Class Reunion Website: Do You Need One?

Run through these four questions:

• Do you have a designer or developer on the committee who will maintain it? If no, skip the custom site. Maintenance debt is the silent killer of reunion websites — they look great at launch and break six months later when nobody's checking.
• Do you need anything more than RSVP + ticket sales + FAQ? If no, use a hosted event page. If yes (interactive photo gallery, classmate directory, message boards), you might need a site.
• Will the site outlive the reunion? If yes (e.g., a permanent class archive), build something durable. If no (just for this reunion), use a hosted page that disappears afterward without consequence.
• Do you have $50-$500 in the budget for it? Cost shouldn't be the blocker but it should be on the table.

If you're building any kind of dedicated page — full custom site or hosted event page — include all of these:

Above the fold

• Class name and reunion year ("Lincoln High Class of 1995, 30-Year Reunion")
• Date, time, venue name
• RSVP/ticket-purchase button (bright, obvious)
• Hero photo — the school, the senior class, or a yearbook cover

Below the fold

• Event details: dress code, what's included, schedule outline
• Venue: address, parking, accessibility notes, Google Maps embed
• Hotel block: name, rate, code, deadline
• Optional add-ons: Friday mixer, Sunday brunch, with prices
• Committee names and contact (real names, not "The Committee")
• FAQ: 5-8 most common questions
• Memorial section (optional): names of deceased classmates with a brief tribute
• Photo gallery: senior photos and pre-event uploads

Optional sections

• Classmate directory (opt-in only)
• Class history / yearbook archive
• Reunion history (past reunions, photos, who organized)
• Sponsor logos (if you have business sponsors)

1. Reunly event page (recommended)

$39 one-time. Includes RSVP, ticket sales, name badges, classmate directory, photo gallery. No coding, no maintenance. Lives at a Reunly subdomain or a custom URL you point at it.

2. Eventbrite listing

Free to set up; Eventbrite charges per ticket. Best for committees that just need RSVP and payment — doesn't include classmate-search, photo gallery, or badge tools.

3. Squarespace one-page site

$16-$23/month. Drag-and-drop, looks professional, easy to build in a weekend. Great if you have a designer and want full creative control. RSVP through a form integration; payment through Stripe or PayPal.

4. Facebook group as the hub

Free. Most classes already have one. Pin the event details to the top, link to a Google Form for RSVPs, and link to Venmo for payment. Works but feels less official; some classmates aren't on Facebook.

5. Notion page shared via link

Free. A single Notion page can host the entire event info with embed for RSVP. Looks modern, mobile-friendly, easy to update. Best for very small classes or committees that prefer minimal tooling.

If you decide to buy a custom domain, follow these rules:

• Buy from Namecheap or Cloudflare — both at ~$10-15/year for .com. Skip GoDaddy (the upsell flow is brutal and renewal pricing is sneaky).
• Buy for 2 years so the domain doesn't expire mid-planning.
• Set auto-renew off after the reunion, or you'll keep paying forever for a dead site.
• Use descriptive names: LincolnHigh1995Reunion.com or Lincoln95Reunion.com. Easy to type, obvious purpose.
• Avoid short cute names that won't be remembered in 5 years when the next committee wants to reuse them.

Three options for the site post-event:

• Take it down. Cleanest option for committees not committing to ongoing class engagement. Forward the domain to a Facebook group if classmates want a permanent home.
• Archive it as a memory page. Change the homepage to a thank-you, link to the photo gallery, and leave it up for 1-2 years.
• Hand it off to the next committee. Transfer the domain ownership and account credentials to the next reunion's organizers. This is the highest-effort path but creates institutional memory across reunions.