If you have an older teen, you’ve probably spent some time thinking about college options. You’ve considered whether your child will be eligible for scholarships, set money aside, and thought about how much you’ll miss them when they’re in the dorms.
What you might not have thought of is the notion of a bed party, but your teen likely has. The good news is that if you remember your college days and the term “bed party” gives you the shivers, it has nothing to do with relational experimentation. The bad news is, it’s going to cost you.
What Is A College Acceptance Bed Party?
The University of Pittsburgh’s PittWire newsletter partially attributes the ritual to the pandemic, which disrupted the usual college acceptance celebrations. Even with much of the social distancing and other cautionary measures behind us, the bed party lives on.
The idea is that parents surprise their teen by decorating their bed with lots of college swag, including pillows, blankets, and other bedding with college branding. Then, they can add other decorations and merch, such as balloons to spell out the college name, college sweatshirts, mascot plushes, and more.
Check out one version below.
What Should You Buy For Bed Parties?
The bed parties teens and parents are sharing online are all pretty elaborate. They usually involve new bedding, big Mylar balloons, tons of college-branded clothing, plushes, luggage, pennants, tapestries, and even inflatable mascots and themed party food!
Like anything in parenting, you can go all out, break the bank, and buy your kid one (or several) of everything. After all, college acceptance is a once-in-a-lifetime event for most folks, and it’s a big deal.
Check out some over-the-top bed parties in the video below.
Does A Bed Party Have To Be That Extreme?
Some parents are pouring quite a bit of money into these events. However, you can choose to keep it within your budget.
Remember, you’re probably about to spend a good bit of cash on your child’s college needs, including backpacks or book totes, bedding for the dorm, a wardrobe, and other necessities. You can absolutely focus a lot of your shopping on these needs and then use those to cover the bed.
For example, if you’re already buying a new laptop case, a desk lamp, and a variety of toiletries, pack them into gift bags themed in the college colors. Add congratulation cards from family members in envelopes in the team colors, and buy bedding that will fit the twin-sized mattress in the dorm, even if it’s not the size of your teen’s current bed.
Choosing items in the college colors but not college-branded will help keep costs down. Don’t forget that you can make your own decorations, too!