Graduation is one of the most meaningful milestones in one’s life.
It is the ending of a significant chapter while signaling the start of a new one, and deserves to be celebrated as such.
No great graduation party is complete without some delicious graduation catering and no memorable experience is complete without an exciting theme that helps you celebrate the occasion in style.
Starting with a theme will help you plan other elements of your party and ensure that the food also reflects the importance of this occasion.
You can go many different routes when it comes to choosing your menu, depending on what type of atmosphere and mood you want to create.
A Formal Graduation Celebration
Graduation can be the perfect milestone to get a little fancy.
One of the most important factors to ensure a formal graduation party catering theme is to serve food that is easy to eat.
Messy dishes or dishes that may drip or stain easily should be avoided at all costs to protect the black-tie clothing of your guests—the last thing you want is for some stray food spills to ruin a carefully chosen outfit.
This is why, for formal graduation catering, your best bet is going to be one-bite hors d’oeuvres which are easy to pick up and eat.
Since the only requirement is that these menu items aren’t too messy, your menu can also be quite flexible.
Just remember to have your food served by waiters so guests will be free to mix and mingle.
A Casual Cookout
If formal isn’t the style you or your graduate is looking for, you can opt to go for a casual cookout.
Here you can have a good old-fashioned backyard BBQ, complete with your favorite selection of meats, ideally prepared fresh on the grill by skilled caterers.
Traditional BBQ menus generally consist of;
- Baked beans
- Mac and cheese
- Corn on the cob
- Fresh rolls and butter
- Any meat or fish items such as pork, beef, chicken, and prawns
- Salads such as pasta salad, caesar salad, potato salad, traditional green salad, and coleslaw
This is a fun graduation party catering theme and can really help everyone relax and take a well-deserved break after a long period of stressful studying.
Having your caterers grill up a delicious menu and handle the serving of the food will also take away the hassle a BBQ usually entails.
This option can also double as a perfect back-to-school catering service.
A Hawaiian Luau
This is always an exciting theme to have; reminding your guests of the festivity and fun of summer.
Commit to the theme by arranging a caterer who offers popular Hawaiian menu items like:
- Poi: a staple starch dish.
- Kalua pig: similar to pulled pork, but with a woody, smoky flavor.
- Poke: a dish consisting of freshly diced raw fish, rice, and vegetables.
- Lomi salmon: raw salmon cured with salt and diced up along with tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers.
- Chicken long rice: inspired by Chinese cuisine, this dish is a combination of clear ming bean noodles cooked in chicken soup.
- Tropical fruit like pineapple or passion fruit.
Even if you don’t want to stick with a traditional menu for your luau, including some of these elements in your catering will make for a nicely-themed spread of graduation catering food.
A Mexican Theme
Prepare for a fun fiesta that transports your graduates straight to Mexico.
With the variety of delicious Mexican foods out there, this theme gives you a wide range of catering options.
You can take your pick from:
- Tacos
- Burritos/burrito bowls
- Quesadillas
- Nachos
- Guacamole
- Salsa and chips
- Mexican-style rice
- Enchiladas
- Churros
These can come with a number of fillings depending on your preferences.
Another fun option for this graduation party catering theme is offering a make-your-own-taco bar so guests can get creative with their food, and make something that suits their unique tastes.
Pick the Perfect Graduation Catering Theme
Graduations don’t come around often, so it’s always best to make your graduation celebration as memorable as you can with a graduation catering theme.
So pick your theme and celebrate your graduates in style with some delicious food!
