Class Reunion Planning 101 (High School or College Reunions)

Another detail you'll want to review with your venue event manager is the floor plan. It's a mundane but essential part of making a successful party. The smooth flow of traffic is essential to keep a somewhat inebriated herd content. Here are ten floorplan "must-haves" to keep things running well: 1. two sign-in tables -usually in the foyer outside the main room for people to check in or pay if they haven't already. Consider splitting up the alphabet by last name - half at one table, half at the other. 2. name tag table - for people to pick up their pre -printed name tags or write their own if they paid at the door. 3. table for seating cards - if you have pre -assigned seating for your reunion (I don't recommend this), but if you do, people will need to pick up their table numbers outside the main room. Arrange the cards in alphabetical order by last name. 4. bar(s) -to avoid bottlenecks. Some places recommend 1 bartender per 100 people. Keep them away from ...

About a month before the reunion, you'll want to check in with the banquet manager and review the details of the menu, the layout of the room, the location of the bars, the check in tables and any special needs you may have like multi-media playback. Hotels will provide projection systems and screens for a price, (and not cheaply, I might add.) The specifics of the menu can change up to about a week before (double check this with your banquet manager,) but you'll want to make the initial choices a month before. Things to consider: 1.Long before you've planned the menu, you've decided on whether to have a Cash Bar vs. Open Bar or something in-between (maybe wine and beer only.) This is because the price you charge for reunion tickets a year before must reflect the cost of food and drinks, if you are not having a cash bar. Double check that soft drinks, juice and water are free. That said, I believe a cash bar is the fairest way to deal with alcoholic drinks since not e...