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Planning Your Class Reunion?

Written By: Hilary on June 20, 2009 No Comment

reunion School years hold various meanings to each one of us. Some have a treasure trove of embarrassing high school stories to tell, while others have tales of friendship that come in legendary proportion. However you may remember your high school days, whether good or bad, they have still had a part in molding you into who you are today. Some of our best friends are friends we made from childhood so however high school may have been for you, it’s all still a nostalgic trip worth taking. Below are some helpful tips in helping you plan your class reunion.

Select and elect. You ought to start the planning process a year ahead of your target date. Select people from your class and elect a reunion committee to help you thresh out the details and execute the plans for your reunion. You will need about 6-10 people to carry out all the things needed to be done. Delegate tasks like locating the alumni, finding out where they live and what they do and if they are willing to attend your class reunion. This process takes a lot more work than you think because tracking down the alumni and checking to see if they still live there is time consuming and can be labor-intensive—so delegate this task to those who are gifted in administrative and organizational work.

Choose and reserve a venue. Check out what your town has to offer in terms of a great venue for your reunion. If your event has a theme, choose a venue that will complement the theme well—like if you have a nautical theme for your reunion, a cruise will be perfect. Get details on hotel ballrooms, restaurants or resorts and make the reservation. Don’t forget to ask about any deposits they might require and ask about their refund policy.

Seek help from a pro. There are planning specialists who can help make this process a much smoother one for you and your committee. They know the most efficient way to go about it and can also help front the money until your attendees have responded and paid for their attendance to the reunion.

Maximize the celebration date. Plan the entire weekend around your reunion celebration in consideration of those who will be flying in just for the event. For example, on a Friday you can have a welcome-back mixer to help the alumni get reacquainted and ease into the celebration ahead. The main event can be held on Saturday and then a good send-off would be a brunch or lunch on a Sunday.

Send out a “heads up” invite. 9 months ahead of the reunion date, send out invitations already notifying them to save the date—that gives them plenty of time to clear out their schedule and make sure that they make it. An early RSVP can also help you get an idea of how many are attending. If you can acquire their email addresses, then make sure to send out electronic invites as well as the date draws nearer.

Eyes on the prize. Your attendees will be even more motivated to join the games and contests in your program if you have fun prizes up for grabs. Local businesses might be willing to provide prices in exchange for some advertising. Sponsorship is common in events like this so check that option out as well.

It may seem like a lot of work for a fun event but no event that is fun and successful is without hard work. If you pull in all the stops in making sure that all bases are covered, your chances of enjoying the event even if you yourself are one of the organizers are good. Your preparedness will reflect on the flow of the program itself. The main goal really is to bring your class together to enjoy reminiscing on the good old times while also catching up on what’s going on in their present lives.