Graduation invitations sit somewhere between a milestone birthday and an engagement party — celebratory, lightly formal, and unmistakably proud. The wording needs to do two things: honour the achievement clearly, and signal what kind of gathering follows (drinks at the family home, a long lunch, a polished dinner). Below are samples for high school, university and postgraduate graduations, plus the etiquette around gifts and ceremony details.
Wording samples
Four years in the making. Please join us in celebrating Ava's graduation from the University of Melbourne. Saturday 14 December, 5pm. The Park Hyatt, Melbourne. Drinks, canapés and one short speech. Cocktail attire. RSVP by 7 December.
Best for: Polished university graduation celebrations with a speech moment.
Year 12 done. Drop in for backyard drinks and a long-overdue celebration of Sam. Saturday 23 November, from 4pm. 42 Linden Street. Bring your favourite snack. RSVP by 16 November.
Best for: Casual at-home Year 12 celebrations with friends and family mixed.
Dr Maya — at last. Join us to celebrate Maya's PhD conferral. Saturday 9 March, 6.30pm. The Garden Room, Carlton. Smart casual. One short toast around 8pm. RSVP by 2 March.
Best for: Postgraduate celebrations with academic colleagues alongside friends and family.
Graduating — and moving on. Join us to celebrate Tom's graduation and a quiet farewell before London. Sunday 16 February, from midday. The Long Lawn, Wattle Park. Long lunch under the trees. RSVP by 9 February.
Best for: Combined graduation-and-moving-overseas celebrations.
Etiquette: ceremony, speeches and gifts
Most graduation invitations are for the celebration that follows the ceremony, not the ceremony itself — university and school ceremonies usually have a fixed guest allocation. If guests are welcome at the ceremony, say so clearly: ‘ceremony at 2pm at the Royal Exhibition Building (tickets allocated separately) followed by drinks at the Park Hyatt from 5pm'.
On gifts: most graduates default to ‘your presence is the present'. If there's a meaningful exception — a contribution to first-job moving costs, books for the new role, a registry-style fund — frame it warmly: ‘in lieu of gifts, contributions to Ava's first-job-in-London fund are gratefully accepted via the link'.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Mixing the ceremony details and the party details in one paragraph. Use separate visual blocks.
- Forgetting to mention if it's a sit-down dinner or stand-up canapés — guests need to know whether to eat beforehand.
- Asking for gifts without a soft, gracious reason.
- Sending too late. Three to four weeks ahead is the minimum for a graduation celebration.