How to Throw a Dental School Graduation Party

I have been meaning to create this post since the day we had graduation, and I am thrilled to be sharing this with you today!!! For months my friends and I went to all lengths to create this amazing luncheon that was held directly after graduation for our doctor husbands. Our husbands worked their butts off for 4 years, and they deserved something special to honor their achievements. We wanted to create a party that was fun, matched the Midwestern University theme, but most of all to have a place for our families that traveled for the graduation. The party was an ultimate success, but it was a ton of work. If you are looking to do a dental themed graduation party for your newly graduated doctor keep reading to learn how to throw a dental school graduation party.

1. Location

You want to pick a location that is big enough to fit all your guests comfortably. Since some of my friends come from large families we needed to have a huge space. We ended up having our luncheon at one of our church buildings, and the tables and chairs were provided.

2. Coordination / Assignments

Putting on a party like this is no easy task, and the cost can add up very quickly. Since this was a friend effort we all decided that we needed to split up the costs, and assigned everyone a task such as buying napkins, table cloths, drinks, etc. Once everyone knew their assignments then the planning for the whole party began. Since the luncheon was an hour after graduation we needed to coordinate when we would be setting up. The night before the graduation one of the gals coordinated that we all gather at the church to put up all the decorations. This saved us some much time and stress since we didn't have to worry about the set up right after graduation. 

3. Food

Since we were feeding massive amounts of people we decided that it would be best for our kitchens/sanity that we all buy large amounts of premade food. #thankyoucostco! With the stress of having so much family in town to entertain the last thing you want to do is slave away in the kitchen making homemade croissants when costco has some already prepared. Our menu was fairly simple and consisted of salads, fruit, croissant sandwiches, pinwheel roll ups, bagged chips, and veggie trays. 

Finally, every good party isn't complete without some delicious desserts.  A friend of mine Katie from  Siftbake House AZ made these darling cookies and macaroons for me. I have worked with Katie before, and her treats are just as tasty as they look. I told her that for the cookies I wanted them to be a mixture of teeth and cacti in honor of the boys graduating in Arizona!!! When I saw the finished product of the cookies and macs, I text her immediately saying "Has anyone ever cried over how cute your designs are?" Serious.... there was some tears shed. 

We knew we wanted the boys to cut a cake ( wedding style ;) ) all together so we got this gorgeous gold and navy cake made for the party. The cake was topped with this darling cake topper from Event Print. Since we had a large amount of attendees we decided that we would supplement the cake with some additional cupcakes. We jazzed up the cupcakes by adding navy and gold glitter teeth cupcake toppers from Pretty Rustic Wreath.  The gold glitter teeth actually reminded me of gold fillings. You guys, it's all about the details. 

4. Buffet / Dessert Table Display

Since the luncheon was buffet style we decided to have our longest table be the one that all the food was on so that people can make lines on either side. We covered the buffet table in a navy table cloth, and pinned a custom MWU graduation banner from Event Print across the side of the table. Since the table was navy we got gold plates, and gold striped napkins from Twigs and Twirl to pop against the navy.

For the dessert table we decided to place it against a wall so that we could have the darling DMD balloons from Paperscapes be the backdrop for the table. We added the chalkboard that said 2017 to add some more dimension to the table. All the cute desserts were placed on decorative stands, and the table was covered in gold and navy confetti!  

5. Decorating the Tables

Centerpieces can get expensive so I decided to be crafty to make something fun, and most importantly low budget. I bought 8 $1 mason jars from Michaels, and spray painted them all gold. In each mason jar I placed these 2017 graduation decorations from Ideas in Paper Inc. To add something sweet to the table I made diploma cookies, and filled the empty space in the jar. These were so easy to make! Get those long cookies that you would find in a tin jar, and take ribbon to wrap around it. BAM! Diploma cookie!!! 

Since the room was so big we added balloons to each table from Paperscapes to fill the space. I absolutely loved the clear confetti ones that were filled with gold confetti.The table was then finished by adding gold confetti. 

6. Photo Backdrop

Photo backdrops are now the thing to have at a party. This is a fun way for your guests to take pictures in front of a themed backdrop to remember that special day. To give our backdrop some color we pinned an extra blue table cloth on the wall where our photo station would be. We then decorated it by adding these amazing 2017 balloons from Lovely Party Studio, and decorative fans from Event Print. Since one of my friends is also a photographer she brought her studio lightening to give better light for the backdrop. People had a blast getting their whole family pictured in our DIY backdrop.

7. DIY Graduation Map

This to me was one of my favorite things about the party because it showed our guests where everyone is going after graduation. When I first saw this map it made things feel so real to see where the next chapter of our lives is taking us. My friend made this by downloading the image from google, blowing it up, and then gluing it to a poster board. She then printed out pictures of all the families to display where everyone was heading. Luckily the church had a large board where we could attach the map. Since we had some extra confetti balloons from Paperscapes we added them to board to frame the map. 

The best thing about the party was that it gave us a chance to rejoice with our new doctors, and meet the families of our friends. I hope you got some inspiration from this post on how to throw a dental school graduation party!

Big Thank you to Our Sponsors of the Post

Pretty Rustic Wreath - Molar Tooth Cake toppers

Paperscapes - Gold + Navy Balloons, 2017 DMD balloons, confetti balloons

Event Print - MWU Graduation Banner, Cake Topper, and photo backdrop fans

Twigs and Twirl - Gold napkins 

Ideas in Paper Inc - 2017 graduation center pieces

Sift Bakehouse AZ - Cacti + Teeth Cookies, macaroons

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