Would you give a cost breakdown? (or am I just hormonal and taking things personally?

[Jacksmommy2b]

Hi all - you are usually a mecca of good advice so I thought I would come begging for it yet again!

Okay - here's the deal.

I hosted (planned, slaved over and banged my head on a wall because) my 10 year high school reunion. (this was our first reunion as no one cared enough to plan the 5 year) The planning of this thing was a nightmare start to finish for a plethra of reasons including difficult attendees, lost contracts and two co-chairs that decided to not co-chair after all leaving all the work to the extremely sick pregnant woman whose 3 year old has been in and out of the hospital... :) sorry - not that I'm still bitter or anything. :)

Anyway - the party was last night and turned out (much to my surprise) beautifully. The reunion was held at a bar and restaurant close to the school we attended. The restaurant was chosen based on location and the fact that the previous class had a reunion there last year and that turned out very well. Quite a few of the attendees bitched and moaned about a crappy bar and restaurant and the date (although the weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally considered 'reunion' weekend) - but tough for them contracts were signed.

So - the contracted price for the bar was $33 per person. This cost included the projected total for the room rental, the buffet (chicken wings, spinich artichoke dip, Chicken fingers and chips and salsa) two drink tickets (any beverage up to $6) and all the taxes and gratuity. (a total of 26% of the tab) This was pretty much the cheapest of the options - all of which I posted on our planning website so others could express an opinion and not one single person did. About anything! And not one single person stepped up to help with anything either!

On the invitations (and the facebook and myspace pages, newspaper ads, local school district TV channel ads, alumni paper etc.) I listed the ticket price per person at $35.00
($33 as contracted to the bar and to account for extra costs such as decorations, any other incidentals and a small cushion in the event of a lousy turn out.)

So we had a great turnout and even though some people still decided to bitch and moan about having to pay $35 everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. (we only had a few crashers and one guy that snagged some extra drink tickets) They even somehow managed to convince the manager to break out the beer pong tables. I'm sure the cab company will be offering holiday bonuses based on what they made last night. :)

So the next morning I am hearing that some people are still complaining about the cost! And I am pretty disgruntled. I mean - c'mon - if $35 a head is too much for you - don't go!
And personally, I don't think that $35 a head is unreasonable for 2 drinks, the buffet and all the party expenses.

When all is said and done there is a little more than $100 left over and I had planned to donate that money to a local chapter of the 'National organization of parents of murdered children foundation - local chapter' which was (locally) founded by the father of our classmate that was murdered a few years back. (I certainly am not dealing with opening a bank account and saving this money for the next reunion. It isn't enough to bother with IMO, and I refuse to be responsible for it for the next 5 years)

So the question is - do I need to offer a cost breakdown to the attendees? Part of me is still PO'ed and almost offended that I stepped up and did all of this by myself as everyone else backed out and they still have the nerve to complain even though they knew the cost (and what it included) well in advance, and I want to highlight what the event cost.

And the other part of me is just like - screw it. I'll announce the donation in the thank you notes (ecards so no extra cost) and they can bite me and find someone else to deal with the BS next go 'round as there is no way in h@ll I am putting up with this again.

So what would you do?

[Ivy_CA]

sheesh, that is the cheapest reunion I've ever heard of. My husband's reunion and my mom's last one I seem to recall were both $60+ per person. Neither of them went to theirs. I would have gone to my 10-year reunion in 2007 had there been one, but nobody stepped up to actually run the thing, so there wasn't one, so kudos to you again! :)

edit: Oh I forgot, donate the money and put it in the thank you card thing like you were saying.

[pinkmomagain]

I would donate the $ and put it in the ecard. If people don't like it, they can plan the next reunion.

[bubbaray]

I would donate the $ and put it in the ecard. If people don't like it, they can plan the next reunion.


:yeahthat:

[SnuggleBuggles]

You negotiated a fair price, imo. I think people could make the decision to attend or not but not bitch about it during and after. It sounds reasonable to me. If someone approaches you directly about the cost I'd probably reply- and tell them to plan the next one. :) It's not like your cost was out of line so you have nothing to worry about by sharing the specifics. I just wouldn't make a big fuss (like post on Facebook...) about the cost; tackle it one on one and call it a day.

I'm glad it went well!

Beth

[amandabea]

I agree w/ the PPs re: making the donation and mentioning it in the thank you ecards. And if that doesn't shut down the complaints than copy your post to the planning page and walk away.

[gatorsmom]

And the other part of me is just like - screw it. I'll announce the donation in the thank you notes (ecards so no extra cost) and they can bite me and find someone else to deal with the BS next go 'round as there is no way in h@ll I am putting up with this again.

So what would you do?

You have done enough. Send the ecard/thank you notes with the info about the donation and be content knowing that you did your best, it turned out as nicely as YOU wanted it to, and that there always be someone who's unhappy. Always.

Oh, and then get your "Hell No!" ready in 5 or 10 years when they ask you to help again. :icon_twisted:

[alexsmommy]

No one forced them to go, they knew the price up front.
Our reunion was much more expensive and I know of several people who decided not to attend. I didn't do the planning but I did say (gently) to a few people who complained to me, "Well, yes, I agree it's too much BUT I'm also not at all willing to plan it and the chairs did make a big effort to get feedback during the planning phase, so I feel that I gave up any right I had to complain."
I wouldn't give this another moments thought. I promise you if you had figured out a way to go cheaper you would have had just as many complaints about how "cheesy" the venue was or how bad the food was etc. You will never please everyone - it's just not possible.

Hopefully many more people expressed their gratitude at you planning than complained about the cost.

[MommyAllison]

That is waaay cheaper than DH's 10yr reunion (which we did not attend). His was 75+ (can't remember exactly) per person. I'd announce it in the ecard if you want to, and forget about it.

[Carrots]

I think $35.00 is great price! I was not a class officer, but I planned our 10th reunion 5 years ago and we charged $40 pp if you purchased advanced tickets and $45 at the door. If anyone complained, I didn't know about it. We ended up with a nice cushion of cash that we put in a savings account for expenses for the 15th reunion, which was this weekend (I didn't go).

I don't think the class needs a breakdown of how the cash was spent. I think you should congratulate yourself on thowing a great party and release yourself from any responsibility of planning the 15th reunion. :)

[clc053103]

I ran our reunion last year- $70 a head but it did include a full meal. People just like to complain, I'm sad to say!! I turned in a 'report' to another classmate so there was some sort of saccounting, and called it a day. Any leftover money (we also rounded up so there was a cushion like you did) was donated to the school in the name of the class along with any other donations received that night. Don't worry about explaining anything to classmates as it will soon be forgotten.

Sounds like you planned a great event!!