How to Plan a Family Reunion

By eHow Parties & Entertaining Editor

Rate: (11 Ratings)

Organize a memorable family reunion to renew lost contacts, introduce new ones and celebrate your heritage.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Cameras
Outdoor games
Invitations
Camcorders
Postage stamps
Party food
Prizes
Address books
Calculators

Step1

Make a list of family members, including spouses, partners and children. Get contact information for all the people on your list.

Step2

Choose a date when most people can attend. Summer months are often ideal, since children are out of school.

Step3

Decide how long you want the reunion to last and where to have it. Hold it near most family members if you're clustered in one area. Pick a central location, if you're scattered.

Step4

Develop a budget and decide how much each family will need to contribute. Avoid making costs prohibitively high.

Step5

Visit reunion sites--such as hotels, inns and country clubs--and reserve one early.

Step6

Determine the menu--perhaps one that celebrates your family's heritage. Find a caterer or restaurant that can supply food for the event.

Step7

Appoint a family historian to take photographs or videos during the event.

Step8

Plan social activities for the reunion--icebreaker games, sports, contests and talent shows. Include activities that will appeal to all ages. Buy prizes for your games or for distinctions such as oldest family member or longest distance traveled to attend.

Step9

Send an initial mailing to gauge interest and preferences and to ask for help with planning. Send invitations later, with relevant information, directions and a map. Ask for a check from each family for its part of the reunion expenses.

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Tips & Warnings

If your reunion is large, consider organizing a reunion committee, with a secretary for mailings, a treasurer and a social-events planner.
Have attendees send checks several weeks before the reunion so you can shop for food, prizes or whatever else you'll need.
Try making family reunions a consistent event--every 1, 2 or 5 years--at the same time of year.

Comments

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 You should contact your Conventions and Visitors Bureau for help with plannin your reunion. They offer tons of ideas and resources to help make your reunion a success.Also, if your family will be staying at a hotel or motel you will need to talk to someone in charge of sales to secure enough rooms for your family.
If there are handicapped persons amongst you, make sure that the rooms are handicapped accessible.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Please, make sure that there are things for kids and teens to do. At my family reunion, there was a large supply of balls and craft activities to keep all of us kids occupied. Consider bringing a PS2 or XBox with extra controllers, as sharing a video game is a great way to make friends. Games like Dance Dance Revolution are great. Be sure to plan times where the kids can break away from the action, too. There is a limit to how much "Oh-my-God-look-how-big-you've-gotten!" we can handle.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Have everything catered. Don't try to make the food yourself. The people who cook never get to enjoy the event, and everyone should have fun. It should be vacation, not work.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Our family, which is scattered all over the country, has a reunion every three years. A different family "hosts" the reunion each time. This affords us a way to see the country and avoid one family always having to hold the reunion.

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 This may seem obvious, but try not to do all the planning yourself. Divide the work amongst your family members. It reduces the stress on you and allows everyone to contribute. Change the location of the reunion each time; it makes for new experiences.

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