Budget Guide
Class Reunion Budget: Real Numbers and Ticket Pricing
The single biggest reason class reunions go sideways is fuzzy money. Vague budgets, undercharged tickets, and undisclosed costs sink trust within the committee and inside the class. This guide gives you concrete numbers from real reunions, three complete sample budgets, the ticket-pricing formula, and how to collect the money without it becoming awkward.
What does a class reunion actually cost per person?
Per-person cost is the right way to think about reunion budgets because everything else scales around it. A 100-person reunion at $100/head is the same complexity as a 50-person reunion at $150/head — same vendors, same logistics, just bigger numbers. The realistic per-person ranges, based on a representative sample of single-evening reunions at mid-tier venues:
Important
Sample Budget A — Casual evening, 40 attendees
A 5-year reunion at a brewery's private back room or a restaurant's second-floor space. No formal program. Just drinks, food stations, music. Lowest-effort format that still feels like a real reunion.
Sell tickets at $70. The $8 buffer per ticket covers walk-ups and absorbs the one or two classmates who Venmo you $50 instead of $70.
Sample Budget B — Standard reunion, 80 attendees
The most common format: a Saturday evening at a hotel ballroom or country club, with buffet dinner, two-drink ticket, DJ, photographer, and a short program. The 10-year and 25-year reunion sweet spot.
Sell tickets at $125. The $16/ticket buffer × 80 tickets = $1,280, which absorbs 5-8 no-shows or rolls into the seed fund for the next reunion.
Sample Budget C — Full weekend, 150 attendees
A milestone reunion (25-year or 50-year) with multiple events. Friday casual mixer (cash bar at a local pub), Saturday formal gala (the big night), Sunday morning farewell brunch. This is a higher-cost, higher-effort format with ticket bundles for each event.
Sell a Saturday-only ticket at $165, a Friday-Saturday bundle at $185, and a full-weekend bundle at $195. Most attendees buy the Saturday-only. The full-weekend bundle is for classmates flying in.
The ticket pricing formula
The five-step formula every reunion treasurer should follow:
- Build the budget bottom-up using real quoted line items, not estimates from a blog post.
- Use conservative attendance. Assume 25% of your graduating class — that's the bottom of the realistic range. Hope for 40%, plan for 25%.
- Divide total cost by attendance. That's your break-even per-person cost.
- Add 15%. This is your buffer. It covers no-shows who paid late and never canceled, walk-ups, vendor cost increases, and the surprise expenses every reunion has.
- Round up to the nearest $5. $109 becomes $110 or $115. People perceive $125 and $130 nearly identically — round up.
Watch out
How to actually collect the money
Three rules, no exceptions: online only, payment-at-RSVP, single platform.
Online only — no checks, no cash, no IOUs
Every check has to be deposited, every cash payment has to be tracked manually, and every IOU has to be chased. The treasurer who agrees to take checks turns into the treasurer who spends 6 hours a week reconciling Venmo against a spreadsheet against a stack of envelopes. Set the rule: tickets are paid online with a credit card or Venmo/PayPal/Zelle.
Payment-at-RSVP, not separately
An RSVP without payment is a maybe, not a yes. The single biggest cause of attendance shortfall is classmates who RSVPed yes but never paid because nobody made them. Combine the RSVP and payment into one form. "Your spot is confirmed when payment is received" — and mean it.
One platform for everything
Pick a single ticketing platform and use it for every ticket. If your committee splits payment across Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, and Eventbrite because different members "prefer different things," you will spend the week before the reunion reconciling. The treasurer owns one account; everyone routes through it.
Beyond the basic budget — extras and revenue ideas
Add-ons that increase revenue
Sell extras separately so each classmate can choose. Examples: $25 for a printed group photo mailed afterward, $15 for a class merch item (t-shirt, hoodie), $40 for an optional after-party open bar add-on, $20 for the optional Sunday brunch.
Sponsorships from alumni-owned businesses
Reach out to classmates who own businesses and ask for a $150-$500 sponsorship in exchange for a table tent, slide in the program, or logo on the email. This frequently covers DJ or photographer costs entirely. Cap the number of sponsors so the reunion doesn't feel like a trade show — 3-5 is the right number.
Memorial donation in lieu of gifts
For milestone reunions, set up an optional donation to a class scholarship at the school, in honor of classmates who have passed. This raises real money for a meaningful cause and gives classmates who can't attend a way to participate.
With Reunly for Class Reunions
Track ticket sales, RSVPs, and payments in one place
Reunly gives you a real-time view of who's RSVPed, who's paid, and how close you are to break-even — across every committee member. No spreadsheets, no Venmo reconciliation.
Start your reunion free →Frequently asked questions
What does a class reunion typically cost per person?
$75-$150 per person for a single-evening Saturday reunion at a hotel ballroom, country club, or restaurant private room. That covers venue, catered dinner, two drinks, name badges, DJ, photographer, and decor. Multi-night reunion weekends with Friday mixer, Saturday gala, and Sunday brunch run $200-$400 per person.
How do I set the ticket price?
Build the full budget bottom-up using real quoted prices, total it, then divide by your conservative break-even attendance (use 25% of grad class, not your hopeful 40%). Add 15% as a buffer for no-shows and walk-ups. That number, rounded up to the nearest $5, is your ticket price.
What is the biggest line item in a class reunion budget?
Food and beverage, typically 50-60% of the total — venue F&B minimum, catered dinner, and the two-drink ticket combined. Venue room rental is usually 15-25%. Everything else (DJ, photographer, badges, decor) totals about 20%.
Should we offer an early-bird ticket price?
Yes. Open ticket sales at month 4 with a $15-25 discount that expires at month 3. This drives early commitments which you need for vendor deposits, and it gives procrastinators a reason to act now instead of later.
How do we collect money from classmates?
Online only — credit card and Venmo/PayPal/Zelle. Never collect checks or cash. The treasurer designates one payment platform (a Reunly account, a class PayPal Business account, or a dedicated Venmo) and every ticket goes through it. Make payment the condition of a confirmed RSVP.
What if we don't sell enough tickets to break even?
Your contract dates dictate your fallback points. At each vendor deadline, ask: 'if we cancel now, what do we lose?' Most vendors will downgrade contracts (smaller room, smaller catering minimum) up to 30-45 days out. After that, you commit to your costs. The 15% ticket buffer is your protection.
Should the committee pay for their own tickets?
Yes — pay for your own tickets, then comp yourselves the night-of with the surplus if budget allows. The optics of a committee throwing themselves a free party while everyone else pays $125 will sink the next reunion's recruitment effort. Pay, then thank the committee publicly on the night.
Related class reunion guides
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