Sounds like a good plan.

Tickets sound like a good idea, but be prepared for those who forget their tickets. You'll still need a back-up spreadsheet. Also, how about an electronic ticket that can be stored on their phone as an option in addition to the paper ticket?

Some people who reach the 50th anniversary of anything tend to be forgetful, I know that sometimes I misplace items. So there are two possible issues with tickets:

1) Well meaning people receive their tickets, put them in a drawer, can't find them at reunion time

2) Black sheep of the bunch with others near by counterfeit the tickets. Depending on expense, this may include various techniques to substitute names.

Perhaps another thought would be to ask that everyone pay via Paypal. That way, anyone with a smart phone that has access to the Paypal account can actually check, or those who paid can show that they did on their phones.

One way to simplify the inevitable bottle-neck at the sign-in table is to have a few check-in lines, each designated by letters of the alphabet. So, for example, last names beginning with A-E would go to one line, F-J to another, K-O another, and so on.

Have a wonderful time!

The problem, as I see it, is that reunions can be a pretty pricey fee, and people who use to all live in the same place are now coming in from all over. I've done fundraisers where we might have one or two "But I paids!", but they're local and since the costs are low, we can just comp them on their word and straighten it out later.

Here's an idea:

Get a free email account from Gmail or Yahoo in the name of the reunion. When you receive a payment, enter it in your spread sheet, and send a confirmation e-mail to the payer, including names of attendees (or "2 guests" if you don't know) and amount paid. If they don't have e-mail, send it to the Reunion's e-mail (i.e., self) with the payers name on the subject line and mail a printout of it by post. For last minute payments, do the same thing but keep the printouts and hand them to the people as they arrive. If you save a couple of template e-mails, you can just plug in the names, amounts and e-mail address and send it off, so it shouldn't take any more work than mailing a paper ticket would.

On the invitation, tell people that their confirmation e-mail is their ticket/proof of payment.

This way you have a double check that can't be accidentally written over for what came in, you can look up if you sent the e-mail, and they can show you a print out, or the e-mail on their phone.

That said, one of the emotionally worst things I've ever had to do was stand at the door of a paid event with a caterer, where the caterer demanded an exact headcount, and tell someone who was a member of the organization, but who hadn't paid, that she couldn't come in.

So that's another piece of advice: Plan a few extra meals, etc., so you can comp someone rather than turn them away hungry.

You had problems with people showing up, saying they paid. So what's going to stop them from showing up, saying they paid and "never got the tickets"?

I like the PayPal option. Proof for both sides. Easy to check. Seems like most of the time reunions and such require payment up front to cover costs. People are so used to the "customer is always right" BS that they expect to be comp'd for their "trouble" everywhere and think the squeaky wheel always gets the grease, which it too often does. Paypal is a good way to go to solve problems. Even for people who don't have smartphones or internet, they can still have someone PayPal for them and it's done.

Another thing that can be done if you expect too many is to make it clear that a lost ticket will result in an additional charge of $___. That sometimes motivates people to remember tickets.

Have a good time.

Ive organized several class reunions. We made a name tag for each payee and guest. They simply picked up their tag as they arrived. Anyone who hadnt paid would not have a tag. I can't remember anyone trying to sneak in! We did have no-shows, which is to be expected. Someone sat at the name tag table with a back up list and to greet people. The worst disaster was when someone spiled their drink all over the tags. They were in plastic holders but had to be dried off. I think that was at a 25th reunion so we wweren’t a bunch of doddering old people quite yet.