Graduation season is upon us! If you’re planning a party for your graduate—whether they’re in preschool or college—you need to check out this list of four graduation party must-haves. These simple tips will ensure that you throw the best. party. ever.

This post was sponsored by Basic Invite. All opinions are my own.

You’re standing in the party supply store, bleary-eyed and drawing a complete blank. You know you have a graduation party to plan, but you can’t for the life of you figure out what you need. Your mind just keeps circling back to the same question: How did my baby get so big?!

It doesn’t matter if they’re five or twenty-five. Graduations will always be a big deal and they’ll always send mommas into a tailspin of wondering how the hell we got here so fast.

But you still have to plan the party! So. To help keep you on track, I put together a list of four graduation party must-haves (minus all the food) that just so happen to work for just about any party you’re going to throw.

My oldest turned eleven a week ago and we had the most awesome Cupcake Wars birthday party to celebrate. My kids love watching Cupcake Wars on Food Network and, apparently, their friends do too—which is the perfect recipe for a really fun party (see what I did there? #momjokes).

Samantha has actually been throwing the idea of a Cupcake Wars party around for at least a year now. For me, it always seemed like a big challenge. How would we do it? Where would we put all of the kids? Would my kitchen ever recover?

After surviving a wildly successful party of our own, I’m ready to give out some solid tips that will make your life a thousand times easier if you’re looking to host your own Cupcake Wars party for tweens.

It happens every time. As we draw closer to my daughters’ birthdays that Pinterest party pull grabs hold of me and lures me in. I search the specific themes my girls have mentioned some interest in, wanting to push them towards the one that I can come up with the most picture perfect decor and desserts and games and favors for.

It’s so stupid.

When did kid’s parties become more about moms throwing elaborate mini-weddings to show how creative and impressive they are instead of reflecting what the kid actually wants?

This year I tried to slap myself out of it, at least a little. Ellie has been talking about a tea party since we went to a local tea place this summer and she relished every last second of drinking hot cocoa out of her very own, very fancy tea cup. My eyes most definitely lit up at the possibilities that could be found in a tea party.

As her birthday drew closer she threw another element into the mix, deciding she didn’t want just any old tea party. She wanted a Zumba tea party. This was a wrench I was not quite prepared for. How exactly does one throw a proper Zumba tea party? What the hell is a Zumba tea party?

Instead of taking it and running with it, I consulted the only expert on the subject in existence: my daughter. She wanted tea cups and she wanted to do Zumba just like she does at her classes with Tanya at Intrigue.

So, we booked a party at Intrigue Dance and Fitness—and it was seriously the best decision ever.

My soon-to-be eight year old is straight up obsessed with mermaids. It started with the Emily Windsnap book series (which are really well written, by the way), expanded into watching Mako Mermaids and H2O and exploded from there.

When it came time to talk about a birthday party for her this year, I was anything but surprised when she said she wanted a mermaid party. Since she thought the boys might not be as into mermaids as the girls, she decided to make it a mermaid and shark party.

This Pinterest loving momma immediately went nuts pinning anything and everything that could possibly fit under a mermaid or shark party umbrella. Since late June is always a busy time of year, I decided to focus on invitations first. I’m usually a totally last minute girl, so I’d like to take a second to pat myself on the back right here. GO ME. (Truth be told, Samantha climbed so far up my ass about getting these invitations done, I had no other choice. I feared she’d get lost up there).

I found a bunch of cute invitations on Etsy, but there was always something missing from them in Samantha’s mind. She sort of wanted a combination of all of her favorites. That’s when I turned to Google, deciding I’d design what she was looking for myself with the help of some free clip art.

I was spending way too much time sifting through mermaid and shark Google image results when Sam had an idea. “Mom? Why don’t I design them?”

So, um, how did Memorial Day sneak up on us so fast? Weren’t we just complaining about how cold it is? And now we’re only a little over a week away from the unofficial kick off to summer. I’m not sure I’m prepared.

In my little world, the best way to get myself prepared is drowning myself in pretty pictures and party planning inspiration. Plus, it’s way more fun to throw a cyber party than spending endless hours cleaning the house and handcrafting adorable table decor that no one else will notice (not to say that I don’t do that sometimes too 😉 ). So, let’s party!