feel honored to be remembered in a personal way.</p>
<p>It was not "scrapbooky." It was formal looking, but personal & I think very attractive.</p>
<p>The ones who were also being invited to the graduation had an invitation to the event also inserted within the package. (My font was harmonious with that font which was issued from the high school, of course; LOL: call me obsessive.)</p>
<p>We sent a photocard with a picture of DD at age 18 months old - and the words, "join us in celebrating, DD is graduating!" Cheap, easy, and amazing to see how she had grown from little baby to grown woman.</p>
<p>The HS supplied very nice, elegant announcements, but I added an insert. I scanned the college crest, and printed it on vellum with something like "Class of '09" "_____ College" "city, state" underneath his name.</p>
<p>i thought they were a complete waste of money in high school, and i chose not to do them in college for that same reason. anyone who knew me well enough to get an announcement obviously knew i was graduating.. and there was no need to send them a little note stating it.</p>
<p>Are graduation announcements common all over the country, or is it more of a regional thing? We have received these from old friends in the South, but not generally from people in the NE.</p>
<p>The parties are big in our area, as well. In our case, several families have gone together on the party to avoid the common case where the kids and neighbors have multiple, conflicting graduation parties to attend, leaving the family to celebrate alone after a bief stop-by or the graduate feeling left out after his friends quickly have to leave to go to the next party. Our group's guest list is at 250 (104 of which are graduating seniors).</p>
<p>I live in NY(2nd kid graduating in June) I've never seen a graduation announcement like you are talking about.People have HS graduation parties,but you send out a regular invite not an announcement with picture,etc.</p>
<p>We didn't send announcements last year (although his school sent us about 50 beautifully engraved cards they are still in the box in the kitchen junk drawer, I couldn't think of what to do with them, that sort of thing is just not a tradition in our family or our region)...but I received one that I kind of liked. It listed all the little ways that the people receiving the card had influenced the kid's life. Not with names - but you could tell which one applied to you. For instance, when this kid was young I used to take him birding and one phrase on the card said something about "introduced me to the joys of nature through little chickadees." I thought it was cute.</p>
<p>I also think it must be regional. Like fendergirl said, anyone who knows our kids, knows when they are graduating. In our neck of the woods, it would be interpreted as a plea for presents. But apparently other places have different customs.</p>
<p>We didn't do anything for the HS graduations but b/c we were hosting a party for S's college graduation last year, word-processed an invite using Avery ivory embossed invitation cards. Used the school's logo on the front (in color) and printed information about the ceremony and the party inside. Simple and quite affordable.</p>
<p>I admit, I did originally interpret these to be, as garland suggests, a "plea for presents" since this is not done around here. Just curious, do most people send a graduation gift when they receive one of these ? Wow, you really do learn something new every day!</p>
<p>We're not sending out graduation invitations - just a small family party - but after reading all this I think we might send out a small announcement with a picture in cap-and-gown, mainly to advise what college our S chose. We ran into a lot of relatives while visiting schools in their areas, and discussed others they had gone to - so they might be interested in knowing where he's ending up. I hope no one thinks it's a plea for presents! We've hardly ever gotten notices on other graduations; just heard casually about college choices later on.</p>
<p>On a related note, for those of you who live in a region that sends graduation announcements, what is the going rate for a gift (check)? I anticipate getting a few of these from friends and family members (nieces, nephews and cousins), and have no idea what to give. It's been a long time since anyone I know has graduated from high school.</p>
<p>When I send out a graduation announcement to someone, it usually results in a present. No one around here thinks it is rude becuase they all did it, and now it's my turn. The usual gift is somewhere between $25-$50, depending on your relationship with the person.</p>
<p>I agree that the announcements are a Southern tradition.
I sent $50 for each of my North Carolina cousins, when they sent an announcement. We did not send announcements for my son last year. I did not want relatives who are not in the same financial situation I am to feel obligated to send a gift.
We invited immediate relatives, close family friends and some of my son's friends to a luncheon on graduation day. We just made invitations on the computer and added a nice casual photo. People brought gifts; everything from $ to CDs, to bath towels and shower accessories for dorm use. It was a lot of fun and fit our family style very well.</p>