Graduation party ideas: games, photo challenges and how to celebrate
By the Mission Memories team · Updated
The short answer
The best graduation parties mix uni friends and family, celebrate the graduate's journey and leave them with photos of everyone. Easy ideas: a photo scavenger hunt with challenges like "recreate a photo from freshers' week", a memory wall, a "where will they be in 10 years" card for every guest, and a toast. A photo game app like Mission Memories lets guests join from a QR code and puts every photo in one gallery for the graduate. It's free for up to 5 guests.
Ideas that work for families and friends
- A photo scavenger hunt that gets uni friends and relatives talking (challenges below).
- A memory wall: guests pin a photo or a note from the graduate's school or uni years.
- "In 10 years" cards: each guest writes where they think the graduate will be.
- A short toast from a parent and a friend, with the graduate replying.
- A playlist made of the songs from each year of their course.
30 graduation photo challenges
On the day
- Photo of the graduate throwing their cap
- Recreate their first-day-of-school photo
- Photo with every family member in one shot
- Photo with their favourite lecturer or tutor
- Snap the moment they're handed their certificate
- Photo of the proudest parent face
- Group photo in front of the uni's best-known building
- Photo of the graduate's best "I did it" pose
- Recreate a freshers' week photo with the same friends
- Photo with the course mates who got them through
At the party
- Selfie with a relative the uni friends haven't met
- Photo of the graduate explaining their course in one sentence
- Photo of the best graduation card
- Get a photo with someone from every stage of their life
- Recreate a photo from their first week in halls
- Photo of the cake (or the pizza)
- Photo of the guest who travelled furthest
- Snap the toast
- Photo of the graduate with their oldest friend
- Get a family photo and a friends photo in the same spot
Just for fun
- Photo of someone wearing the graduate's gown who didn't earn it
- Recreate a famous graduation scene from a film
- Photo of the best attempt at the graduate's handwriting
- Make the shape of their degree's first letter with your bodies
- Photo of the graduate's "first day at work" face
- Snap the funniest moment of the day
- Photo of everyone in the cap, one by one
- Get the graduate to pose as their future job
- Photo of the person who proofread their dissertation
- Last photo: everyone together
Turn these into a game on Mission Memories: guests scan a QR code, no app needed, and the graduate gets every photo in one gallery. Free for up to 5 guests, £4.99 for up to 40.
Frequently asked questions
What do you do at a graduation party?
Mix family and uni friends with a photo scavenger hunt, a memory wall, "in 10 years" cards and a short toast. Keep it relaxed and make sure the graduate ends up with photos of everyone.
What are good graduation photo ideas?
Cap throws, recreating a first-day-of-school photo, a photo with every family member, a photo with the course mates who got them through, and recreating a freshers' week photo with the same friends.
How do I collect everyone's photos from a graduation party?
Use a shared photo game or gallery like Mission Memories: guests join from a QR code with no app and every photo lands in one gallery the graduate can download.
Run it with Mission Memories
Free for 5 guests. Guests join with your code from their phone's browser, no app needed.