2023 Graduation
Announcements

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GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT CARDS VS. GRADUATION PARTY INVITATIONS

Graduation announcements can also serve double duty as graduation invitations to the ceremony. If you are inviting guests to a personal celebration and want to send a party invitation only, or separately, Minted has specifically designed beautiful graduation party invitations. Typically, people send grad announcements to extended family, childhood friends, teachers, and mentors, while graduation party invitations would go to classmates and their families, and select teachers and mentors that live close enough to attend.

PROUDLY ANNOUNCING GRADUATION WITH DESIGNS THAT STAND OUT FROM THE STACK

Graduations are a huge milestone. Whether your child is graduating from kindergarten, high school, college, or completing their 3rd master’s degree, family and friends will be excited to share in this achievement, even if the celebration is virtual or a drive-by parade. Minted is honored to be a part of this special moment by offering the best graduation announcements and invitations in a range of options to match every taste.

Sending grad announcement cards to those who are unable to attend the ceremony can give them a sense of inclusion in the achievement. Whether your recipients attend or not, our announcements are of exceptional quality, which makes them perfect for preserving as a keepsake. All of our cards are designed by a community of independent artists and selected through competitive design challenges. This ensures that we bring you and your graduate the freshest, most unique designs for this graduation season. These designs are then brought to life with the most luxurious paper and printing options.

People send graduation announcements for a variety of occasions, but the most common are high school, college, and post-graduate announcements. Minted has curated collections for each type of graduation, in a variety of styles. When deciding upon an announcement design, we recommend taking the following approach:

• Start with the graduate’s personality. We recommend you think about the graduate’s personality and story as you peruse graduation templates. We are sure that you will quickly find a number of designs that match. Is your graduate planning to travel to a new state or country to start their next chapter in life? Feature a picture of them jumping for joy or holding a suitcase along with the tagline, “Have Diploma Will Travel”. Is the graduating student lighthearted with a strong sense of humor? Browse through some of our designs that provide a sarcastic and fun take on the traditional announcement. We even have some designs that speak to the unusual school year they may have experienced due to various social distancing and quarantine measures in place. A greeting like ''So this guy's still graduating'' reminds everyone your graduate has still accomplished their goals. Does your graduate have a bold, outgoing personality? Consider Minted’s selection of bold and typographical graduation announcements. Or perhaps they enjoy reading? Minted’s Graduation Booklette^TM Cards are the perfect nod to celebrate this aspect of their personality. Take some time to reflect on the things that really stand out about your graduate and consider doing something fun, stylish, and creative to make more of a personal statement. If you need more inspirations, check out our curated grad photo poses and tips.
• Find the design that best suits their photo. Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, start to upload your favorite photos of your graduate and see which works best with the design. Minted’s Find It FastTM feature allows you to quickly visualize every single card with your graduate’s photo, to save you time and effort. If you’re going for a non-photo card, move on to the next step. If you can’t decide on just one favorite photo, browse our selection of unique multi-photo designs.
• Pick a format. Minted offers a variety of graduation announcement formats, at different prices and with a range of benefits. Read on to learn more:
  • Classic: A favorite format for a reason. Our 5” x 7” classic announcements come in a variety of styles and formats to suit your graduate’s personality. Place an order starting at $1.75 per card for 65 cards.
  • Foil-pressed: Make your graduation announcement cards shine with a unique foil-pressed card, available in five metallic colors. Pricing starts at $2.28 per card for an order of 65 cards.
  • Vellum overlay: Translucent vellum adds a rich layer of dimension to your graduation announcement and sets the stage for a fun and beautiful reveal. The vellum overlay can also be customized in a range of colors to match school colors. A vellum presentation starts at $2.28 per card for 65 cards.
  • Postcard: Skip the envelope and send a smart and chic mailer printed on luxe signature paper. All Minted postcards come with free recipient and return address printing. This affordable option begins at $1.35 per card for 65 cards.
  • Petite: Opt for our petite sizing, which offers all the same design options as our classic sizing, but in a slightly smaller format of 4.5” x 6”. This option starts at $1.55 per card for 65 cards.
  • Magnet: A great format for parents who want recipients to remember the date of their graduate’s graduation or party. Our magnetic announcements start at $2.25 per card for 65 magnets.
  • Grand: For the parents who want to make an even larger statement, this new format sized at 6” x 8” offers plenty of room. Options start at $1.94 per card for 65 cards.

