Farewell, Bon Voyage, See You at Thanksgiving
Dear Penelope,
My sister’s going away to college at the end of August and I told my parents I’d plan her send-off party because they’re already freaking out enough about her being across the country from us. The only problem is that I don’t really know what to do for a send-off party, especially for a girl. Do you have any ideas?
Alexander
Dayton, OH
Alexander,
I don’t blame your parents for being nervous. The idea of my little girl and boy all grown up and off to college gives me nightmares and they’re only 6 and 8. Anyway, you’ve come to the right place. Penelope is here to solve your party planning problems. I’m assuming that you know which of your sister’s friends and which family members you should be inviting using MyPunchbowl e invitations, so I’ll go right to decorations, party food and send-off gifts.
For farewell decorations, you really can’t go wrong with luggage tags and labels and old postcards. Luggage tags and labels aren’t terribly easy to come by in stores, but you can always search for them on the Internet and print out color copies of the most vibrant ones you find. Old postcards are especially easy to find at yard sales and flea markets, and if you’ve got until the end of August, you should have enough time to amass quite a few. Roadmaps are another great, inexpensive way to decorate any party space. They add color and will complement the antique feel of your postcards.
As for food, my simple advice to you is to prepare (or ask your parents to prepare) your sister’s favorite foods, since it’ll be at least Thanksgiving before she gets to come home to Mom’s (or Dad’s) cooking. If your family members have culinary specialties that your sister is particularly fond of, ask them to bring them along to the party.
In terms of send-off gifts, it all depends on how your sister will be traveling to school. If she’s flying, she’ll obviously be worried enough about fitting her clothing and whatever else college kids are packing these days into her suitcases without having to worry about the crocheted Kleenex cover Aunt Ethel made her. Ask your sister for a checklist of things she needs for school (posters, clothing, shoe or sweater hangers) and circulate the list among friends and family so that your guests can help make leaving as painless as possible. She may be able to fit slightly bigger gifts in a car if she’s driving, but it’s best to stay small so she can manage lugging all of her things up to her room without breaking a sweat in front of the handsome boys living across the hall.
On second thought, go ahead and buy her a mini fridge so that the boys can help her carry it up to her room. Good luck!
Enjoy Planning.
Penelope