Reunions are run by volunteers with day jobs, funded by ticket sales that arrive late, for a headcount nobody knows until two weeks out. Every decision here should be made with that uncertainty in mind rather than against a fixed number.

Name badges are the actual product

The universal reunion problem is that nobody recognises anybody. A badge with the name large enough to read from conversational distance — and the yearbook photo on it, if you can get the file — does more for the evening than anything else you can buy. It is also cheap, which means the budget goes further on the thing people actually needed.

Order late, order tight

Because attendance firms up so slowly, pick items with short production times and low minimums rather than committing early to a large run at a better unit price. Leftover reunion merchandise has no second buyer — the year and the class are printed on it.

Sell, don’t give

Attendees will happily buy a shirt or a tumbler on the night, and that revenue often covers the venue shortfall the committee is quietly worrying about. Price it as retail, take card payments, and treat the merchandise as part of the funding rather than a cost.