Congratulations to the Class of 2007!

I had the pleasure of putting together a graduation party for a great group of young women at the Arlington Center for Dance a few weeks ago. A great time was had by all as the graduates move on toward brilliant futures. Two of the nine graduates will be pursuing professional ballet careers.

This party is an example of how you can pull together a fun event on a limited budget. There were approximately 60 guests with a mix of adults and teenagers (health conscious dancers). Held in one of the studios, an otherwise unassuming room was punched up with royal blue tablecloths, bright yellow napkins, and a mix of simple yellow and white floral centerpieces in different vases - arrangements you can put together with supermarket or farmers market purchases. Along with some yellow and blue balloons and some minimal "graduation" decor, it was looking like a party! (Tip: the only decor items that I purchased that said "Class of 2007" were napkins so that you can reuse items from year to year)



The food: a combination of purchases from your favorite local stores! Wegmans provided a crudite, cheese, fruit, and grilled veggies (great for the summer) platters. Whole Foods provided the Mediterranean pasta with shrimp, the chicken Caesar salad, a quesadilla trio of mushroom, black beans, and chicken, and the delicious peaches and cream cake. I made a quick bruschetta (Costco has a pretty good premade mix) to get everyone started. All the food was relatively healthy and reasonably priced.

Some of the happy graduates.