Handy Tips For Planning A Reunion

With social gatherings on hold in recent months, many people are embracing the renewal of new freedoms and planning events to reignite lost connections. If you’ve taken on the job of planning a reunion of old friends/colleagues/veterans/school mates how can you ensure the event is stress-free and enjoyable?

Enlist help

It’s tempting to take all the planning on yourself, especially if it’s your idea. However, if it’s a large event, don’t underestimate how much work it will be putting everything together. If you are still friends with some of your guests, you could discuss ways to take on the project together. Call a meeting and discuss ideas and ask who is willing to take on specific tasks. Don’t be afraid to delegate. You could assign tasks such as finding the venue, contacting guests, catering, etc., and make sure each person is committed to the time and energy required to plan the event.

Budget

Discuss opinions on budget with your trusty helpers and ask each person to do some research and price comparisons on the element they’ve been assigned. Think about venue costs, catering, and entertainment, etc. Using outside caterers is a great option for a stress-free evening. You could look at Event Bartenders for a selection of packages to suit any budget, for example. Once you have an approximate idea of costs, you can put together a spreadsheet to establish the overall budget. If it’s a large event, you could fund it by creating tickets at a specific price or asking for donations.

Find guests

The wonder of modern technology is that you can locate people fairly easily via social media assuming they are a user themselves. Contact the people you’ve stayed in touch with and explain your ideas for the reunion. They may have contact details for others and spread the word. Set up a Facebook or WhatsApp group for easy communications and post details on there along with any changes that occur. It’s also a great way to reconnect before the event and reminisce on past times. If you struggle to locate some, you can also utilize business media sites such as LinkedIn.

Date/venue/invitations

Once you’ve located all the people you want you to reunite with and got some general feedback, you can secure a date and finalize bookings. Pick a date that won’t coincide with other events or holidays. Christmas time and bank holidays are usually very busy for families, so try to avoid this and choose a time when more people will likely be available. It may be challenging to find a venue in the right location. Remember you’ll never please all of the people all of the time so discuss with the group the most appropriate location that will be most convenient to the majority. Booking somewhere that you used to frequent, such as a university site or school hall, might be a nice way of reigniting some memories and transporting you to times past.

Once bookings are final, you can send out invitations with all the details. If you are choosing to fund it through ticket sales, make sure you highlight when payments need to be made so that you don’t end up out of pocket. Once people have accepted and all payments are made, you can kick back and look forward to the event.

Reuniting with old friends is special, and with the right planning, you’ll be making new memories to add to the old ones.