Tips for a Successful Class Reunion

Posted On July 21, 2023

Last weekend, my husband and I hosted my 50th class reunion. This class of 70 graduates has met every five years since graduating in 1973. Being local, I haven’t missed one. These are my life-long friends who I love catching up with.

However, my class of 1973 is one of just a few classes from my small, rural school that meets every five years. Obviously, the more tight-knit the group is, the more likely they will gather. But, I do think there are some things you can do to have a successful reunion.

Class Reunion Tip 1 – Find a Local Coordinator

Being the coordinator of a class reunion is, quite honestly, not difficult if you live in the area where you graduated and you have a few good assistants. The hardest part is getting everyone’s address. But today’s internet now makes that pretty easy.

I’ve been in charge of several reunions, and I always have great assistants – Deb, Terry, Suzy and Ann. A few others in the class, Kathy and Roger, have also been in charge and done a great job. Ask around and chances are someone will volunteer to be the coordinator. Personalities change over the years and you may find a born leader you weren’t aware of.

A coordinator can delegate duties, so they aren’t overwhelmed. There are always people who would love to help as long as they aren’t the “in-charge” person.

Class Reunion Tip 2 – Set Date Early

We set the date for this last reunion a year in advance. We then mailed out Save the Date letters.

Planning early allows those who live away to schedule some vacation time for traveling. It helps everyone get it on their calendar, because no matter how old we get, it seems like our calendar quickly fills up!

Don’t have it on your school’s homecoming date. These make it difficult for classmates who work and live a great distance away. You can plan something for the locals for that date, but don’t make it your main reunion date.

Class Reunion Tip 3 – Be Inclusive

Facebook really helps in locating classmates. Our school has an alumni Facebook page where we posted a message asking for help in locating those we didn’t have an address for. Some members can be found by simply googling their name.

We sent out our invitations three months before the event.

Keep an archived database of all the addresses, e-mails and phone numbers of classmates. After 10-15 years, these are likely to stay the same.

Invite everyone who was ever in your high school class, regardless of whether they graduated with you. People who failed to graduate for various reasons, love to be included. I have several friends who I went to school with for all but their senior year. They married and got their GED. I love seeing them as much as anyone else. After five years, most classmates don’t even remember who graduated.

Always invite the spouses of the classmates. Often the spouses are curious about various classmates you have mentioned. There can be some jealousy if you’ve ever mentioned who you dated in your class. When the spouses attend, that curiosity is satisfied, and the jealousy can be put to rest!

Don’t invite everyone’s children. Class reunions are not a time to be looking after your children when they are younger. It’s a time for you to visit. Feel free to bring photos to share, but that’s all.

Class Reunion Tip 4 – Send a Follow-Up Invitation

This year I sent a follow-up invitation two weeks before reservations were due. I included a list of who had made reservations. Doing this allowed those who were indecisive to reconsider. I’ve found through the years that some people assume that it will just be little “clicks” from high school. That’s never the case with our reunions and seeing the list makes them better aware of that. I also included what states people were coming from. When they see that classmates are coming to Missouri from California, Texas, Minnesota, Georga and Mississippi, it makes some of the locals realize that if others are coming from such a distance, the least they can do is also attend.

Class Reunion Tip 5 – Keep it Simple, Casual and Economical

A class reunion is a time for classmates to catch up on everyone’s life experiences and to reminisce about school. This can easily be done over a happy hour, during a casual meal or over an afternoon spent at a park.

Keeping it simple allows everyone to be able to afford attending. Ours have never cost more than $20/person.

I don’t recommend including music and time for dancing (as we did early on). It’s best to be dancing with your spouse (not an old flame!) and that defeats the whole purpose of the time spent at the reunion. Also, loud music doesn’t allow for comfortable conversation.

Keeping it casual allows everyone to dress comfortably and not try to dress to impress. Sadly, many females struggle with comparing themselves to others when it comes to appearance no matter how old they get! Guys don’t seem to care.

Class Reunion Tip 5 – Always Provide Food and Drink

People naturally gather around food and drink. It makes us feel more comfortable. But, the food does not need to be costly or gourmet. No one comes for the food; they just want something to eat. We offered fried chicken, mashed potatoes with white gravy, green beans, rolls, salad, fruit trays, cake, tea, lemonade and water at our recent gathering. Most of it was catered from a local grocery store. Two thoughtful classmates, Deb and Terry, provided gluten-free cupcakes as well as fruit and veggie trays for those with diet restrictions. I received no complaints but quite a few compliments on the food.

