Why print matters at a reunion
A class reunion or a big family get-together runs on two things: recognising people and remembering things together. Twenty years after school, half the room looks different. At a family reunion, cousins who last met as children are now adults with children of their own. Good printed pieces help with both problems. Name badges with an old photo break the ice in seconds, and a then-and-now display gives everyone something to gather round and laugh at.
This guide covers the print you might want for a school, college or family reunion: invitations and save-the-dates, name badges, a photo display, a small memory booklet and table extras. You do not need all of it. Pick what suits the size of your event and your budget.
Invitations and save-the-dates
Reunions need more notice than most parties, especially when people are travelling. A save-the-date six months or more ahead, followed by a proper invitation around two to three months before the event, is a sensible rhythm for a big family gathering or a milestone class reunion.
What to include
- The name of the group: "Class of 2006" or "The Tan family reunion".
- Date, time and venue, with parking or transport notes if the venue is hard to find.
- Who is invited: partners, children, teachers, extended family.
- How to reply and by when. A short web address or QR code that opens a simple form makes counting heads much easier.
- Any cost per person and how to pay, if guests are sharing the bill.
- A request for old photos. This is the moment to start collecting them.
For class reunions, a postcard with the old school photo on the front and the details on the back is cheap to print and post and gets noticed. For family reunions, a folded card with a family photo inside feels more personal. Our guide to custom invitation printing covers sizes, card stocks and envelopes.
Name badges with old photos
This is the single most useful printed item at a class reunion. A badge with a person's name and their school photo saves everyone the awkward "I know your face" moment.
Setting them up
- The name large, the photo beside it. Print the name in a plain, bold font that can be read from a couple of metres away. Include a maiden name or the name people knew them by at school.
- Use the yearbook. Scan the old yearbook or class photo and crop each face. Faces from a group photo will be small, so scan at a high resolution, at least 600 dpi, to give yourself room to enlarge them.
- For family reunions, add the branch. A line such as "Grandchild of Robert and Mei" or a colour code for each branch of the family helps people work out how they are related.
- Choose the holder. Pin-on plastic holders, magnetic badges or lanyards each work. Lanyards keep the badge at chest height and are the easiest to read.
- Print a few blanks. Someone always turns up unannounced, and a blank badge and a marker save the day.
Old photos often need some care before they print well. Our guide to scanning and reprinting old family photographs explains resolution and simple retouching.
A then-and-now display
The display is where people gather, so it is worth getting right.
Then-and-now boards
Ask guests to send a current photo along with their reply, then pair it with their old school photo or a childhood picture. Arrange the pairs on a large poster or a series of foam boards. For a class of 60 people, two or three A1 boards or one large banner usually fit everyone at a readable size.
Photo walls and timelines
For family reunions, a timeline running from the oldest family photos to the newest babies works well. A family tree in the middle of a big print gives everyone a map to find themselves on. Group the photos by decade or by branch of the family and add short captions with names and years.
Practical points
- Mount large prints on foam board or print them on a pull-up banner so they stand up without a wall.
- Use matte rather than gloss for anything that will sit under bright lights or be photographed.
- Print captions large enough to read without leaning in, around 24 pt on a poster.
- Leave space for people to stick up their own photos on the day if you want a more casual feel.
For layout ideas, our article on building a gallery wall from your own photos gives print sizes and spacing that work.
A memory booklet for everyone to take home
A short booklet is a lovely keepsake, and it does not need to be elaborate. A few ideas for what to include:
- The old class photo or a family group photo on the cover.
- A page per person or per family with a then-and-now photo and a few lines: where they live, what they do, a favourite memory.
- Memories from teachers or older relatives.
- A page remembering those who have passed away, kept simple and respectful.
- A contact list, but only with everyone's permission.
Ask for contributions with a clear deadline and a simple form, so everyone sends roughly the same amount of text. A 16 to 32 page saddle-stitched booklet in A5 is enough for most classes and families and is affordable to print for every guest.
Table extras and the small details
Once the main pieces are done, a few small prints help the day run smoothly:
- Welcome sign. At the entrance, with the group name and year. Easy to make on foam board.
- Table cards. Named after old classrooms, school houses or family branches rather than numbers.
- Quiz sheets. A trivia quiz about the school years or family history keeps things lively during a long lunch.
- A signing poster. A large print of the class photo with space around it for messages. Afterwards it can be framed for the organiser or passed around.
A simple print timeline for organisers
| When | What to print |
|---|---|
| 6 months or more before | Save-the-date postcards |
| 2 to 3 months before | Invitations with reply details and a request for photos |
| 4 to 6 weeks before | Collect photos and stories, design booklet and display |
| 2 to 3 weeks before | Order booklet, posters and display boards, check proofs |
| 1 week before | Print name badges from the final guest list, plus a few blanks |
Printing your reunion with us
We print the full set for reunions of every size: invitations and postcards, name badges, then-and-now posters, foam board displays, banners and memory booklets. Through our custom poster printing service we can produce large photo displays on paper, foam board or pull-up stands, and we will check that scanned yearbook photos are sharp enough at the size you want before anything is printed.
Send us your photos and a rough list of what you need and we will suggest sizes and a sensible print schedule. Organising a reunion is mostly chasing people for replies. Let the print side be the easy part, and save your energy for the moment someone finds their old school photo on the wall and starts laughing.
