Meet our two moms: Karen is a stay-at-home mom who had many years worth of memorabilia gathered for her graduate and his party. And our other mom, Danna, is a working mom whose yard was completely torn up only two months before graduation. Even with their hands full, these two moms pulled together a couple of fun, creative, and organized graduation parties for their two graduates Brett and Ricky. They shared these tips with Lakestyle readers to help simplify the whole process.

This day is all about the graduate!

The party should be planned around them, their favorite foods, their favorite pastimes, and anything else they love.

Choose your setting.

Brett's party was centered in the front yard and garage, Ricky's in the back yard and around the pool. Just be sure you have some kind of cover for guests in case of stormy weather; the garage or a tent works well.

Add to the festivities with a few clever ideas.

You will need a place to collect cards; these are great ideas to consider; Brett had a basket and Ricky had a painted mailbox. Centerpieces are a clever way to spread photos throughout the party. Both Danna and Karen were able to incorporate photos into many things, and also had some posters made as well. Use a theme of something the graduate likes, for example, a 'car' theme, or a 'sports' theme. Karen made wonderful use of Brett's sports jerseys to show how much he'd grown and changed throughout the years.

Menus should incorporate the graduate's favorite foods.

Keeping the menu simple will help control chaos at the party. Ricky loves breakfast foods so Danna had an omelet bar set up at his party, as well as a coffee bar. Brett loves pizza, so his mom Karen had them being baked fresh throughout the open house.

Other things to consider:

• Get started early! Creating videos or blow ups of photos takes a lot of time, especially during graduation season.

• Have water bottles with the graduate's picture on them.

• Consider having your party on a weekend other than the actual graduation so that you and the graduate can enjoy the festivities more. Consider a Friday night as it leaves the rest of the weekend open to attend other parties instead of spending the weekend getting ready for your own.

• Pick a theme. Some creative ideas are; Mexican food and music, ice cream social, or desserts only. Keep it simple. No one is extremely hungry because they are generally traveling from party to party. Another option is to have your party at the park or combine your party with another graduate if the two are good friends.

• Gifts for graduates can be easy; they want and need money! Suggested amounts are $15-$25 for good friends; $50-$100 for your graduate's best friend. Gift cards to Target, Best Buy, and Bed, Bath and Beyond are also popular.

• Print out the graduate's nicknames, favorite phrases or quips. Laminate them, cut them out and attach to centerpieces to give guests insight into the graduate's world.

• Rather than a large cake, consider serving themed cupcakes as they are much easier to serve. They can be decorated with the school letter or mascot and a fun idea is to arrange them in the shape of the school letters.

• Hire someone (or recruit family and friends) to help with the cooking and serving so that you and the graduate can be with the guests.

• Place disposable cameras out for people to help capture the day. A collection of photos in an album will make a great parting gift for the graduates as they head off to college.

• Have an easy activity ready for the graduates and their friends. Volleyball, or something like it, will keep them busy and at your party.

• Place a new address book near the card holder and have guests sign in (including e-mail addresses) and the graduates will have their own directory to take with them to college.

• Shadow boxes also create a great place to store and present memorabilia for the graduate. Having them out at the party will stir up memories for everyone.

By Teri Bennett