• Customize your card. Now, it’s time for the fun part. Minted has a vast array of customization options that you can easily toggle through on your phone or desktop computer. Here are some of the ways that you can customize your graduation announcement cards:
  • Colors: Minted offers each graduation announcement design in a number of colors, to suit your graduate’s personal style. If you are interested in customizing the announcement to match school colors, you will find a wide variety of options available to you. If you can’t find the exact color that you’re looking for, leave a design request while customizing and one of our design associates will be happy to help. We can help find you the perfect shade of burnt orange or crimson red.
  • Shapes: Another way your graduation mailer can stand out is with unique die-cut shapes. From elegant, rounded corners to fun, wavy edges, the shape of your correspondence is a quick and easy way to make your announcement more unique without compromising on the design, print quality, or photo selections.
  • Backers & Interiors: Quiet often the graduate or their parents want to include a personal message on the announcement. Minted offers a variety of styled backers (or interiors if you are opting for a folded card) to include. Pick from styles that creatively showcase the highlights from your senior year, a timeline of your journey through school, a map of where your studies have taken you, and so much more!
  • Custom Foil: This is a huge milestone, why not celebrate with a little shine? Minted offers custom foil text that can be added to almost all of our designs. Simply compose personalized text, like the graduate’s name, graduation year, school, major, or other information, and Minted will print it in gold font.
  • Paper: We are paper enthusiasts, who are committed to only using the thickest, most luxurious stocks. Our Smooth Signature Paper is optimized for photo quality. If you are planning to send an announcement without graduation photos, our Signature Paper has a creamy cotton texture that provides a wonderful feel between your fingertips. If you would prefer an eco-conscious choice, our Premium 100% Recycled Paper could be a great option.
  • Envelope: Minted’s custom envelopes make a stunning first impression in the mail, and the best part is that they are completely free! Simply enter your recipient addresses or use our easy address collection service. Then, while you’re customizing your card and envelope, select free recipient addressing, pick your favorite envelope design, and select your list of recipients. We will professionally print your recipient’s addresses on each envelope incorporated with design elements that highlight diplomas, cap and gowns, tassels, and other graduation-themed imagery. This year, we are even offering navy, black, aubergine and spruce colored envelopes with dressy white ink, for a chic finish.
  • Styled Return Address Printing: Great design means end-to-end cohesion. In addition to offering beautiful recipient address printing, Minted offers styled return address printing to match. This is also a valuable feature if you are hosting a graduation party at your house and want a quick way to share the address with recipients.
  • Envelope liners: We can’t forget about the inside of the envelope. Minted offers a range of pre-lined envelopes in gold, silver, and rose-gold. Or, you can select slip-in liners that coordinate with the design on your announcement.

If you don’t have time to customize your card, or want to wait to take more photos or receive information about the graduate’s next adventure, you can also buy the graduation announcement now and personalize it later.

GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT ETIQUETTE

Once you have your announcements selected, it’s time to figure out who to send them to, what to write in them, and when to get them in the mail. Here are some helpful tips:

Who to send them to? Most people will send graduation announcements to family members, friends from prior life stages, teachers, and mentors. This is a unique opportunity to thank the people who have brought the graduate this far in life and to give them some insight into the graduates plans for the future. Typically people send graduation party invitations to a much smaller subset of individuals who are close enough to attend the party.

What to write on the grad announcement card? The same advice given for selecting an announcement design can be said for announcement wording. While it is important to include key information, you can make it fun by adding wording that reflects your own personality. Typically, announcements will include the graduate’s name, the year of graduation (2023), the school they are graduating from (and, if applicable, the school they are planning to attend in the future), a photo, and a personal message on the back. If you receive gifts in return, it is customary to write thank you notes for every gift received. If you want to explicitly opt-out of gifts, you can include a simple message at the bottom of the card, such as:

“Please do not send me any gifts. I am sending you this card because your support and encouragement in my life have been the most valuable gift.”

Have additional questions on wording? Read through our more comprehensive overview of graduation announcement etiquette.

When to send the announcement cards? You will want to make sure that you have all the requisite information before sending your graduation announcements out in the mail. This list includes the graduate’s photo and information on what the graduate plans to do next, like attend college, enter the workforce, join the armed forces, travel, etc. Usually, you will want to get the announcements in the mail 2-3 weeks prior to graduation. Party invitations will need to go out 2-3 weeks earlier to give attendees ample time to plan and RSVP.

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