Memento Ideas for a 50th High School Reunion

Make your 50th high school reunion one to remember with creative keepsake ideas. Scatter your high school reunion with mementos from the decade in which you graduated and fill the room with memories from your four years together. Music, centerpieces and games may help remind your classmates of good times they had long forgotten. Help re-establish lost connections with sentimental mementos for your 50th high school reunion.

Prepare a memento that represents the decade from which you graduated. Fill a clear bag with mementos that represent your class' graduation decade and place them as centerpieces on each table for the night of the reunion. For example, if you graduated in the 60s, you might include a peace symbol, a tie-dye piece of clothing, and a Beatles 45 record. If you are on a budget, you can include pictures of popular decade icons or a mix CD of popular songs during that time.

Have all attendees submit a current picture of themselves before the day of the reunion. For every one that submits a picture, dig up your old yearbook and match the old pictures to the new ones. Make photocopies of every alumnus's old yearbook photo from the year in which you graduated. Cut and paste the old pictures next to the new ones on scrapbook paper in order to create a then and now yearbook. When you have finished the yearbook, you may either make up photo copies to place on each table for guests to look through or place the original in the front of the room and let guests come up and peruse at their leisure. A before and after yearbook is an intriguing way for the reunion attendees to see how they and their classmates have changed during the prior 50 years.

The theme for your 50th reunion should be indicative of the decade you graduated. Table cloths and decorations might be a color that represents your generation or your school colors. Play music from the era in the background, or project a slide show of famous icons from that decade or photos from events like prom and graduation. For example, if your high school reunion is created with a 60s theme, you might choose tie-dye decorations, background music featuring the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel, and a slide show featuring classmates dressed in fashions indicative of the 60s, like bell-bottoms, the bowl haircut, or mini-skirts.

Bring up old memories in a game of trivia during your 50th reunion. Chances are many people will have forgotten each other or lost touch with old memories by the 50th reunion. Create a game that asks questions such as "what was our prom theme song?" or "who was our school mascot?" Separate tables into teams and have them work together. Bond your classmates together with team trivia. Discussing certain memories often reminds people of other memories from their graduating year they may have forgotten. Hand out prizes of sentimental value to the winning team, such as a "class of" t-shirts with their graduating year.