Putting together a successful class reunion requires planning, a lot of hard work and money. But you don't have to break the bank when it comes to providing reunion favors for your classmates. Here are nine tips to help you save money on class reunion favors.

Plan in Advance

1. Browse online for bargains. It takes time to hunt for the best deals. You should be able to find the same or a similar item in a wide range of prices. If you give yourself that extra time, you can obtain samples, judge the quality, and determine the best value.

2. Avoid rush orders. Remember, it usually takes longer for a company to create custom personalized reunion favors, than it would be to obtain a ready made item. If you wait until the last minute, you might get stuck paying a fee to speed up your order. At the very least, you'll be paying extra for faster shipping to get your reunion favors on time.

Do The Math

3. Watch for hidden fees. Yes, you might be able to purchase those imprinted pens for 53 cents each. But before you rush to order, find out what is the minimum amount you need to buy. If the company's policy is that you have to buy at least 300 pens and you only have 80 people planning to attend your class reunion, then you'll have 220 pens left over. So, it's really not that good a deal. You would be better off paying a little extra for an item with a business that allows you to order only what you need.

4. Check to see if there's a set up fee. Many times a company will advertise a low price, but then hit you with a hefty charge for designing your custom reunion favors. Make sure you read the fine print.

5. Pay close attention to the sliding scale in prices, based on the amount that you are purchasing. Some companies charge you less if you buy in greater volume. Let's say you found personalized class reunion magnets for $1.75 each if you are ordering less than 100 favors. However, these same magnets are only $1.50 each if you buy more than 100 favors. You need 90 magnets as giveaways for your reunion. If you ordered exactly 90 at $1.75 each, your cost would be $157.60. However, if you order 100 at $1.50 each, your total would be $150. So, in this case, you would save money, $7.60 to be exact, if you purchased 10 extra magnets. If you want to save, then crunch the numbers.

Handmade vs. Custom-Made

6. Beware the handcrafted money pit. If you're trying to save money on these giveaways, you might be thinking of making reunion favors yourself or delegating the task to a group of volunteers. But before you stock up on supplies at the craft store, add up the cost for each of the elements of your favors. Craft supplies are not cheap. You might be surprised at what you're paying for your handmade creations. It is possible that you could save money by purchasing ready made or custom made favors from a company that specializes in them.

7. Check out cheap do-it-yourself alternatives. Not all handmade items are expensive to make. You can make your own class reunion candy bar wrappers, for example. There are free, printable chocolate bar wrapper templates online. Or, if you know someone creative, he or she can design a candy bar wrapper with your personalization and school colors. You have to pay for the candy bars (a 5 oz. Hershey bar is a nice size) and the printing, but it shouldn't break your budget.

8. Consider the wow factor. You can get away with spending very little money on class reunion favors, if you purchase giveaways that make an impression. You can find items such as personalized reunion bookmarks or pocket notebooks with fun facts from the year you graduated for a couple of dollars or less. Or, take a group photo at the reunion party and print copies of it on the spot with one of those portable printers. Then give everyone a copy to take home with them. You could even add a dollar store 4 x 6 inch frame, and your total cost would still be low. Use your imagination and go for unique.

9. Can't afford to give it away? Sell it! Imprinted t-shirts and personalized tote bags are great reunion items, but they're expensive. You can take orders for these from your reunion website and sell them at the event itself. Your classmates will love them and it will help you pay for the reunion favors that you give away and for other things.

So, take some time to check out all your low cost options for class reunion favors. Go over the price to get the best value and make sure you know what you're paying. Then choose something cheap, but unique. Your classmates will love their class reunion favors, and they'll never guess how much money you saved.