Hats Off to the Grad: A Few Words About Graduation Announcements

If you’re the parent of a child on any educational threshold, you know that graduation is rapidly approaching. Normally, a graduation announcement post on The PaperStyle Blog would entail a list of useful tips or some highlighted products from our website. But as a recent college graduate, I thought I might be able to give our readers some insights about graduation announcements based on my own personal experience (and that of my family).
 
I graduated from the University of California, Riverside in June of 2012 and my family purchased my graduation announcements through the university. They were absolutely beautiful: high-quality paper with feathered edges, inner and outer envelopes, envelope seals, and thank you notes of the same paper stock. Each announcement had an embossed image of the university’s seal on it. But even after ordering the smallest package of 25, the bundle still cost over eighty dollars. For some, this cost seems minimal for something as momentous as a graduation, especially if you’ve already spent tens of thousands of dollars on tuition. However, this obviously isn’t an option for everyone.  If you have an extended family or lots of friends, it’s going to cost you, but to announce something as remarkable as a graduation, it shouldn’t.

Similarly, when ordering through a school, or a school-sponsored printer, your options are typically limited. The announcements my family ordered had the option to include or omit a photo, but either way, they were going to turn out looking mostly the same. When you choose to buy from a stationer or order online, your choices will be much broader and you then have the option to include a bit more of your child’s personality. Or their school colors. Or recent photos.

You get the idea.

For the same price I paid for my 25 graduation announcements, through PaperStyle I could have gotten twice as many, and I would have had a huge selection of design options to choose from. Like this one:

Or this one:

Or this one:

 

You get the idea.

So that’s my testimonial. While ultimately, the decision is yours, it’s a good idea to weigh all of your options before you buy. I say this because I know so many students (and families of students) who weren’t aware of all the different options they had. They assumed their best bet was to buy their announcements in the same place they bought their cap and gown, their diploma frame, their class ring, etc. But of course, there are other options. (And as always, PaperStyle would love the opportunity to be your first choice.)

To see more Graduation Announcement Tips, check out this post!