Family reunion planning can be as easy as you want it to be. Even if you have a very large family, you don’t have to spend months tearing your hair out to plan the best family reunion ever. The two main things to remember are to keep everything organized properly and to approach the whole thing with a realistic attitude. With these things in mind, planning your family reunion can be quick, painless, and even fun. As a matter of fact, it is ESSENTIAL that you have some fun when planning your reunion, because your enjoyment of the process will translate into a better time for your family members.
1. Know who you’re inviting. The first thing you should do is get a list of family members in front of you. That way, you’ll have a rough idea of how many people will be attending, and you will be sure to not forget anyone when you send out the invitations. Once you’ve got a list of invitees, re-arrange them into age groups. It’s important to know how many infants, small children, teenagers, young adults, and senior citizens will be coming, so you’ll be able to plan interactive activities for the reunion that everyone can enjoy.
2. Make sure you send out invitations at least three months before the reunion. This will give your invitees ample opportunity to get the reunion on their calendars. If you don’t have correct contact information for someone, or aren’t sure if the info is right, either call them to confirm or confirm with an other family member who would know.
3. Pick a location. Unless your family is very small, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be having the reunion in your backyard. Fortunately, there are plenty of locations that would be excellent for a family reunion. If your old family homestead still exists and is owned by a family member, you could have it there. Other popular choices are national parks, resorts, cruises, and theme parks. When making your selection, choose a place that’s not too far out of the way for most family members to get to easily (unless you’ve all agreed to fly there together). Don’t pick a place that’s too expensive for the majority of your family to afford, either. A lot of people who do family reunion planning send out surveys to family members several months in advance to see where the majority would prefer to have the event.
4. Select an appropriate date. Choose a time that works for the majority of attendees. A lot of families have reunions in the summer, since the kids are out of school. If you send out a survey to family members to pick a location, ask about date preferences, as well.
5. Plan fun activities. Every family reunion relies on a variety of activities to keep attendees interested in the proceedings. Pick activities that everyone can enjoy, no matter how young or old. Karaoke is a popular pick, as well as storytelling, board games, scavenger hunts, and costume contests.
6. Don’t forget the food. Food is an essential part of your reunion, and you want to have a lot of it. You also want the cost of the food to be reasonable, since it could easily run into a lot of money otherwise. Many people doing family reunion planning make the event a potluck one, with every family member bringing a dish to contribute. You might also assign categories of food to different family members, such as salads, desserts, drinks, etc, to be sure you’ve got everything covered. If you’ve got money to spend, you could consider having the event catered, as well. However, be sure to find out in advance if anyone in the family is a vegetarian or has particular food allergies, since you’ll want to make sure there are at least a few dishes present that can accommodate those people. When you’re planning a family reunion, you want everyone to have a good time! With these 6 steps, you’re well on your way to making that happen.
