- Write two invitations, not one. The ceremony has fixed seats and a fixed hour; the party has a window and an open list.
- Name the graduate, the institution and the qualification in full at least once. This is a card people keep.
- An announcement says it happened; an invitation asks someone to come. One card can do both if it says which sentence is which.
- Open-house wording needs a start, an end, and permission to arrive in the middle.
- Say one thing about gifts, or say nothing. Hinting is the only option that fails.
Two invitations, not one
Almost every graduation generates two separate pieces of wording, and confusing them is the most common mistake on the card. The ceremony is an event the university runs: a fixed date, a fixed hour, a seat, and usually two or four tickets per graduate. The party is the family's: a house, a garden, an afternoon.
Write them separately even when they go to the same people. A card trying to be both leaves guests unsure whether they have a seat in the hall, and that is the one thing they need to know.
| What changes | The ceremony | The party |
|---|---|---|
| Register | Formal, third person | Modern or playful, first person |
| Time | One fixed hour, doors before it | A window: from three until late |
| Guest list | Limited by tickets | Open, and it can grow |
| The reply | Which named person uses which ticket | How many, and roughly when |
| Gifts | Not mentioned at all | Mentioned once, or not at all |
What it must say, and how to name the degree
Whichever of the two you are writing, the same spine has to be there. A graduation card is kept, so the details that feel obvious this month — which university, which year, which qualification — are the ones that matter in ten.
This is also where wording goes wrong quietly. Initials the family knows mean nothing to a neighbour, and a degree cut to three letters reads as a typo. Write it out in full once, in the order that reads best: name, qualification, institution, year.
Anna Weber, Bachelor of Laws, University of Amsterdam, 2027.
Mateo Ferrer has completed his Master of Science in Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Delft.
Sofia Almeida graduates with First Class Honours in History from the University of Edinburgh.
Lena Hofmann · MSc Environmental Policy · London School of Economics · Class of 2027
Bram de Vries will receive his Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry on Friday 18 June.
Ines Almeida qualifies as a nurse this June, at the University of Coimbra.
After four years, three cities and one very long dissertation, Thomas Klein is a graduate.
- The graduate's full name, as it will be read out.
- The institution, written out rather than by its initials.
- The qualification, and the subject where it applies.
- The year of graduation.
- The date, the time, and any doors-open time before it.
- The venue with its address, and which hall or building.
- Whether the invitation carries a ticket, and how many.
- How to reply, and by when.
Formal wording, and the ceremony
The ceremony invitation is formal because the event is. The graduate is not hosting it, the university is, so the wording sits closer to a notice than to an invitation: third person, no contractions, the date written out.
Its real job is to carry the ticket rules without sounding grudging. Say the number plainly: guests told that only two seats exist do not take it personally, and guests who discover it at the door do.
You are invited to attend the graduation ceremony of Anna Weber, Bachelor of Laws, at the University of Amsterdam, on Friday the eighteenth of June at eleven o'clock in the morning.
The ceremony begins at eleven. Doors open at half past ten and close promptly.
This invitation admits one. Please bring it with you, printed or on your phone.
We have been given two tickets, and we would like you to have one of them.
Seats in the hall are limited to two per graduate. The ceremony is also shown next door, where there is no limit.
Graduates wear academic dress; guests usually wear what they would to a wedding.
Modern wording, and the party
The party invitation is the one people enjoy receiving, and it can be as warm as the family is. The facts it carries are different: not an hour but a window, not a ticket but a rough number, and some idea of whether this is lunch, a barbecue or drinks.
We're throwing Mateo a party for finishing his degree. Saturday 26 June, from three, at ours.
Four years of work and one afternoon of celebrating. Come and eat with us.
Anna is done. There is a garden, a barbecue and two very relieved parents.
Drinks for Sofia, who is now legally a historian. Saturday from six.
Come and celebrate Bram — Saturday 26 June, from two until the food runs out.
Playful wording
Playful wording belongs on the party card and nowhere near the ceremony one. The usual rule holds: the joke lives in the first line, and the address underneath stays straight.
She read every book. Come and watch her put on a hat.
Thomas is qualified. We are as surprised as you are.
The gown comes off at four and the music goes on at eight.
Three years, one degree, no plan. Party on Saturday!
Come and help Mateo celebrate never writing a bibliography again.
Open house: wording with a time window
The open house is the standard shape for a graduation party, and it works because a graduation weekend is full of other people's parties. Guests come for an hour, eat something and move on, and the invitation has to give them permission to do exactly that.
It needs three things a fixed-time party does not: a start and an end, a line saying arrivals are welcome at any point between them, and a note about the food, because a guest arriving at four wants to know whether lunch has gone.
Open house, Saturday 26 June, two until seven. Come when you can, leave when you like.
We are at home all afternoon. Drop in between one and six.
Food from two, cake at four, and the door is open until eight.
No set time: come for half an hour or stay for the evening.
An open afternoon for Anna, 2pm to 7pm. The ceremony is on the Friday, so this is entirely informal.
We know it is a busy weekend. If you are at Thomas's first, come to us afterwards.
Announcement, invitation, or both
An announcement says a degree has been finished. An invitation asks someone to come to something. Most families need both, and most send one card that does both jobs, which is fine as long as the card is clear about which sentence is which.
Announcements go to the wider circle: colleagues, distant family, the neighbour who asked every year how it was going. They carry no reply line and no expectation, and that has to be visible, or the reader spends an afternoon wondering whether they were meant to attend.
