I have some pictures of my 20th high school reunion to show you. Do you want to see? Okay!
Our budget was very small. Tiffany and I decided early on that we wanted to keep ticket prices well under the $100-$125 per person going rate in California. Does that price sound average for your area? California is expensive, but wow, $250 (classmate + guest) seemed like a lot to ask these days. We decided to shoot for $50 per person.
We knew from talking to older alumni and researching online that a sit-down dinner is standard, as is a DJ, audio-visual, invitations, and everything else expected from an elegant evening. Basically, it’s a wedding.
The same older alumni suggested we skip the dinner and have it in a bar, like they did. That’s great, except our class never had a 10 year reunion. Sort of. The class of ’91 took pity on us and invited us to theirs (I think they had trouble reaching their event site minimum and started scrambling for bodies), but few people went so Tiff and I stand firm that it doesn’t count. We felt our class deserved something a little nicer than a bar.
When we priced everything out, it became clear why reunion tickets are so expensive. Our graduating class was so small, we didn’t even have volume to spread the cost around. Luckily, we had one thing going for us. Tiff and I both agreed that the idea of a sit-down dinner sounded like a monumental bore. Plus, most of these people I haven’t seen in 20 years! I knew I would be too nervous to eat a dinner and aggravated by assigned seating.� We decided to give the reunion a lounge atmosphere and offer heavy appetizers throughout the night. Each person received tickets for two drinks.
We held the reunion in the patio area of Mario’s Place. The locale is small, something that had Tiff nervous, but I knew the tight quarters would only work in our favor by making attendance look a little better. Hah! That was our main problem–convincing people to attend. Our school wasn’t known for it’s killer dances, and Tiffany and I didn’t leave the house, let alone host raging parties. I’m sure most of our class was a little nervous to hear two of the most quiet, insecure, and studious girls in school were hosting. They were probably expecting room temperature Sprite and a rousing game of Canasta.
We nailed it! Not a deck of cards in sight. The lounge atmosphere was great for reconnecting, the few tables and chairs we had set up were perfect for the patient spouses, and the horrendous 80s music made everyone laugh. We offered a cold meat and cheese plate, various grilled pizzas (your standard California toppings, like thinly sliced red potatoes and Gorgonzola cheese on a thin crust), flame grilled lamb chops, caprese salad in individual spoons, risotto balls, tuna tartar in cucumber cups, and chicken satay. For dessert there were two different puddings in espresso cups: dark chocolate with chocolate shavings and caramel with sea salt flakes. (Um, the caramel pudding? Holy cow, I could have had twelve. It was like this: super sweet, then crunch, crunch, crunch salty. Gah!)
And then, there was Anthony. Sweet, polite, easy on the eyes Anthony Carbajal, who waded through a throng of middle-aged women to take our pictures and put up with my instructions to “mind the double chin!”
I found him on Craigslist, of all places. Our budget was crazy low, and he was willing to do it to build his portfolio. I can’t recommend him enough, now that I’ve worked with him. At first, having hired him sight unseen, I was terrified. I called Tiffany and told her to play it cool if a 400 pound ex-con named Tony showed up to the reunion with a camera phone. She wasn’t amused.
Then we saw his picture online.
“He’s cute.”
“Yeah, he is. I wonder what’s up with that?”
“He must be gay.”
“Definitely.”
Then he showed up to take our pictures.
“He’s not gay.”
“Nope.”
“But he’s too young. That’s a shame.”
“Yup.”
Anthony, all the ladies gave you +200 points for looks and +2,000,000 points for thinking it was only a 10 year reunion.
And that’s it! My 20th reunion in a nutshell. We ended up charging $67.50 per person, just a little over the $50 we wanted originally. We had just a smidgen of money left over, and rather than returning to our classmates $0.50 each via Paypal, we’ll put that money towards an album of pictures of the event. It will be on display at the next reunion.
p.s. You didn’t think I would forget to show you my dress, did you?
Om my! It looks like a wonderful party! I HAD to post not only because I love your dress, but the photos are OUTSTANDING! I read where everybody likes to have comments, so tell your photographer another middle aged woman in Toronto thinks his photos are stellar and he’s not too bad either! Maybe he could take some family pictures of you too!
Gorgeous. The whole thing.
I would love for him to take family pictures of us!
Looks like a fabulous party! Awesome photos–I looked up Anthony’s website. Cool design and I love that his photos aren’t stilted … they capture life. Did you see the one of the two boys making a toast? …just below the top of the table. Classic!
And the food! Now I’m wanting me some pizza and caramel pudding … and it’s only 5:45 … so, thanks for that …
I know, he is really good at candids. And his food shots are amazing! I wouldn’t be surprised if years from now he is a food photographer.
Oh, I didn’t look at his food shots. Perhaps it’s for the best … because then I’d be hungry. Again.
That is a fancy, shmancy reunion! I like it.
Great dress, too!
Where did you find that adorable dress? You look great!
First time commenter (long time reader). Very lovely reunion! I’ll pass the ideas on to my daughter who also has a small class size. Craigslist is a great way to find good people and dirt cheap bargains, but I always let me hubby do the ground work to weed out the serial killers (he volunteers cuz he lives on Craigslist anyway!).
I absolutely love your blog! That being said, if I hear one more of you use the term “middle-aged”, I’ll scream! I’m 10 years older than you and am just entering my 50’s (tried to escape, but haven’t yet figured out a way). You are NOT middle-aged, for goodness sake! I should know: I’m turning 50 in one month and am taking our two kids to college tomorrow. I will come home to a nest of a us, our dog, cat and no kids. Now that’s the middle years!
