Timing guide

When to send graduation announcements

Announcements and party invitations run on two different clocks, and sending them together is why one of them is always late.

A graduation table in warm neutrals with announcement cards tied in twine

An announcement is news. It works two to three weeks before the ceremony or within about two weeks after it, and after that it stops being news and becomes a notification. A party invitation is logistics, and it needs three to four weeks of runway because May and June weekends fill up faster than any other time of year outside December.

Working backwards, the constraint people hit is the photograph. If a senior portrait is going on the card, that shoot has to happen and be delivered before design starts, and portrait photographers are at their busiest in exactly the weeks families remember to book them. Six to eight weeks before the ceremony is when the design conversation should start, not two.

The other pressure is the competition. In a graduating class of four hundred, a lot of families are throwing parties across the same three weekends. The invitation that goes out first generally gets the date. That is a real argument for deciding the party date early, even if every other detail is unsettled.

The timeline, working backwards

Six to eight weeks before the ceremony

Book the portrait, start the design

Photographers are booked solid in graduation season, and nothing can be laid out until the picture exists.

Four weeks before

Party invitations go out

Late spring weekends fill fast and the whole class is competing for the same three of them. First out usually gets the date.

Two to three weeks before

Announcements mail

Close enough that it still reads as news, far enough that it arrives before the ceremony rather than after.

Within two weeks after

The latest an announcement should land

Past that it stops being an announcement. If you have missed the window, send a photo card with a note instead and do not pretend it is timely.

Within two months after

Thank you notes

Handwritten, naming the specific gift. This is the piece graduates skip and grandparents remember.

What goes wrong

The mistakes worth avoiding

Sending announcements and party invitations at the same time, so one of them is wrong.
Booking the portrait after starting the design, which stalls everything.
Choosing the party date late, after the rest of the class has claimed the good weekends.
Mailing announcements in August for a June ceremony.
Sending party details to relatives hundreds of miles away, which reads as a request for a gift.

Questions people ask

Is it too late to send announcements after the ceremony?

Within two weeks, no. After that send a photo card with a personal note instead; it lands better than a late announcement pretending to be timely.

When should the party actually be?

Usually one to three weekends after the ceremony, so it does not collide with the day itself. Pick the date early; that is what gets you the guests.

Do announcements and invitations have to match?

They should relate. Same palette, same type, different weight. Guests who get both should see they belong together.

How long does the design take?

A First Look concept is back in three days and a finished announcement about a week and a half with revisions. Printing sits on top of that.

Want the wording set properly?

Wording is included in anything designed here. Tell me who is hosting and anything delicate about it, and I will set it and show you two versions to choose between. $45 for a First Look concept, back in three days, and it comes off whatever you book.

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