Every May, the same thing happens. Graduation dates have been known since the previous autumn, and a large number of very organized people arrive in the same week wanting a sign for a ceremony on Saturday.
We make them. Same-day exists for exactly this. But the version where you order in April is better and cheaper, so here’s the calendar.
April: order the yard sign
The lawn sign with the graduate’s name, school and year. A standard 18×24 on coroplast is 3 square feet, about $27 at the posted $9 per square foot, and once your layout exists, ordering more for grandparents and the other side of the family takes a phone call.
Order in April and you have time to fix the thing that goes wrong most: the spelling of the name. Check it on the proof against something official, not against memory. A misspelled name on a sign in the front yard is the single worst outcome in this entire category, and it’s entirely preventable at the proof stage.
While you’re at it, get the school name and the year right too. “Class of” typos are less painful and just as permanent.
Late April: schools, boosters and teams
If you’re ordering for a school, a booster club, or a team. Senior banners, field signage, ceremony banners, program printing. This is the window. Volume matters here, and volume needs lead time.
Three things to lock in early: the exact list of names (get it from the school, in writing, spelled as the school spells it), the sizes, and who is approving the proof. That last one delays more school orders than anything else: a committee of five approving a proof takes longer than printing it.
A banner for the ceremony runs $6 per square foot; a 3×8 is $144. Senior banner programs, where every graduate gets a personalised banner, are a genuinely large job. Start those in March if you want them comfortable.
Early May: parties and everything around them
Party signage, welcome banners, photo backdrops, table graphics, directional signs for a house that’s hard to find. Shirts from $15 if the family is doing matching ones.
This is also when to order any extras of the yard sign, because everybody who sees the first one asks where it came from.
The week of: what’s still possible
Plenty, honestly. Order by 10:00 AM Monday through Friday and most graduation signage (yard signs, banners, party signage) is ready that afternoon. We do this every May, including for people who genuinely only found out the date that week.
The hard limit is the weekend. We’re closed Saturday and Sunday, and graduation ceremonies are on Saturdays. So a Saturday ceremony means Friday at 10:00 AM is the last possible moment, not Friday afternoon. Every year, a handful of people discover this at 3 PM on a Friday.
Multiple graduates, multiple years
If you have more than one child coming through, or you’re a school ordering annually, your artwork stays on file. Next year’s order is “same as last year, new name, new year”, which takes about a minute and costs the same as any other order.
Schools especially: keeping the design consistent year over year makes the whole thing easier, and it means the ordering conversation in April is a quantity, not a project.
Two small things that improve the sign
Double-sided if the sign is on a corner or facing traffic both ways. It’s the same sign twice as visible.
Ask for stakes with it. They’re inexpensive and separate, and every season somebody picks up a beautiful sign and has nothing to put it on.
More on graduation signs, or send the name and school and we’ll proof it.