Army Going Away Party Ideas
When my soldier left for OSUT (One Station Unit Training) and was going to be gone for 4 months, we wanted to throw him a going-away party! I had no idea what this even looked like or where to get stuff for it, but I collected some ideas and got to work. I wanted to share everything with you guys so that you have ONE place to go to for your own soldier’s going away party! Whether you have a soldier going to training, going on deployment, or transferring to a unit away from their current home state, this party makes them feel so loved and gives a good opportunity for a final goodbye/send-off! I will cover the following:
Invitations (I will give you 3 FREE editable templates to use on Canva)
Decorations (I will provide some links, but feel free to always do your own digging around! If you do use any Amazon links I provide, there’s a chance I get a small commission - but it does not affect you at all either way)
Food Ideas (includes a link to my favorite charcuterie board items)
Encouraging Note Ideas (I will give you a FREE editable template)
Party Favors (I will give you a FREE editable template)
Whether your soldier is going to training, being deployed, or transferring units to another state… every soldier deserves to feel loved by their loved ones and every family deserves for this to go as smoothly as possible! I hope these ideas help :)
THE INVITATIONS
Just click on the invitation below & it should bring you to the Canva template that you can “copy” and edit yourself! We want to keep your information private & safe, so that’s what you need to make the “copy” and then you can edit the template within your own Canva account :)
THE DECORATIONS
FOOD IDEAS
Cupcakes with American Flag toothpicks, donuts, chips & dips, hummus, pretzels, cake, and whatever your soldier’s favorite foods are!
ALSO - a charcuterie board PACKED with the best foods!
This is always the go-to party food I create that everyone LOVES because of the variety. Here are some things I always include on my boards:
Cheeses (BellaVitano Merlot is MY FAVORITE, so is Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs, then smoked gouda, brie, sharp cheddar, gruyere, crumbly goat cheese, some basics that everyone loves, and some unique cheeses you can find in a grocery store! Cheese is the main ingredient, you really can’t go wrong as long as you have a mixture of hard, aged, soft and creamy, crumbly, firm, smoked, etc)
Fruits (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, apples, blackberries, olives, etc)
Sweets (donuts, chocolate bark, dark chocolate covered pretzels, peanut butter filled pretzels, honey, cream cheese block with jam, dark chocolate covered almonds, candied oranges, etc)
Meats (salami, sopressata, proscuitto, pepperoni, etc)
Crackers (water crackers, nut thins, thin crackers, entertainment crackers, Ritz crackers, Fig & Rosemary, and whatever else you find that mixes the different types of crackers)
Nuts (I usually get a mix of almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, and whatever else comes in a mixed nut pack)
ENCOURAGING NOTE IDEAS
I personally wanted to have people write on notecards for my soldier. I wanted to include these note cards in every single letter I wrote my soldier so he was encouraged during the entire time he was gone!
MATERIALS
Frame, paper printed with details, notecards, bowl, and some pens! I have an editable template for you to write your own letter to put into a frame.
Click the photo to find the free template!
PARTY
FAVORS
I printed out a few sheets of paper (each had 4 of these designs on them) and cut them into their rectangles. I have the free template for you to edit yourself here!
Then I added in an American flag toothpick (same ones used for the cupcakes), paper rectangle cutout, and toy soldier all to the 4x6 plastic baggie for people to take!
