Retro School Reunion Ideas And Games

Most reunions fail in the first twenty minutes, when nobody recognises anybody and everyone stands with the three people they already see.

Everything here is aimed at fixing that.

Organising it

• Start six months out. Three is possible, but you'll lose everyone who's already booked something.
• A private group is the easiest way to find people, plus word of mouth through the ones who stayed local.
• Pick a date that isn't a bank holiday weekend - people travel, and you'll lose half of them.
• A pub function room or a club room beats a restaurant. People need to move around, not sit in fixed seats all night.
• Charge a small amount up front. Free events have a 40 per cent no-show rate; paid ones don't.
• Set a firm start and a firm end. An open-ended invitation gets a thin turnout at both ends.
• Ask two or three people from different friendship groups to co-host, or you'll only get one group's contacts.

Name badges, properly done

• This is the single most important thing on the page. Do it.
• Name they went by at school, in large print. Not their current legal name.
• Their school photo printed on the badge. It solves the recognition problem instantly and is the best conversation starter in the room.
• Form or tutor group underneath, so people can find their year's groupings.
• Have spares and a marker pen at the door for anyone who turns up unlisted.
• Nobody feels awkward about not recognising someone if the badge does the work.

Games that break the ice

• Guess the school photo - blow up ten baby or first-year photos, number them, everyone writes guesses on a sheet.
• A school quiz - the teachers' nicknames, the canteen menu, which corridor smelled, what the bell sounded like, the name of the caretaker.
• Then and now - a board where people pin a school photo next to a current one.
• Two truths and a lie, played about what people have done since.
• Most likely to - awards voted on the night, kept kind, with no awards about appearance.
• A memory wall - a roll of paper and marker pens on a wall, for anything anyone remembers.
• The register - read out the class list at some point in the evening and have people answer 'yes miss'. It gets the biggest reaction of the night.

Setting it up right

• High tables and standing space, not a seating plan. People need to be able to leave a conversation.
• Photos on the walls - school trips, sports day, the old buildings, the uniform.
• A playlist from your final school year, not from now.
• Food that people can eat standing up.
• A corner with chairs for anyone who wants a proper sit-down conversation.
• A group photo taken early, while everyone's still there and still sober.

The awkward bits

• Someone will bring up something that happened in 1994 that still matters to them. Have a co-host who can move a conversation along.
• Not everyone had a good time at school. Don't build the whole night on 'weren't they the best years'.
• Remember anyone who's died - a quiet mention or a photo board, not a long speech mid-evening.
• People are at wildly different points in life. Avoid anything structured around jobs, money or children.
• If there were people who made school miserable for others, don't pretend otherwise and don't give them the microphone.
• Keep it short. Three hours of a good reunion beats six hours of a thinning one.

Shop cards

How to write it so it lands

• Name badges with the school photo on. Everything else is secondary.
• Charge something up front. Free events have huge no-show rates.
• Take the group photo early, while everybody's still there.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you organise a school reunion?

Start six months out, use a private group plus word of mouth, get co-hosts from different friendship groups, book a pub function room rather than a restaurant, charge a small amount up front and set a firm start and end time.

What's the most important thing at a reunion?

Name badges with the name they went by at school and their school photo printed on them. It removes the recognition problem entirely, and nothing else comes close.

What games work at a school reunion?

Guess the school photo, a quiz about the teachers and the building, a then-and-now photo board, a memory wall, and reading out the class register so people answer 'yes miss'.

How do you handle people who hated school?

Don't build the night around 'the best years of our lives'. Keep the structure loose, avoid anything organised around jobs or money, and have a co-host who can move an awkward conversation along.