However, planning a huge event like this can be extremely stressful – from choosing a date that works for everyone to picking the best event venue. Whether you’re organizing your 20th or your very first family get-together, there is a great deal of planning that goes into a successful reunion. This step-by-step guide will help you to plan the memorable and meaningful family gathering that you’ve always dreamed of – without any drama.
The first step in planning a family reunion is nailing down a date. Coordinating the schedules of a large group of people with their own respective careers, children and responsibilities can be a nightmare. For this reason, you should try to choose a date at least one year prior to the event.
A great way to do this is to set up a Facebook group for your family. By doing this, you can easily stay in contact with all of your family members in a central location and update them on the upcoming event. Posting a poll with a few different options of dates for your event will give you a good idea of which timeframe will work best for the majority of your family.
Planning a family reunion all by yourself is nearly impossible. There are a lot of logistics to consider when organizing an event for a large group of people including travel, housing, activities, meals, and the main reunion party.
Consider recruiting the help of some of your family members, and delegate these responsibilities to make them more manageable. You may want to put a different person in charge of:
Appointing different family members to handle different aspects of the reunion will take a load of stress off you and ensure that everything runs smoothly by the time of the event.
Sticking to a budget for your reunion will help you avoid unwanted family drama about finances. Setting a strict budget in the initial planning stages of the reunion will give a general idea of the cost per person of the event. The cost can be a major factor in reunion attendance so it’s important to give notice at least one year prior to the event. That way, families can start budgeting in advance, and there won’t be any surprises down the line.
The reunion party is the heart of your family reunion. At this party, your extended family members will be able to reconnect, mingle and reminisce over fun family activities and cuisine and music. When choosing an event venue for your party, take into consideration the location, occupancy max, catering options, furnishings, and design.
Flora the Venue is equipped with a mobile bar, premier sound system, projector, catering kitchen, and in-house tables that make it the perfect venue for your milestone celebration, like a family reunion.
Your family will thank you for choosing a beautiful event space to create lasting memories that will live on in scrapbooks for generations.
Getting the word out about the reunion as early as possible is extremely important when planning your event. The sooner you get the reunion on your family’s radar, the more likely they are to attend. We recommend sending out formal invites at least six months to a year in advance. That will give people the appropriate time to plan.
If you’re not a fan of snail mail, you can use your Facebook group, Evites, Paperless Post, or any other online invitation service to send out your invitations and keep track of RSVPs.
While you don’t want your reunion to have a minute-by-minute itinerary, it is nice to offer some activities that family members can participate in during the party. Pinterest offers a wide range of activities and games that help your family members connect and learn more about each other in a fun and creative way. Check out these fun family reunion games for some inspiration.
Sharing your heritage with your family is one of the best ways to connect with each other and remember where you came from. Creating a family tree, displaying scrapbooks, and serving dishes passed down through generations can help you connect with your heritage and show respect to your ancestors who came before you. You can even use websites like Ancestry, My Heritage, or 23 and Me to explore your genealogy and family story.
You can not have enough pictures on a rare family occasion like this. Once-in-a-lifetime photo ops will arise, and you don’t want to be caught without a camera. You may want to designate a family photographer who is in charge of capturing moments, or you can place disposable cameras on each table so that your family members can all help take photos. If the budget permits, you may want to even consider hiring a photographer so everyone can enjoy the event.
After the event, make sure to use a data-sharing website like Dropbox to share your amazing photos with your entire family.
Family reunion parties may be stressful to plan at times, but they are beyond worth it. Whether you host a reunion annually or every 10 years, gathering your family for a night of fun and memories will help you stay tight-knit no matter how much time has passed.
If you’re interested in hosting your family reunion at our event venue, please contact us to help you plan a reunion party your family will never forget.