For class reunions

How to plan a class reunion, starting with a night classmates can make

Ten, twenty or twenty-five years later, your class is spread across the country, half of them have kids, and nobody has the same email address as in senior year. Planning the reunion is a real project. This guide covers the whole thing, with the scheduling parts made easy: the committee meetings and the reunion night itself.

whenfor.us · Updated October 26, 2026

Step 1: Form a small committee

One person can't plan a reunion alone, and fifteen people can't plan it at all. Three to six people is right: ideally from different friend groups, so the invitations reach every corner of the class. Give each person a job: finding classmates, venue and budget, tickets and money, the program for the night.

Committee meetings, the easy way

The committee will meet a handful of times, mostly on video calls, because people moved away. Don't spend a week on "does Tuesday work?" by reply-all. Make a link for the next week or two, evenings, with 1-hour slots, and send it to the committee. Everyone marks the times they could join a call, each in their own time zone, and the best time shows up at the top. Use the same trick for every meeting.

Step 2: Set the timeline

For a big milestone reunion with a venue and tickets, start 12 to 18 months ahead. A casual get-together at a bar can be organized in two or three months. A rough plan:

• 12–18 months before: committee, rough budget, a target season.
• 9–12 months: find classmates, pick the night, book the venue.
• 6–9 months: save the date to everyone you've found.
• 3–6 months: tickets on sale, program, decorations.
• The last month: final headcount for the venue, name tags, slideshow.

Step 3: Find your classmates

This is usually the biggest job. Start with what you have: an old class list or yearbook turned into a spreadsheet, a class group on social media, the school's alumni office, and word of mouth. Ask everyone you reach to name two people they're still in touch with. Keep one shared list of who's been found and who's still missing, so nobody gets five invitations and others none.

Questions worth asking early

When you first reach people, ask a few short questions: would you come, would you bring a partner, and what ticket price feels fair? A quick survey (a simple form works) gives the committee a realistic headcount and budget before anyone books anything. Keep the date question out of that survey and ask it separately, with a link where people mark their free evenings: a list of yes/no questions is easy to answer, a grid of dates in a form is not.

Step 4: Pick the reunion night

Most reunions happen on a Saturday evening, often when people are in town anyway: a summer weekend, Homecoming, or the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. The question is which one. Instead of a long thread, ask for availability once:

1. Pick a window of up to 31 days that covers the candidate weekends, for example a summer month or the weeks around Homecoming. It can be up to two years ahead.
2. Set the hours to evenings, like 6 pm to midnight, with 3- or 4-hour slots, so people mark whole evenings.
3. Send the link to the classmates you've found, by text, email or the class group. Nobody needs an account or an app; they type a name and drag over the evenings they could come. Up to 150 people can answer one link.
4. Check the top two nights with the venue before you decide. The heatmap shows which evenings most people can make, so you have a backup if the first choice is booked.
5. Pick the final time. Everyone with the link sees "It's on!", can add it to their calendar, and you get a picture and a ready message: that's your save the date for the class group.

A note on fit: whenfor.us finds the evening. It doesn't sell tickets, collect money or track RSVPs, and it plans hours, not whole weekends. Use your venue or a ticketing tool for the rest.

Classmates in other time zones

Set the event's time zone to where the reunion takes place. Classmates who moved away see the grid in their own local time by default and can switch it to the event's time with one tap, which is handy when they're planning their flight.

Step 5: Venue, budget and tickets

Restaurants with a private room, a bar that closes a section for you, a community hall or the school itself are the usual options. Work out the price per person from the venue cost, food and a small buffer, and sell tickets early: people commit when they've paid. Offer a cheaper ticket or a later "drinks only" entry for those who can't do the whole evening.

Step 6: The program for the night

• Name tags with the senior photo. The single most useful thing at any reunion.
• A slideshow of old photos, collected from classmates in the months before.
• A memorial table for classmates who have passed away, if the class wants one.
• Keep the speeches short. People came to talk to each other.
• Plan an after-party or a casual brunch for the next day, for those who want more.

After the reunion

Share the photos in the class group, thank the committee, and keep the contact list: it's the hardest part to rebuild. The next reunion starts with it. Planning a family get-together next? See family reunions and calls.