Keep writing!
Work with me here because it wasn’t until yesterday as I was talking with someone else that I realized that I might very well be middle aged. Here is how my analytical mind works: If the average life expectancy is 75, and I am 37, and 37+37=74, doesn’t that make me exactly middle age? I’m smack dab in the middle of an average lifespan, ergo, middle-aged.
Of course, I much prefer your definition of middle-aged! If you say I am not, I GLADLY agree. :)
You look so pretty and radiant! My class just had their 15th reunion. It was quite classy from what I hear. The invitation was a crooked badly photo copied page from the year book on golden rod paper. It said tickets were $5 and if they got enough money maybe they could maybe buy an appetizer for everyone to split. Right then and there I decided not to go. And after seeing pictures (which I think were taken by an ex con with a camera phone and certainly not a professional) I couldn’t be happier that I spent the evening on my couch with my dog watching some awful Lifetime movie. I hear there was beer pong and there were way too many pictures of boobs. I don’t quite understand what was going on at that event. Again, very classy! There’s a reason I don’t see these people anymore.
I really wish they would have went your route. I would gladly have paid to go to a beautiful event like you put on. You guys did it right!
I think I look kind of old in the pictures, but Tristan and Nicole said I don’t so I’m trying not to be so hard on myself. We actually didn’t do invitations! We used my punch bowl (Tiffany’s idea) to keep everything organized. It saved us a ton of money in the end. We are just too small a class to afford the nice invitations we would have wanted and both of us lacked the time to make them ourselves.
delurking to say you look stunning! LOVE the dress! (and the new site design too)
I too love that dress! I’d love to know where you bought it.
Good job on the reunion!
I got the dress at Macy*s, of course. Do I ever shop anywhere else? ;)
Wow! It looks like you guys did a fantastic job planning that party! My class didn’t really have much of a 10th reunion either. I hope whoever’s planning our 20th does half as good a job as you did. :-)
Several things:
1. DAYUM! This was a classy affair!!
2. DAYUM!! That photographer is hott. I think every guy I’ve ever seen from Loyola Marymount has been good looking.
3. You are hilarious. These are my favorite lines:
“They were probably expecting room temperature Sprite and a rousing game of Canasta.”
�Just play it cool if a 400 pound ex-con named Tony shows up to the reunion with a camera phone.�
1. You looked fab
2. Food looked amazing
3. Anthony is adorable
Congrats on a home run of a reunion – looks like you girls did and AMAZING job!!
To be honest, Tiffany did most of the work. She used her “I’m relentless” skills to find almost everyone and did the legwork on a lot of the stuff. I will, however, take credit for the location and that Anthony. ;)
Bravo for pulling it all off! I knew you would and I knew you would look fab doing it:)
I’ve been waiting for pictures! Looks so good, you did a great job. I’m a fundraiser by trade so that involves putting on alot of events, and the cheaper the better – the less you spend, the more you net. It makes me happy to find someone who is just as crazy as me about keeping costs down :)
Also, LOVE your dress, and the fact that you got it at Macy’s is even better. I love that place but my mom loves it more…she practically gets things given to her for free. With sales and all her ridiculous coupons and the use-your-Macy’s-card-and-get-13568%-off discounts, she bought a Lucky Brand bag for me for $40 – and it was originally $180! I want to be like her when I grow up. LOL.
Like the others, I think your dress looks fabulous on you. And you definitely pulled off a badass party! Kudos to you!
Jules, as one who was there, you did a fabulous job.
Everything was great and it was wonderful to catch up with our old classmates.
Hopefully more classmates will attend the next one, but it cannot be any better
than this one was.
It was all Tiffany! I provided the moral support. :) It was great catching up, too. We live in the same city, so there is no excuse for us to talk through facebook!
Jealous! Our 10 year reunion was at the local beach (I live in Ohio, so use your imagination) and was BYOB and pot luck. Yah. Classy. 14 people showed up, 7 of which I see (at least) on a monthly basis when we get together to have playdates, shop, or just hang out.
You guys did a terrific job planning and you looked fabulous!
What a beautiful event! Everything looked amazing, including you:-)!! Love that dress!
Love Anthony’s pictures and love your dress. Hope I’m brave enough to go to my 20th next year. :)
G O R G E O U S pics of you. What a beautiful 20th!
Oh wow! Where do I start?
Well I think I must start by saying a huge well done! The place looks charming and inviting. Not like those reunions you see on telly which are so big and impersonal that one one actually talks to each other. You could tell by the pictures that it was a lot of fun.
Anthony is amazing! His pictures are fantastic. I also kept imagining how beautiful it would be if he took family pics of you guys.. lol
And yes, he is cute, my oh my! heheheh
You looked absolutely stunning Jules! Your hair wow it was just stunning, as well as that dress. Bright colours really suit you. Love the whole look!
That picture of you and the Mister is just adorable.
I can’t honestly think how you guys could do a better reunion next time…
Love,
Joy
Wow! Great Dress! Great reunion!
don’t knock the Sprite and canasta – I love me a rousing game of canasta.
jus sayin.
Really it looked like a classy event – and a great evening. Congrats for pulling it off.
Congrats on a job obviously well done! Your dress was perfect, too. Makes me excited for my upcoming 10-year… if my former classmates can get it together to plan something. With only 40 kids in my SE Wisconsin graduating class, who knows! Doubtful it’ll be as classy or cool as yours. Here’s to hoping.