Tell me about your High School Reunion?

[8675309]

Because I have an event planning background I may have volunteered myself to help spearhead our 20yr reunion. Right now, we have a divided class. Some want it to be a 2-day event. One evening is a party event (no kids) and the other is a family event. Like at a local park where we can bring our kids etc. The other side of the alumni want it simple. Inexpensive bar/restaurant with a small cover and cash bar. Our class president is actually a Hollywood actor (B-star, think Gilmore Girls) so we all doubt he is planning this shingdig and no one wants to count on him to whip it together knowing his crazy schedule.

My husband's reunion was a joke. It was $80/person and it was at the Sheraton with horrible food and an even more horrible DJ. I have NO idea where the money went and having planned plenty of weddings, we could have been eating at the Ritz for what they charged. I do know it was because a 3rd party classmate company put it together and we all know that we don't want to go that route. I literally left his reunion enraged at being ripped off.

So what did you do for your reunion? Did you have fun? Was it worth it and if not, what would you have done different?

[wannabe]

We actually did all of those things for our 20th. Friday night, casual icebreaker GTG at a local bar. Saturday night, semi formal party with sit down dinner. Sunday afternoon, BYO picnic with families at a local park.

It was fun and all of the events were totally optional. We got a lot of great feedback from alumni and will likely go that route again for the next one.

[Deleted]

$35 party at a bar
$5 BBQ lunch (with kids) the next day

I just went to the bar.

[ECB]

My 25th was in the basement of a local bar. Big room, clearly set up for events. It was way overpriced for the food (HORRIBLE) but open bar at least. The problem was that they decided to have a band- a guy who graduated with us. Once the band played, we couldn't talk.

It was "eh", o.k. The only reason I like the idea of the 2 day event is that it appeals/ works for various people. The adults only - the people who may want more of a party, perhaps were more of the social crowd in HS - fun. And no distraction of kids.

But the family event - for people who may have problems having child care OR who may be nervous about going to a reunion but will go if they have their kdis as a distraction in case they need a distraction (I've come to realize that I have a bit of social anxiety and if going to a kid friendly event, I'm more likely to go because if I need an excuse to leave, to look busy, or... whatever, I have DS).

In a way- can't you appease both groups? Make the party night at an inexpensive bar w/ a small cover then have then have a family event. People who want to do just one or the other can, or people can do both.

[8675309]

I think I am liking the idea of a 2-day event. I can actually see that working for everyone especially those with little ones. Did the person who organized it create a facebook page? How did they get the word out? I am already getting inundated with requests for certain weekends because that's when they'll be in town.

[wannabe]

We created a FB page, made a dedicated website and also sent out paper invitations.

[meij]

Well I am from a small town and graduated with a class of 70 people so we are not fancy and all reunions have been fairly casual. (We have done 5/10/15)

I wasn't at the 5th, but not many had kids yet so I know they only did a Saturday night event.

Tenth still not a lot of kids yet. Friday night we met up for the football game and ate at the Booster Club tailgate thing. Saturday morning we had a tour of the new schools (not many did that) and then we had dinner at a local restaurant Saturday night. We had the back room, a buffet and some kegs and closed the place down at 3AM. It cost $15 a person (small towns yay)

Fifteenth they did the restuarant (same place) Friday night and then a potluck in the park Saturday since most had kids by then. I think having them the same day would have been better. Friday night was too hard for people to get to if they were out of town.

All ours have been well attended. The nights mostly so, we had about half our class in attendance both times I think.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 17:14:31 GMT -5 8675309 said:

I think I am liking the idea of a 2-day event. I can actually see that working for everyone especially those with little ones. Did the person who organized it create a facebook page? How did they get the word out? I am already getting inundated with requests for certain weekends because that's when they'll be in town.

There was a Facebook page for updates and posting of old photos and a third-party website for ticket purchases.

[starlily]

I had to cancel, but it was $75 for heavy appetizers and two drink tickets at a wine bar. Considering the location and time of year (VHCOL during the holidays), that seemed fair. From what I heard it went well.

There was a FB group set up a few months ahead of the event. Through that there was a kid friendly park/playground GTG set up for the afternoon following the reunion.

[suzyp]

My high school's reunion has not really changed in 30 years, as in my Mom's 20th and 25th were the same general thing as mine (same high school). My 20th was two summers ago, this was the itinerary:

Friday night - casual meet up at the bar in town - big turnover, lots of fun and drinking and catching up
Saturday lunch/afternoon - family picnic at the park - fairly well attended, people brought their kids. Could have been better organized, it was pseudo pot luck, but not planned, so the food was just a strange array.
Saturday night - more formal, "official" reunion. Not great turnout, but we had fun. More formal, buffet dinner, etc. I think the formality more than the costs put people off (it was $25 pp or something). I also think that the Friday night bar was something that you could leave early if you were not having fun.

