31 Insanely Cute Backyard College Graduation Party Ideas You’ll Love
If you’re planning an outdoor graduation party, you might be looking for backyard college graduation party ideas. Here are some of the best outdoor college graduation party ideas to help you plan!
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Backyard college graduation party ideas have become super popular in the past few years, probably because less people wanted to have a lot of people in an enclosed space for a party due to COVID.
If you’re wondering “what do I need for an outdoor graduation party?” after you read this post you will have so many cute ideas for planning your backyard college grad party.
This post is all about backyard college graduation party ideas.
The Best Backyard College Graduation Party Ideas To Try This Year
1. Graduation Year Balloon Pallet Backdrop
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Balloons of the grad year are a staple graduation party decoration. Pallets propped against a tree and decorated with balloons like this are the perfect graduation party backdrop idea! Plus, this idea is budget friendly because you can usually find people giving away pallets for free on Facebook marketplace.
2. Vine Balloons
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This is one of my FAVORITE grad party decor ideas and one I definitely would have copied for my grad party. If you want to copy the picture you’ll need some big balloons like these, but this could be done with normal sized balloons as well. Then you’ll just use some fake vines as the strings!
3. Cut Fruit Flower Vase Centerpieces
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This is such a cute centerpiece idea. If you don’t want to bother with cutting all the fruit yourself, you could get a pack of fake fruit slices like these.
Related Post: 23 Amazing College Graduation Party Ideas To Recreate This Year
4. Hydration Station
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This is a grad party idea that’s been really popular the past few years, and for good reason. It’s so cute and such an easy way to dispense drinks. If you’d like to copy the chalkboard decor in the back as well, you’ll need a chalkboard like this one.
5. Floating Tea Light Centerpieces
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This might be my favorite graduation party centerpiece idea on this list. It is so lovely and magical and would look so nice for a backyard grad party. It would also look SO cute paired with the vine balloons from earlier omg. Obsessed.
6. Floral Drink Bar
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I know I’m saying a lot of things on this list are my favorite but this is my favorite graduation food/ drink idea I’ve seen yet. Would 100% do this at my grad party. The floral ice really makes this so good. To recreate it you’ll need a bucket like this one, some pink flowers, some red berries, some drink bottles, and you’ll need some little flowers to freeze in ice!
7. Balloon Chalkboard Entrance Sign
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This is a really cute graduation entrance idea! You’ll need a chalkboard sign like this one and some balloons to recreate it.
Related Post: The Best Grad Party Ideas For An Unforgettable Party
8. A Walk Through The Years
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This is a very cute sentimental graduation decor idea. To copy it you’ll need some posts for your yard, and then you’ll want to decorate them with fake vines and string lights. Then you can attach some pictures of your grad throughout the years. 🙂
9. Tree Stump Mason Jar Lights
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This is another really magical decoration idea. You’ll just put some tea light candles in mason jars to recreate it. If you don’t want to be bothered with lighting every individual candle, you could get a pack of battery operated tea lights that come with a remote.
10. Backyard Movie Party Set Up
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This is such a cozy decoration idea! If you want to recreate it you’ll need some cushions, poufs, and rugs for the ground. If you want to do the movie screen part as well for your grad party, you’ll need a projection screen and projector.
11. Baby Pool For Drinks
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This is a very clever way to give out drinks at a graduation party. They used 5 gallon buckets to stack baby pools on top of one another.
12. Candy Buckets
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Candy buckets are another cute graduation party food idea. You can put little chalkboard signs in the buckets that say things like “student loans,” “so long suckers,” “class rings,” etc!!
Related Post: 30 Graduation Gift Ideas For Her That She’s Sure To Love
13. Mason Jar With String Lights Centerpieces
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This is another very pretty centerpiece/ lighting idea! All you’ll need are some mason jars and battery operated string lights.
14. Paper Lanterns
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This is one of the prettiest backyard graduation decorations I’ve seen! To recreate this all you’ll need is a pack of paper lanterns like these and some globe string lights.
15. Photo Display Pallets
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This is basically like the pallet balloon backdrop from earlier except as a photo display!
16. Globe String Lights
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Globe lights are the PERFECT lighting idea for backyard graduation parties. Plus, they look so pretty!
17. Hanging Flowers
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This is another really beautiful and magical decor idea! To recreate this you could either get a pack of fake (or real) flowers and attach them with fishing line, or you could get packs of these fake wisteria (they come is all different colors that would look really pretty together!! Blue, pink, white, purple, and yellow) and they would create a similar effect!!
18. Mason Jar Drink Dispenser With Glass Bottles
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Another very cute drink display. I love how these people used the glass bottles and striped straws!! They really level the whole thing up.
Related Post: 23 Unforgettable College Graduation Pictures Ideas You Need To Copy
19. Congrats Grad Banner
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This is another staple graduation party decoration idea and it is foolproof.
20. Smores Station
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If I was throwing a backyard graduation party, this is probably what I would do for food! This is a perfect idea if you have a fire pit in your backyard, but if you don’t, you could use this electric smores maker!!
21. Grad Marquee Letters
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Another very cute graduation decor staple is marquee letters!! They look very cute decorated with a balloon arch as well.
22. Fruit Cups
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This is a great graduation food idea if you want to offer something healthy! All you’ll need is some fruit and some fruit cups.
Related Post: 35 College Graduation Gifts For Best Friend They Actually Want
23. Low Table With Ground Cushions
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This is another very magical decor idea!! To recreate it you’ll need lots of ground cushions and a long low table.
24. Pasta Bar
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A pasta bar is something that I had never thought of for a graduation party until now!! It is such a good idea!! You could use a buffet server like this to keep the different sauces warm. Genius.
25. Tree Hung Pictures
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This is another cute sentimental photo display idea! It would probably take a lot of time to hang all the pictures individually, but the result would be worth it!
26. Polaroids
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This is a really cute way to get some momentos from the party!! Guest will take a picture with the polaroid camera and put it in the book and write the grad a little note.
Related Post: The Best Graduation Outfit Ideas To Wear In 2024
27. Snuggle Up Blanket Stand
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This is a great grad party idea if the weather is cooler!! Would be perfect for an outdoor winter graduation party idea.
28. Donut Bar
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Donut bars are super popular for graduation parties right now, and for good reason!! They’re so cute. You can put some donut holes in a tiered basket like this and get a donut display board.
29. Veggie Cups
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This is very similar to the fruit cup idea but with vegetables!! I love how they used a tiered serving stand for the veggie cups.
30. Strike A Post Rustic Backdrop
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This is another really cute backdrop idea for graduation photoshoots!! I could not for the life of me find a garland like the one in the picture, but the one I linked would give a similar rustic vibe!!
31. Taco Bar
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Taco bars are another really good graduation food idea!! Plus, they’re very ~picturesque~
This post was all about super cute backyard college graduation party ideas.
More Posts You’ll Love:
23 Amazing College Graduation Party Ideas To Recreate This Year
The Best Grad Party Ideas For An Unforgettable Party
35 College Graduation Gifts For Best Friend They Actually Want
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