Class Reunion Tip 6 – Make Sure Everyone Knows Everyone

I keep up with most of my classmates through Facebook, so I have no trouble recognizing them, even after 50 years. However, I found out last weekend that not everyone is as fortunate. So, be sure to provide name tags for everyone. We did not do this for our 50th but we should have. Not only does it help everyone recognize their former classmates, but it is especially helpful for the spouses.

A great suggestion I received last week was to have name tags with our graduation picture on it. We will definitely try to do that for the 55th!

Either before or after the meal, have each classmate stand up and introduce themselves and their spouse. Also have them tell a little about themselves. This was my favorite part about our 50th reunion. It’s fun to hear about all the varying professions. Among them were teacher, nurse, computer tech, brick skid loader, truck driver, coach, chef, business owner, oil rigger, office administrator, medical tech, EMT, stained glass artist, farmer, banker, country singer and pastor.

Class Reunion Tip 7 – Remember Those Gone but not Forgotten

As the years go by, you lose track of some classmates and you will never find out where they are or even if they are still living. Nevertheless, my friends and I think it is important to acknowledge and remember those who we know are deceased.

We post a large picture from our yearbook of anyone we know who has passed away. We lost one classmate shortly after graduation. Several classmates weren’t aware of that until they saw our memory board last week. They expressed their appreciation of this display of recognition.

Class Reunion Tip 8 – Acknowledge Those who Served in the Military

This is just the right thing to do! This year, one of our classmates, Terry, made each veteran a Quilt of Valor. They are beautiful and very much appreciated by the recipients, Jimmy, Jackie and Ron.

Class Reunion Tip 9 – Involve all Classmates in an Activity

For our 45th reunion, Deb put together a 1970’s Jeopardy game. All classmates were asked to play on one of two teams. Individuals would take turns answering. Points were awarded just like in the Jeopardy game show. If an incorrect answer was given, the opposing team had the option of guessing for the points. For added fun, contestants were given extra points if they could sing the songs included in that category. No one was left out of the fun and most everyone was surprised at who knew the most and who didn’t hesitate to sing! We’ve also definitely found out who are the most competitive!

Jeopardy was such a hit, we played it again this year. Categories have been – Who’s Who (questions about faculty & staff when we were in school), Nicknames of Students, 70’s Music, 70’s Movies, 70’s TV shows, 70’s ads and World Events of the 70’s.

We have also had prizes for things like who traveled the furthest, who has the most children, who had changed the least and who had changed the most. It was brought to my attention that this activity caused some hurt feelings in the past, so I don’t recommend it.

Class Reunion Tip 10 – Include Other Classes

One classmate, Don, requested that we try a 7-class reunion. We invited everyone from the three classes older and the three younger (everyone we had gone to high school with). We did this for two of our reunions. Quite often, people want to see these friends just as much as their classmates.

Our class did all the planning but asked a representative from each class to collect addresses for their class. Only one of those classes had regular reunions, so they were quite appreciative of our efforts to include them.

Class Reunion Tip 11 – Make it a One-Day-Only Event

Several classes have tried having a casual gathering at a park the day after an evening meal. When discussing that idea with some classmates, we concluded that wasn’t a good idea. We found that some would attend one or the other event, but not both. Therefore, many missed the chance to see everyone.

Class Reunion Tip 12 – Take a Group Picture

You will want this event documented through pictures. Make sure to take a group picture. Unfortunately, we failed to do that a couple of times. I shared this year’s picture via our class Facebook page and our Alumni Facebook page.

Display the group and candid pictures at your next reunion along with old yearbooks and other memorabilia.

Class Reunions – Give them a Try

Hopefully these tips will encourage you to plan and/or attend your own class reunions. You will be surprised who attends and enjoy seeing all of them.

Admittedly, much larger classes would have a more difficult time getting everyone together for reunions and they wouldn’t remember everyone in the class. Knowing everyone is definitely an advantage of going to a smaller school. If you come from a much larger school, perhaps you can have a home-room class reunion or a reunion of classmates from a specific club or sport.