My Mom's 25th also had a tour of the school on Saturday at some point. I feel like my 20th was a bit organized at the last minute, so there were things that could have been done differently. It was all done on FB, but not everyone is on FB. I had a small graduating class, about 170 people.

[birdistheword]

I was on the planning committee for mine. We did the two-day event thing, and hardly anyone showed up for the family event. The "adult" night was at a local restaurant/bar. We charged $12 a person and were able to rent out the upstairs and have a really great spread of food. Drinks were not covered. There is a full bar in the upstairs that we rented, so everyone just got whatever they wanted. After it was over, a group of about 10 of us all went bar-hopping together (the restaurant is in a downtown area with lots of bars). I had a blast.

We had a Facebook page for updates and asked those who knew how to get in touch with non FB people to let them know the details. For payments, I set up a Paypal and asked everyone to pay by a certain date so we could get the money to the venue with a final headcount in time.

[birdistheword]

I want to know who this Hollywood actor is, lol.

[underwaterrhymes]

My 20-year was a joke. It was $75 pp at a bar. It included passed hors d'oeuvres (all of which were gross looking and had meat of some kind) and no drinks. We did get a printed photo of us, but I have no idea what our $150 went towards. The bar space was ours entirely, so I guess that, but I think they could have done a much better job with planning and allocating funds.

I was 15-weeks pregnant at the time and very glad we had dinner out beforehand, otherwise I would have been pissed instead of mildly irritated.

[underwaterrhymes]

Jan 26, 2015 17:40:52 GMT -5 birdistheword said:

I was on the planning committee for mine. We did the two-day event thing, and hardly anyone showed up for the family event. The "adult" night was at a local restaurant/bar. We charged $12 a person and were able to rent out the upstairs and have a really great spread of food. Drinks were not covered. There is a full bar in the upstairs that we rented, so everyone just got whatever they wanted. After it was over, a group of about 10 of us all went bar-hopping together (the restaurant is in a downtown area with lots of bars). I had a blast.

We had a Facebook page for updates and asked those who knew how to get in touch with non FB people to let them know the details. For payments, I set up a Paypal and asked everyone to pay by a certain date so we could get the money to the venue with a final headcount in time.

See, this would have been fine. $12 pp and cash bar = yes. $75 pp and cash bar = nope. I even had to pay for my sodas.

[birdistheword]

Jan 26, 2015 17:53:16 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Jan 26, 2015 17:40:52 GMT -5 birdistheword said:

I was on the planning committee for mine. We did the two-day event thing, and hardly anyone showed up for the family event. The "adult" night was at a local restaurant/bar. We charged $12 a person and were able to rent out the upstairs and have a really great spread of food. Drinks were not covered. There is a full bar in the upstairs that we rented, so everyone just got whatever they wanted. After it was over, a group of about 10 of us all went bar-hopping together (the restaurant is in a downtown area with lots of bars). I had a blast.

We had a Facebook page for updates and asked those who knew how to get in touch with non FB people to let them know the details. For payments, I set up a Paypal and asked everyone to pay by a certain date so we could get the money to the venue with a final headcount in time.

See, this would have been fine. $12 pp and cash bar = yes. $75 pp and cash bar = nope. I even had to pay for my sodas.

Yeah...no way in hell I'd pay $75. I think what we charged included water and iced tea, but people did have to pay for sodas. But people didn't seem to think that was too bad since it was only $12.

[alzi]

@romyandmichele

Eta: Dammit!

[8675309]

Jan 26, 2015 17:51:39 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

My 20-year was a joke. It was $75 pp at a bar. It included passed hors d'oeuvres (all of which were gross looking and had meat of some kind) and no drinks. We did get a printed photo of us, but I have no idea what our $150 went towards. The bar space was ours entirely, so I guess that, but I think they could have done a much better job with planning and allocating funds.

I was 15-weeks pregnant at the time and very glad we had dinner out beforehand, otherwise I would have been pissed instead of mildly irritated.

Funny, I was 19 weeks pregnant at my husbands 20yr and I wanted to cut a bitch for how it was organized for $80pp. The food? Don't even get me started. I remember that I had just planned a beautiful wedding only a month earlier at the same hotel and her PP buffet cost was $22.50/person. WTF were we paying $80 for ONE drink and a shitty DJ? This is why I kind of want to take control of our reunion. Sometimes the ASB is lazy and its just easier to hire a third party. NOPE. I already got everyone on my side to veto that idea.

[8675309]

The actor is Jesse, Rory's bad-boy boyfriend.
He's also been on Heros.

[papie]

I'd do something simple.  My 10 year reunion was a two day event (no SOs or kids), and you had to book a hotel room.  I skipped it.  Nobody planned a 20 year reunion.  I would have gone to something simple like happy hour at a local bar, it would be only a two hour drive and I'd have made it.  But giving up an entire weekend? no way.