How early do we need to get seats for commencement?

My girls friends got there before 8:00 and saved 16 seats in the shade for 2 families. We were very grateful because the traffic was even more horrible than usual, and one set of grandparents didn’t even find us till after the ceremony started! My advice is have a meet up point, and send 1 person to that place to guide people to their seats (trying to tell older people “we’re in front of alumni hall” didn’t work, because there were 1000’s there and they had no idea where alumni hall was! Shade was a must. The strawberries and champagne celebration was great, but we were STARVING by that point, and it was 4:00 before we had lunch. I had granola bars in my purse, which we were all grateful for! Downtown lunch spots were way overcrowded, and I had sandwich trays ready at home, but again… with the traffic leaving VU, it took forever! May be buying the boxed lunches and eating in a shady area outside the champagne tent next time! It was a FABULOUS day overall, and can’t wait to do it again in 2 years!

We got there by 7:30 (amazingly, we didn’t hit any traffic) and found seats under a tree, can’t imagine sitting in the sun. I noticed that the seats in the sun filled up by the time the ceremony began but were empty midway through the ceremony. I brought snacks (peanut butter crackers), wish I had brought other snacks as well. Might be worth it to bring a small cooler to keep water cold. They did have volunteers passing out water during the ceremony as well.
The strawberries were great! We headed over right after the ceremony ended. The tent was very crowded, hot and stuffy. Took awhile to get to the berries and to the champagne. They ran out of glasses at the drink station we went to. I went back for seconds and walked right in, got my strawberries, and walked right out. I would suggest waiting about 20-30 minutes to get the berries and champagne. Much more pleasant experience.
My daughter graduated two years and the ceremony was held in the gym due to rain (luckily the rain stopped for strawberries and champagne). I enjoyed both graduations, though they were very different. In the gym, we were looking down at the graduates as they were on the gym floor and it seemed as if all graduates stayed in their seats for the entire ceremony. Outside, I may not have been able to see as well, but it seemed more like a party. I really enjoyed it! The only negative was that many graduates left their seats after receiving their diplomas and were seen walking around and socializing while the rest of their classmates were still receiving their diplomas. That surprised me.
My son went out to lunch with his dad’s family after and had no problem with crowds. They went to a restaurant over by the football field. He was surprised that it was not crowded.
We had a great graduation dinner that night at a local restaurant, reservations were made in August. It was a great day!

Agree that the whole thing was super fun! We really enjoyed “The Party” on Wednesday night–if you can get there in time for that, you should. The band played a wide variety of dance music and all the students were dancing with their parents and didn’t even seem to be embarrassed by their dancing parents! It was really sweet.

We also went to the champagne and strawberries reception. We got there a little early and were able to snag a small table, which was nice. The strawberries were beautiful and amazing! I wonder what they do with all the leftovers, because they had mountains of them!

Although I had considered scheduling a luncheon, I’m glad that we didn’t because we didn’t get finished with pictures and such until almost 3:00. By that time, we just grabbed lunch at the Moe’s by the bookstore (not crowded). We had dinner already scheduled for a nice restaurant, so we all went back to our hotel rooms and just rested before that. The timing worked out really well.

Best of luck to those who follow us!

I went early (7:15 or so) and got seats for my spouse and I in the shade.
I also was surprised that a number of grads left their seats after getting their diplomas and celebrated with their families by standing in large groups in the aisles thus blocking the view for others. I could still see the big video screen though.
Overall a very pleasant and wonderful commencement.

Lenny2: The leftover strawberries are donated to the Nashville Zoo and Walden’s Puddle. Health regulations prevent them from being re-served to humans (food pantries, etc.) so the animals get a treat! http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/05/strawberries-donated-nashville-zoo-waldens-puddle/

Thanks, @GoDoresx2! That’s really interesting. Those were some of the best straberries ever–so big and sweet–so that animals really do get a treat!

Do all undergraduates participate in the ceremony on Alumni Lawn? Or is it just Arts and Sciences?

All undergraduates participate in the same ceremony on Alumni Lawn. The first half of the ceremony includes all Vanderbilt students. Once all students have been “recommended” to receive their degrees, each school’s graduate students (Law, Medical, Peabody, Business, etc) each go to their respective ceremonies and all undergraduates remain on Alumni Lawn to walk the stage.