Anna Weber has graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a Bachelor of Laws. We are quietly delighted.
With pride, we share that Mateo Ferrer has completed his degree in Civil Engineering.
Sofia has finished. No ceremony, no party, no reply needed — we just wanted you to know.
This is a notice rather than an invitation: Bram is now a Doctor of Chemistry.
Kasia graduates on 18 June. If you are near Warsaw that week, come and find us afterwards.
Lena has graduated, there is a party on 26 June, and this is your invitation to it.
Who is hosting: the family or the graduate
Who hosts changes the first line and, more usefully, changes what the invitation is allowed to say. When parents host, the wording can be proud and can name the achievement outright. When the graduate hosts, the register drops and the pride goes unsaid — a graduate writing about how proud everyone is of them reads badly.
Say who is hosting in the first line, and keep the same names on the reply. If both are hosting, 'together with' does the whole job.
Marta and Piotr Nowak invite you to celebrate the graduation of their daughter, Kasia.
Together with her parents, Anna invites you to a party on Saturday.
I've finished. Come to the garden on Saturday and help me forget the last four years.
Sofia's family would be glad of your company on Saturday afternoon.
Hosted by Thomas, with his mother doing all of the cooking.
The Hofmanns are at home on 26 June, celebrating Lena's degree.
Gifts, money, and how to say neither
Graduation is one of the few occasions where guests genuinely do not know what is expected, and the answer varies by family and by country. The invitation is the only place to settle it, and the rule holds: say one thing, once, in words you would use aloud.
Money is the most common gift and the most awkward to ask for. If it is going towards something specific, name the thing — a flight, a deposit, a first month's rent. A purpose turns a request into information.
Your company is the present. Nothing else, please.
Anna is moving to Lisbon in September, so anything towards the flat is very welcome.
No gifts. If you want to mark it, write something in the book by the door.
Mateo is saving for a bicycle he cannot afford. There is a jar.
A contribution to Sofia's first term abroad would be kind, if you would like to give something.
Cards only, please — Lena moves out in two weeks and cannot carry anything.
The reply line, and the guests who cannot come
Two events, two reply lines. The ceremony needs to know which named person is using which ticket, and it needs an early answer, because an unused seat can be given to someone else. The party needs a number and a rough arrival time, so the food lands when the people do.
A graduation also gathers people who are scattered, and some will be in another country or an exam period. A line giving them a graceful way out is worth writing, and it gets you a faster answer. If there is a stream, a photograph afterwards or a smaller gathering later, say so.
On a digital invitation the reply form is part of the page: a guest opens the link or scans the code, says how many are coming and adds anything they cannot eat, in a browser, with no app and no account. The date you set closes the form.
Please confirm by 1 June, and tell us which ticket you will use.
RSVP by 18 June — say how many of you are coming, and roughly when.
Let us know by Friday, and tell us about anything you do not eat.
Scan the code to reply. We are ordering the food on the twentieth.
We know it is a long way. If you cannot come, the photographs will be with you the same evening.
The ceremony is streamed on the university's website; the link is on the page below.
No pressure at all if the date is impossible — Anna will be home at Christmas.
Wording mistakes at graduations
- The university named by its initials, on the one card people keep.
- The qualification abbreviated, so nobody outside the family can read it.
- Ceremony and party on one card, with no line saying which one has tickets.
- A ticket limit discovered at the door instead of on the invitation.
- An open house with a start time and no end.
- 'Come any time' with no mention of when there will be food.
- An announcement that reads like an invitation, so half the recipients apologise for not attending.
- A gift line that hints at money without naming what it is for.
- The graduate's own card describing how proud everyone is of them.
- A reply-by date set after the seats, the flights and the catering have been decided.
FAQ
- What do you write on a graduation invitation?
- The graduate's full name, the institution written out, the qualification and the year, the date and time, the venue, and how to reply. If it is the ceremony, add how many tickets the invitation carries. If it is the party, add the hours and whether there will be food.
- What is the difference between a graduation announcement and an invitation?
- An announcement says a degree has been finished and asks nothing of the reader. An invitation asks them to come to something specific. One card can do both, but it must be obvious which sentence is which, or people will not know whether they are expected.
- How do you word a graduation open house invitation?
- Give a start and an end, say that arrivals are welcome at any point between them, and mention the food: "Open house, Saturday 26 June, two until seven. Come when you can, leave when you like. Food from two, cake at four."
- How do you ask for money as a graduation gift?
- Name what it is for. "Anna is moving to Lisbon in September, so anything towards the flat is very welcome" reads as information; the same request without a purpose reads as a demand. If you want nothing, say so: "Your company is the present."
- How do you write the degree on an invitation?
- In full, at least once: 'Bachelor of Laws' rather than the initials, 'University of Amsterdam' rather than a set of capitals. This is a card people keep, and abbreviations that are obvious inside the family are unreadable to everyone else.
- When should graduation invitations be sent?
- Four to six weeks before the date, and earlier if guests have to travel or take leave. Send the ceremony invitation as soon as the tickets are allocated, because an unclaimed seat can still be given to someone who will use it.
- Can you invite someone to the party but not the ceremony?
- Yes, and it is normal — most ceremonies allow two or four seats. Send the party invitation on its own, worded as a full invitation rather than as a consolation, and say nothing about the tickets you did not have.
- Who hosts a graduation party?
- Either the family or the graduate, and the first line should say which. Parents can write about the achievement directly. A graduate hosting their own party should leave the achievement implied and simply ask people over.