The committee tried to do that with our HS reunion. I thought it sounded like fun, but yes, really expensive. We're in a L-MCOL. They ended up nixing those plans and we simply met at a bar uptown. Not all that fun.
Post by penguingrrl on Sept 2, 2015 13:39:38 GMT -5
We're in a HCOL area and H and I both skipped our HS reunions because they were $60PP (we went to the same HS, graduated a year apart). We couldn't swing $120 for a night out. H actually spoke up to his organizer since it was someone we knew and said the price seemed high and she said it was really quite a bargain. So we didn't go.
Post by tacosforlife on Sept 2, 2015 13:40:53 GMT -5
That's about what mine was. I'm pretty sure that they just hired an event planning company to do the whole thing because our class was big, and it would be way too much work for someone to plan it. So with that knowledge, I thought the price was high yet reasonable, if that makes sense.
My 10th high school reunion was $60 per person too -- HCOL but at a firehouse. We had a (very limited) open bar, light hors d'oeurves, and an iPod playlist as entertainmnet. I had friends who didn't go because they couldn't swing $120 for a night out without dinner, which really was a shame.
That said, it was really, really fun so totally worth the money maybe not for the food and drinks and ambiance but for the fun. Sadly, providing food and drink at night somewhere that isn't a home gets really expensive really fast.
I didn't make our 15 year reunion but it was a BYOMeat barbecue/bonfire in a classmate's backyard with kegs paid for by our class slush fund (apparently we still had money left over from our magazine sales in 1994 or something like that?). So at least our class president seemed to get that people were price-sensitive!
I paid $30 for mine and several people commented it was too expensive. I guess you can say it's LCOL....but I think it's because we're the "ghetto" school. Ha!
I'd say that's reasonable for dinner & dancing. But that's what I'd pay for a night if dinner & dancing with friends anyway.
Eta - our "dinner" was sandwiches (not Panera) and it was a cash bar, in a very small room at a community center. Klassy affair.
Post by formerlyak on Sept 2, 2015 14:26:39 GMT -5
I think my 10 and 20 year reunion were both around that and DH's 20 year was about that (we weren't together when he had his 10, so I do not know what that one cost). My 10 and his 20 were both typical hotel ballroom affairs.
I helped plan our 20 and we did it at a restaurant that had a great bar area with a patio that overlooked the harbor. The ticket cost included dinner, a few drinks and private use of the bar area until 9:30. At 9:30, they opened the bar area up to others. So the people in our class who didn't want to or weren't able to pay the meal price, could come at 9:30 to join the party and just pay for what they drank. The tiered approach seemed to work well to include people of all budgets.
I think in the end, our 20 year ended up being like $45 per person. We had everyone pay via pay pal the estimated cost per head that we got from the restaurant. When we settled the final bill, we divided the overage by the number of paid guests and refunded them that amount back via pay pal. One of the planners is an accountant ... she was in charge of this piece
Post by LoveTrains on Sept 3, 2015 11:42:26 GMT -5
If it includes drinks ok.
I'm in the reunion business as you know and we generally do $50-60 for the Saturday night dinner but it includes drinks and the school still has to underwrite a big portion of it.
Post by alleinesein on Sept 3, 2015 11:51:43 GMT -5
The one I planned last year had tickets start at $60 and then the prices rose to $75 and topped off at $100. The longer people waited to buy tickets the more theY cost. We did include some booze plus 3 huge courses throughtout the night.
We whine a bit when the military balls are $60 pp or more. However, those aren't really optional for us...
I wouldn't pay $60 pp for a high school reunion, even if I still lived somewhere near my old high school. I might _consider_ it if that included drinks, and I was still in close contact with folks from my class, but I'd assume a cash bar at a reunion.
My 10 year was 11 years ago *sobs* (we had a 20th, but I knew I couldn't make it, so I didn't pay attention to the price) and I was on the planning committee. We did our best to keep costs low and still host a quality event, but having a big party and feeding people is expensive. Our tickets were $50, so I would say yes, it's reasonable.
My last one was $75 pp. Open bar but the food SUCKED. So bad. And it was in a dark basement (supposed to be a club) of a restaurant. I was not impressed at all. DH and I stopped and got Sonic on the way home.
I feel like that's a pretty basic minimum for rental of a venue, and basic food and drinks. I'd say maybe pricey, not out of line, and to lower the cost, you'd have people complaining about something else.
My reunions are free, but they only include beer and wine, and a buffet. So I really have no experience with this.
For free, I wouldn't say "only" about beer, wine, and buffet. That's a lot!!!
Well vodka might be better! I'm actually good with beer and wine, though. The food was good. I went to high school in a fun, urban neighborhood, so a lot of neighborhood restaurants an a few places owned by alums either donate food or give it to us cheap.
That is about what mine cost if I remember correctly (I didn't attend) but it was an open bar. I still didn't go because the only people I cared about spending time with (aka the ones I'm still in at least semi-regular contact with) weren't going so I didn't bother to go hang out with people who didn't like me in high school and probably still wouldn't like me now.
They also tried to make it a 'family' event for people who couldn't/didn't want to pay a baby sitter. That got shot down REAL quick.