Graduation invitations carry more pride than most. The trick is letting that show without tipping into a press release — and being clear about the one thing guests always wonder, which is whether this is a drop-in or a sit-down.
Say what kind of party it is in the first two lines. Everything else can wait.
What to include
- The graduate’s name — and the school, degree, or programme
- What is being celebrated — “Class of 2026,” “BSc in Nursing,” “finally finished”
- Party format — open house with a window, or a set start time
- Date, time, venue
- RSVP details, and whether guests may bring family
- Gift guidance, if any
Note what is not on that list: the ceremony. A graduation party invitation and a ceremony announcement are different things, and mixing them confuses people into thinking they need tickets.
Formal wording
With great pride, we invite you to celebrate
the graduation of
[NAME]
[DEGREE], [SCHOOL]
Class of [YEAR]
[DAY], [DATE] at [TIME]
[VENUE]
Kindly reply by [RSVP DATE]
Warm wording
[NAME] did it! After [NUMBER] years of hard work, [DEGREE] is official.
Come celebrate with us.
[DAY], [DATE] at [TIME]
[VENUE]
RSVP by [RSVP DATE].
Casual wording
Cap’s off! 🎓
[NAME] is graduating from [SCHOOL] and we’re throwing a party.
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME]
[VENUE]
Food, music, and photos. RSVP by [RSVP DATE].
Open house wording
Most graduation parties are open houses, and the wording has to make that explicit or people will arrive at the start time and stay four hours.
Graduation open house for [NAME]
[SCHOOL], Class of [YEAR]
[DAY], [DATE] · drop in any time between 1pm and 5pm
[ADDRESS]
Come when you can, stay as long as you like.
RSVP helpful but not required.
“RSVP helpful but not required” is worth borrowing. Open houses are hard to count, and that phrasing gets you a rough number without making anyone feel obliged.
Wording by level
High school
Twelve years, one diploma, and a very proud family.
Join us to celebrate [NAME], [SCHOOL] Class of [YEAR].
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME] · [ADDRESS]
College or university
[NAME] is graduating from [UNIVERSITY] with a degree in [SUBJECT].
We would love you to join us for dinner and drinks to mark it.
[DAY], [DATE] at [TIME] · [VENUE]
RSVP by [RSVP DATE].
Masters, PhD, or professional qualification
Postgraduate invitations can afford to be drier and funnier — the audience is usually adult and knows what the work involved.
After [NUMBER] years, [NAME] has submitted, defended, and survived.
Please join us in calling [HIM/HER/THEM] Dr [SURNAME] for the first time.
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME] · [VENUE]
Joint or sibling parties
Two graduates, one party.
[NAME] ([SCHOOL]) and [NAME] ([SCHOOL])
are both done — and we’re celebrating together.
[DAY], [DATE] · [TIME] · [VENUE]
RSVP to [CONTACT] by [RSVP DATE].
How to handle gifts
Graduation is one of the few occasions where guests genuinely expect to give money, and saying nothing is usually the right call — people will do what they were going to do. If the graduate is saving for something specific, one plain line works better than a registry:
No gifts needed. If you’d like to contribute to [NAME]’s moving fund, there’s a link on the RSVP page.
Avoid anything that reads as a price list. “Cards only” in particular tends to land badly.
When to send
Send three to four weeks ahead. Graduation season is congested — late May and June weekends fill up fast, and families often have two or three parties in a day. If your party is on a ceremony weekend, send six weeks ahead and expect a slow RSVP trickle.
Ready-made designs
Our graduation invitation templates cover everything from formal to confetti-strewn, each with a copyable colour palette for matching decorations to the school colours.
Related: how to send digital invitations and birthday invitation wording.