Leadership is essential. The larger the group, the more difficult it is to make plans that will please everyone.  Those who undertake to lead a graduation should clearly state from the beginning what the focus of the group will be and set minimum and maximum limits on the number of participants. Our experience has been that very diverse groups that attempt to make plans by democracy find themselves mired in unpleasant debates, trying to please everyone and ultimately pleasing no one.  The most successful (and least stressful) events seem to be led by an individual or a small group of leaders with a clear focus who do some of the legwork ahead of time and say "This is what we are planning. If this is what you want, join us, and help make it happen." 

Group Size is important. It determines to a large extent how personal the ceremony can be for each graduate and how much seating capacity will be needed.  It is a good idea to think through the implications of group size and decide what your expectations are before posting a notice for the first meeting. 

August or September: Hold your first meeting to get an idea of the number of families interested, and to set a tentative date,  time, and place for the ceremony. Choose an alternate date as well, and be sure that each family marks BOTH dates on their calendar.  You will also want to choose dates for future "graduation" meetings so they can be marked on calendar well in advance. Some groups plan regular opportunities for the seniors to get together throughout the year. TIP: A ceremony held on a Saturday afternoon allows travel time for out-of-town guests, and also provides the opportunity for families to have a private gathering afterward if they desire to do so. TIP: collect e-mail addresses at this meeting to make future communication easier.

September: Ask us for a free sample kit if your group is 10 or larger, and see our "decision-making" guide to help with the initial discussion of what to plan for the apparel, diplomas, and covers if you would like to purchase our graduation package. If saving money is priority (and why wouldn't it be?!) then it would be wise to strive for one of our earliest deadlines on the package orders.

TIP: Cap and gown color can be one of the hard decisions.  Keep in mind that in most homeschool group graduations, each student represents a different school. Some groups choose to wear black caps and gowns and let each student choose their own tassel color to represent the different schools. Others allow each student to wear the cap and gown color of their choice. The resulting "rainbow" is indicative of the diversity of homeschoolers, and it is also easier for families to use a borrowed cap and gown if the apparel is not all the same!

We can make suggestions for a group order, whether it is a package or an on-line ordering page of separate items.  At the meeting this month there should also be a discussion of what the graduation and reception will include so that costs can be estimated. You may want to have a committee do the leg-work on the costs and meet again before October. Many groups come up with a flat fee for each student that includes ceremony costs (such as rent, pianist/musician fees, speaker fees) and reception costs like food and paper goods.We offer a package of cap, gown, tassel, diploma and diploma cover. If your group would like to order announcements, you may choose the package "add-on" of 30 announcements and 50 name cards. Many groups purchase a basic package and then leave the announcements up to each family to do as they want.

Not sure of the best way to order? If you would like to give us a call and let us know the number of participants in your group, the deadline that will work for you, and what items you need, we can help you determine the best ordering method for your group. The group package is the most popular and most cost effective, but for some groups, just a private ordering page works better.  

October: The cost should be determined by this point, and a tentative amount per family determined, based on an estimated number of participants. It is wise to request a deposit early on so that planning can be more definite. If a deposit must be given for the hall, for example, the deposit secures a commitment to give you an idea of how many are serious about participating. Also, if you plan on purchasing one of our packages and set it up with a certain number in the group, having people drop out at the last minute COULD change the price for the others. Having a non-refundable deposit to fall back on means that if a family drops out, some funds are available to help defray costs that could be incurred because of their decision. TIP: Setting a deadline in early November for your families allows you to get a commitment from them in time to order a group package by mid-December for the free shipping on the package.

NOTE: It may seem early to finalize your group in the fall, but doing so allows those families that CAN commit early to get the best prices, allows them to have the cap and gown in time for Senior Portraits, and allows you to better plan the event. You may still decide to accept latecomers to your group and have them order their cap, gown, and diploma directly from us.  They will have to pay the regular prices and their own shipping costs, but it allows you to add latecomers without the hassle of having to get those items for them. We suggest a date of 8 weeks before the ceremony as a final deadline for any latecomers to be added. This gives them time to order their items directly from the "regular pages" of our web site, and lets you know with certainty the size of your group. However, we have had groups decide to admit latecomers as late as a week before the ceremony. With a rush order and overnight shipping, we can get the items to them in time.

