Are you in charge of planning the reunion for your classmates? If so, read this guide to learn how to plan a high school reunion.
Are you planning a high school reunion? Want to make sure your event goes great?
If you’ve been tasked with planning a high school reunion you probably want to make sure that it goes perfectly. Planning a reunion is hard work and is easier said than done. However, by having a clear path to follow and knowing the right steps, you’ll be able to plan a great class reunion that gives you and your classmates a night to remember forever.
Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Here are our top tips for planning the perfect high school reunion.
1. Start Planning in Advance
The first thing you’ll want to do to plan a high school reunion is to make sure that you start well in advance. You should give yourself at least 16 to 24 months to plan your event and make sure you get all of your ducks in a row.
By starting early, you’ll ensure that everything is taken care of and that you’ll have ample time to get the word out about the event well before the date.
2. Form a Committee
Planning a reunion is something that can be very difficult to do alone. Luckily, that’s fine because there are plenty of people out there that would most likely love to help you plan the event.
Before you get too far into the planning process, you need to form a reunion committee. Student council members and class officers are likely the first people who will be part of your team, but if there are any other previous classmates you think would love to help, don’t be afraid to reach out to them.
By forming a great team and giving each member different tasks to focus on, planning a great event will become much easier than you probably expected.
3. Create a Gameplan
Once you have a planning committee together, then you need to make sure that you have a clear path ahead. You should sit down with your team to form clear goals and expectations for the entire event.
Make sure that you have a timeline for each part of the event planning process. Know when each thing should get done and when each part of the plan should be completed.
Having clear goals and expectations will help you ensure that your whole committee is on the same page and that you’ll be using your time wisely.
4. Find Your Classmates
Well before the event takes place you need to start finding your classmates and telling them about the reunion. Start looking up your old classmates using social media and using your network to find any classmates from high school. It can be very helpful to have a yearbook on hand while you do this.
Once you start finding classmates, it’s a great idea to create a Facebook group, an email list, or another online group that classmates can join to hear news about the reunion. Then, once you’ve set a specific date, you should create a Facebook event and post the event on event listing websites as well.
While you may be able to find most of the people on your own, make sure that everyone knows that they should be spreading the word to any other classmates that you weren’t able to find on your own or who don’t have social media profiles.
5. Ask For Input
Once you have started getting in touch with some of your past classmates, it’s a good idea to start asking for input. If you have a Facebook group or an email list, you can easily reach out to everyone and take a survey to see what they would like to see happen at the event.
Ask them about what kind of venue they may be interested in, what kind of food they would like to eat, and how much they can afford for tickets. This will also help you start getting an idea of how many people might attend the event.
By reaching out to your classmates early on you’ll be able to see if you and your committee are on the right track and you’ll ensure that your reunion will be what everybody wants.
6. Choose the Event Location
One of the most important things to think about when planning a class reunion is how you’ll find the right venue. You need to have a great place to host the event that will meet all of your needs and expectations.
Make sure that you get a venue that is affordable but that can also hold the capacity you expect. Try your best to get a good idea of how many people will attend ahead of time. Using an early bird pricing plan can help you get a better idea of what to expect.
Keep in mind that not everybody is going to plan on attending and only a small percentage of the people will actually make it to your event in the end. Make sure youaccount for this and don’t overdo it with the size when it’s time to choose a venue.
7. Create an Event Itinerary
Once everything else is done, you’ll need to have a solid plan to make sure the event itself goes smoothly.
You’ll want to have a full itinerary in place to tell you what will happen during the event. Will you have live entertainment? Is anybody going to get up to speak? Will you greet everyone yourself?
Additionally, you should also have a plan in place for making the night a memorable one. You’ll likely want to have a few things that your classmates will be able to take home with them such as reunion t-shirts.
You’ll also probably want to have a photographer or videographer at the event as well so that you can get some great photos and videos to send to everyone later on.
Planning the Perfect High School Reunion
Planning a high school reunion can be difficult, but it can also be well worth it in the end. Nothing quite compares to the feeling of a class reunion, and if all goes well, chances are that you and your classmates will have a night to remember a long time to come.
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