These are busy days in the kitchen of Grace Bake Shoppe in South Reno. Chalene Laird is getting plenty of orders for graduation cakes.
"We do them by order. And in a weekend it can be anywhere from just a few to like 15 or 16 for the graduation parties which are just getting going," she says.
Tonight Truckee Meadows High School will graduate and Bishop Manogue graduated last week. But the bulk of Washoe county's high schools will start graduation ceremonies at Lawlor Events Center starting June 12th.
And everybody needs a cake!
"Business is awesome right now," Chalene says. "Its so much better than last year. More and more people are buying catered desserts and I can really see how people are branching out and spending money. It's great. We are booking a lot of parties, like 10 a week. It's great."
And the decoration business is big right now too.
"Most people have parties at their homes in the backyard or even with a BBQ and so they need banners and tableware and balloons. We have them in every school color here," says Karen Gabriel of Party America in Reno.
Balloons are big and so are streamers. And both businesses say graduation is the beginning of what looks to be a great summer ahead. Because as the graduations wind up....the weddings begin.