A note about announcement options:

If you've elected NOT to get announcements with your package, or if you are not ordering a package, your group can still use its buying power to purchase the announcements / invitations. There are two ways this can be done.

1. The most cost-effective path (highest quality for the lowest price) is to order one design for all the families that want them, with a text that gives the information about the ceremony but not the student name. A name card is used to personalize it. This is the most economical way to go, because the printing price goes down as the individual press run goes up. It is much less expensive to print 500 of the same announcement than to print 25 each of 20 different announcements! However, in order to realize the savings of a common print run, everyone will need to agree on the design and wording, and there must be a minimum of 300 from the group in order to utilize on-line ordering. We can send samples of the announcements that are available for this type of order. They are found in the Distinctive Announcement section of our site.

2. Another option is to have each family purchase their own from our main web site, right along with their package order. We offer the "Semi personalized" announcements and name cards, and the "Foil Panel Card" announcements, and other designs that vary from year to year. These are styles that we produce at our facility and can ship right along with the group's package order. These are also designs that are affordable in smaller quantities, so each family can order what they need and have it shipped along with their package. See our announcement options page for more information.

If you call us with an estimate of how many announcements your families need, and we can help you with pricing, make suggestions, and give you the production time on any particular announcement that you are considering. We can also send samples, though we ask that you return them to us. TIP:  Announcements should be in the mail 3 weeks before the event, as it takes some time to address the inner and outer envelopes by hand. Ideally, you'd like the graduates to have their announcements about 5 weeks before graduation. Most of the designs on the regular pages of our site are printed and shipped within 2 or 3 days of your order, but those in the "Distinctive" section take about two weeks including the proof. To be on the safe side, we suggest placing your group announcement order 7 or 8 weeks before the graduation date so there will be ample time to receive and distribute them to the families.

Late October or Early November: As each family commits to participation by turning in a deposit, let them know that you will be e-mailing them the URL for the group's ordering page once it is set up. If your group is planning to purchase the announcement "add-on" for their package, the November meeting is a good time to present the options for the announcements so that they can consider the style, color, etchings, and wording. We'd like to know which announcement you've chosen when you set up your page so that we can picture the card, but the details for the inside of the card can wait.  

If your group has decided to purchase a package but have just one person place the order on line on behalf of the others (ordering method "B" as described on this page), you may want to be passing out the handout in late October or November so that they can be collected, along with the payment, by the end of November. This allows you time to get the order in to us by mid-December's "free shipping" deadline.

Mid November: Hopefully you'll have a good idea by now of your participation numbers and you can contact us to have us put up your group's ordering page and discount coupon. Putting up the page in mid November will allow everyone 4 weeks to order their packages if you are striving for the December deadline with free shipping.

December:   TIP: December is a good month to skip having a meeting!

Late February or early March:

Details about the ceremony should be falling into place: music, speakers, a program or bulletin for the service, refreshments, group photo plans, perhaps a date and time for a rehearsal, maybe some plans for someone to take a video of the event.  There are so many things you can do ahead of time to make the event memorable!  If your group is small enough to have a display table for each graduate at the reception, families can begin collecting items and photos for display.

Six weeks before the ceremony: distribute the announcements, if your group has ordered together. 

Three weeks previous: Each family should be mailing their graduation announcements

Two weeks previous: If you have taken a group photo ahead of the event, it could be included with a press release to the local newspaper. TIP: Be sure to line up some help for the reception so that graduates' mothers don't all end up in the kitchen! 

The day before the ceremony: it is a good idea to hold a rehearsal the day before. If your group is small enough to have a display table for each graduate at the reception, this is also the time to get it set up.

Graduation day: Arrive early. Bring your camera. Relax and enjoy the ceremony and celebration!