Catering the Festivities: Recipes and Drink Ideas for Graduation Parties

The scale of the event, the celebration's theme, and the tastes of the attendees all play a role in choosing the best catering choice for a graduation party. The idea is to have cuisine that enhances the festive mood, whether you choose a sit-down formal meal, a large buffet, or a casual backyard BBQ. Here are some ideas and possibilities for each type, along with recipes for snacks and drinks with a graduation theme.

1. Casual Backyard Barbecue

A laid-back, informal graduation celebration might be ideal over a backyard BBQ. It's important to maintain a straightforward yet tasty meal. Present traditional barbecue mainstays such as skewered chicken, hot dogs, vegetarian kebabs, and grilled hamburgers. Serve them with light dishes like baked beans, corn on the cob, and macaroni salad. S'mores bars or graduation hat cupcakes for dessert will carry the theme through.

Recipe Idea: Graduation Cap Cupcakes

• Ingredients: Reese's small peanut butter cups, square chocolate bits, chocolate cupcakes, frosting, and licorice.

• Directions: Top each cupcake with an upside-down small peanut butter cup. Place a square piece of chocolate on top and drizzle some frosting over it. As a tassel, add a tiny bit of licorice.

Beverage Idea: Lemonade Station

• For a homemade lemonade bar, provide a variety of flavored lemonades (traditional, raspberry, and mint) in mason jars with fresh fruit as a garnish.

2. Buffet-Style Celebration

Buffet-style catering is a great option for larger occasions since it offers your guests a wide selection of food options. Trays of salads, pasta, sandwiches, and finger foods like tiny quiches, chicken wings, and sliders are common buffet fare. A dessert bar featuring fruit skewers, diploma-shaped biscuits, and cake pops will add interest.

Recipe Idea: Diploma Sandwich Rolls

• Ingredients: Tortillas, deli meats, cheese, cream cheese, and chives.

• Directions: Lay out the tortilla with cream cheese, top with deli meat and cheese, and roll it up like a diploma. Tie each one like a rolled-up diploma with a little chive.

Beverage Idea: Graduation Punch

• Ingredients: Orange sherbet, fruit punch, and lemon-lime soda.

• Directions: Combine equal portions of fruit punch and lemon-lime soda in a large punch bowl. Add scoops of orange sherbet immediately before serving for a delightful, frothy effect.

3. Formal Sit-Down Dinner

A formal sit-down supper would be a more refined event. A three-course lunch can be provided at smaller, more intimate parties with this choice. Start with a light appetizer like shrimp cocktail or bruschetta, then move on to a plated meal like vegetarian lasagna or grilled salmon with seasonal veggies. The evening will be completed with a gorgeously adorned graduation cake serving as the centerpiece.

Recipe Idea: Graduation Cap Cake

• Ingredients: Chocolate cake, fondant, square chocolate pieces, ribbon.

• Directions: Round chocolate cake, baked. Cover a square piece of chocolate with fondant to serve as the cap, then lay it atop the cake. To finish off the style, add a ribbon as the tassel.

Beverage Idea: Sparkling Mocktails

• Serve non-alcoholic sparkling drinks in champagne flutes, such as a concoction of white grape juice and ginger ale. Add a strawberry as a sophisticated garnish.

Final Thoughts

Whatever the style of setting—casual, buffet, or formal—guest preferences and the mood you want to create for the event will determine which catering option is best. Providing enjoyable snacks and drinks with a graduation theme will bring everything together and make the occasion unforgettable for the graduates and their guests.