I was one of six parents on the Decorating Committee for our High School Graduation this past weekend. Our job is to transform the gymnasium into something that resembles the theme the grads chose. That was one tiring week of decorating, not to mention the meetings and mental work before that!!!
Their theme greeted you at the doorway. (I’m showing a few decorations here. This is Friday morning, a few hours before everything started – and we’re almost finished decorating. My next post will be after grad, with actual people in the pictures!)
Big silver sparkly numbers made from MDF. They stand about five feet tall and the kids could move them around and pose with them.This picture shows the star lanterns hanging from the ceiling. They were pretty and had a remote control to activate the LED light inside – pretty smart!!! 
All set up for the banquet. That was a late night of setting tables – didn’t get home til almost 11:00pm. The grads on the decorating committee chose the colours of teal and silver – very pretty.
All set up for the banquet. That was a late night of setting tables – didn’t get home til almost 11:00pm. The grads on the decorating committee chose the colours of teal and silver – very pretty.
Notice the huge star archway on the stage made from balloons. It’s the perfect size for a couple to stand under. To the left we had frames hanging for photo shoots, and to the right, we had all sorts of props for fun photo booth pictures against the black curtains.
We had some teal netting and flameless candles and stars as centerpieces. The theme “Our Time to Shine” was printed on the paper that was wrapped around a large candle. They glowed very prettily when the lights were dimmed. Aren’t the napkins adorable!
One of the mom’s made these for each grad and they looked so cute on the tables.
It had a Grad photo on one side, baby picture on the other – a lovely keepsake for the grads. The baby side says:
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
That’s my guy up there in the Genie – he’s actually stuck up there. He’s hanging the moon and went up fine but the thing wouldn’t let him come down again. That’s why they got the ladder, and then found the emergency drop lever – glad he didn’t have to maneuver onto the ladder!
We put a little stool behind the moon so when you sit on it, it looks like you’re sitting on the moon. And no, the moon corner is not finished yet!We used gossamer along the walls to hide the bleachers – making it look much prettier than a gymnasium. We had white Christmas lights in behind, just sitting on the bleachers, adding soft lighting. I must mention that it was disappointing to come back on three mornings and have to re-attach some gossamer that fell during the night!
Some of the grads felt very strongly about not having any plants used in the decorating. They wanted a more vintage look. So there is not one bit of greenery in the whole gym. The old doors and bicycle built for two was our “vintage” corner.
The doors were really cute with snapshots of the Grads throughout the year.It turned out lovely and represented their theme well. Great job Mary and everyone else who helped!!! (And may I say that I’m glad I don’t have another Grad until 2015! And I’ll probably sign up for the Decorating Committee again – it’s a lot of work but I love seeing the gym transformation!)
(Edited to add: here’s the link for seeing the decorations with dazzling graduates in the pictures.)
