What to Expect While Planning a High School Class Reunion

Planning a high school class reunion can be a huge undertaking, but the reward of seeing classmates share stories and renew old friendships is well worth it. With the right planning, a high school reunion can be a very memorable event, full of fun. Everyone is sure to come away from their high school reunion with many memories.

When a large milestone approaches, like the ten year anniversary of graduation, it’s time for a group of alumni to form and begin planning. They should be able to work well together and divide the work among themselves so that everything is done on time and with a level of care. One, or more, person on the team should be in charge of keeping track of the budget and making sure the spending doesn’t go over. Others can focus on contacting everyone in the class while another can book a venue, caterer, or a band.

The very first thing that needs to be figured out is the budget. If the budget is going to be really large, set up an account at the bank specifically for the event and set it up so any transaction requires two people to sign for it. Right away, you want to figure out how much each alumni attending should pay. That number is their share of the cost of the venue, catering, entertainment, etc. Once the overall budget is decided and how it will be divided among the guests, someone needs to make sure that the spending stays within the budget from start to finish.

Another task that needs to completed in the first stages of planning a reunion is gathering contact information of everyone in the class. This involves using online tools and any contact information that the school has to make a list of everyone that will ultimately receive invitations to the class reunion.

The event is also going to need a venue that will accommodate the entire class. Pick out a date for the reunion and shop around for venues. At that time, you should also ask hotels in the area if they can offer discounts to anyone coming into town for the reunion. Once the date and the venue have been picked out, use the list of everyone’s contact information to send out invitations detailing the reunion. Someone in the group ought to keep track of responses as they come in so that you all know exactly who is planning to attend

Next, the team should focus on the structure of the event, and how the reunion is going to play out smoothly. If the reunion is going to stretch out over a weekend, the team may decide to plan a cocktail party on Friday night, then a formal dinner on Saturday which would be the main event, and end with a laid back barbeque on Sunday afternoon. This is when details of catering and entertainment become important.

Even though the class reunion is about mingling and catching up with everyone, you want some structure to the event. Plan entertainment like a live band of a DJ, and invite a surprise guest like a classmate that became famous after graduation or an old teacher that everyone loved. But gathering information about the alumnis before they arrive, prizes can be arranged for things like who flew the farthest to get to the reunion.

Everyone remembers their high school years, so a high school class reunion should be memorable as well. Give everyone a chance to catch up with old friends and create new memories by carefully planning a great event. It takes a hard working group of people to pull together a high school reunion, but everyone in the class will appreciate the work they did when the event is a huge success.


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