BIG Graduation Party

I had been thinking about this party for 2 years before I finally got to do it.  When it became obvious that both of my children would graduate from college the same week, well, I saw that the time was right!  The Really Big Party is just that.  REALLY BIG.  Really big food, really big dishes, really big drinks, really big jewelry, really big sunglasses, really big stuff everywhere!  The invitations were printed on 11x14 cardstock and mailed in large manilla envelopes.  These were also placed as posters in our workplaces. and e-mailed.  I went to a caterer that had recently opened her own lunch spot to supplement her catering business.  We were her first customers in the new place! She had a room for the buffet, a dining/dance room, and two private dining areas and we used it all! She made us giant pizza slices, a giant cheeseburger (5lb patty and made to order bun), giant hot wings (turkey legs/wings), giant sandwiches and some giant fruit kabobs and giant fondue dips.  All the food was Huge and had to be cut to be served, but the visual impact was FABULOUS! I also found some giant hard candy and lollipops for the guests to have as souveniers.  The 'GRADUATING GUESTS OF HONOR met the party goers at the door wearing their graduation gowns and these enormous mortarboards with tassels!  It was sooo funny!  We had a Big Banner that said "Welcome to the Really Big Party" in the front and in the entry way we had big rings big sunglasses and supersized MardiGras beads for all the guests to wear.  There were 2 giant sized diplomas with my kids names on them over the gift table and two wall sized 100 dollar bills on the wall behind it. The Giant Food Buffet was in a little glass room and we had to walk around the table to load our plates and then out to the dining/dance room. There each table was decorated with a giant cocktail glass with a "faux" cocktail in it.  Champagne Cosmo Appletini Pilsner Brandy Snifter pina coalda and the giant MaiTai with the really big paper umbrella that I made with dowel rods and craft paper. These were another visual treat!  We then had giant sized cocktail glasses for guests to use as well! Those beer drinkers got to choose from buckets of 40's sitting around the place. I got some great photos of people drinking from glasses as big as their heads!  I didn't want to exclude the kids and tweens so I had a couple of rooms in the back set up for them as well.  The little kids had a blow up bounce around ball pit toys and dress up clothes as well as a babysitter.  The older kids had their own room with giant playing cards and a tv with guitar hero and other games set up.  This way everyone could come and have their own kind of fun. Plus moms and dads could drop by and let the little ones play while they visited.  The grownups got to work a wall sized crossword puzzle with a 3 foot pencil and also got to dance to the playlist that my son set up. There were giant dice giant cards and a giant twister game (It looked great but we found that we were just too short to play it...Many tried though! hilarious!) We had blow up light sabers and many "giant jedi" players. (If its there they will play)  We had giant cardboard "stand-ups" of famous people standing around for decoration and there were lots of photo ops there as well. All my family friends kids friends friends-of-friends people off the street and all their kids had a REALLY BIG TIME!   I hope you liked "the Really Big Party"  Idea!  We had so much fun with it!  "