Reunions fail for one reason. Not enough people show up.
Everything else is fixable. Bad food, a dead playlist, a name tag table nobody staffs. Those are annoying. An empty room is fatal, and you find out the night of, when the ballroom you booked for 200 has 38 people standing in a circle near the door.
We host reunions at Schoolhouse Brewing in Marietta. Here is how to get the turnout right, what it actually costs, and how to run the night without losing money.
The Class Stack
Stop trying to fill a room with one graduating class.
Run the math on a normal class. 300 graduates. Realistic turnout for a 20 year is 10 to 15 percent. That is 30 to 45 people in a room built for 200. It looks like a layoff meeting.
Now stack two or three consecutive classes into one night.
- Three classes of 300 at 12 percent turnout is 108 people. That is a party.
- The classes above and below you are not strangers. They are your siblings, your teammates, the people you dated, and the people who had the same terrible chemistry teacher.
- Your planning committee triples overnight. Three class Facebook groups, three contact lists, three people willing to chase RSVPs.
- Your fixed costs stay flat. One venue, one night, one deposit, split three ways.
This is the highest leverage move in reunion planning and almost nobody does it. The Class of 2004 does not need its own party. The Classes of 2003 through 2005 need one good one.
If your class is small to begin with, stack four. Nobody has ever walked into a packed room and complained that the wrong year was there.
What it actually costs
Small reunion, 45 people, semi private space
- Space rental: $400 for 3 hours
- 2 drink package billed on 75% of your count: 34 guests x $15 = $510
- Running total: about $910 before tax and gratuity, roughly $20 a head
- Sell tickets at $30 and you clear about $450 for name tags, a slideshow, and a taco guy in the parking lot
Stacked reunion, 150 people, whole facility buyout
- Buyout starts at $3,000, and adding a drink package can take as much as $1,000 off that rental
- 3 drink package: 113 guests x $22 = about $2,486
- Outside caterer at $20 a head: $3,000
- Running total: about $7,500, roughly $50 a head
- Sell tickets at $65 and the class fund nets about $2,250
Deposits are $100 semi private, $1,000 for a buyout. Cash, check or ACH costs you nothing extra. Credit cards add 3% on the rental. Sales tax is 6% on drink packages, gratuity on top.
No cleaning fee. No booking fee. No drink minimum. What we quote is what you pay.
Pick your space
Semi private production area. Up to 50 guests. You get the space among the tanks and the taproom stays open to the public. Right for a small class, a mixer, or a Friday night warm up.
Whole facility buyout. 225 guests. 200 inside, 75 on the dog friendly patio. We close to the public and the whole building is yours, arcade included.
Both include 3 hours. Extra time on a semi private is $75 an hour. Extra time on a buyout depends on the day.
The 90 day timeline
- 90 days out. Lock the date and the venue first. Not the committee, not the theme, not the Facebook poll. A date on a contract is what makes people answer. Check it against local high school football and anything at Kennesaw State.
- 75 days out. Open ticket sales. Price them to cover your cost at 60% of your hoped for turnout so a soft night does not put you personally in the hole.
- 60 days out. Chase the missing people. Not with one Facebook post. Split the class list across the committee, ten names each, text them personally. It outperforms a group post by a mile.
- 30 days out. Lock catering and give us your headcount range. Build the slideshow now, not the week of.
- 14 days out. Final headcount and payment plan. Send parking and arrival details. Confusion at the door kills the first 20 minutes.
- Day of. Arrive 60 minutes early with name tags printed and alphabetized. Put one person on the door whose only job is name tags, and do not make it the person running the night.
Four things that kill reunions
- No yearbook photo on the name tag. Twenty years changes faces. The senior photo removes the worst thirty seconds of every conversation.
- A cash bar with one bartender. A twelve minute drink line empties a room. Use a drink package and wristbands.
- A program. Nobody came for a speech. Ten minutes of memorial and thank yous, maximum, done early while people are still sober enough to be polite.
- Booking for the number you hope for. Book for the number you have sold. An under booked room that fills up feels like a hit. An over booked room feels like a funeral.
What we handle and what you handle
We handle the space, all drinks, staffing, AV with multiple displays for your slideshow, parking and cleanup. Bag your trash and we take it from there.
You handle the guest list, tickets, name tags, decorations, and catering if you want food. Bring any licensed and insured caterer you like. No outside alcohol, ever.
Worth asking about: pinball in blocks of games, and renaming one of our taps in your class's honor for the night. "Class of 2005 Pilsner" on the board is a better photo than anything your committee will plan.