Family Reunions They Will Want to Attend and Remember
Family Reunions They Will Want to Attend and Remember
Family reunion planning tips to pull off a great get-together everyone will love
Family reunions can sometimes be polarizing. Some want to attend, others don’t.
We’ll look at practical ways to plan family reunions that will make them fun and stand out, the kind everyone wants to attend.
Those that create the memories everyone will love remembering.
Get some overview plans in place for family reunions
Planning family reunions can be simple to very extravagant. Figuring out what works best for your family can be challenging.
Let’s get some broad brush overviews to planning down first.
Use technology to your advantage. Set up a Facebook page dedicated solely to communicating the planning of your reunion.
Set a date. You may need to ask if there are any dates to avoid. If this will be an annual event, it may be easier to set the same date each year, such as the first weekend in August.
Figure out if the planning will be done by one person or several on a small committee. Have everyone agree on this. If too many are planning, it can become a source of conflict or ineffective and time-consuming.
Delegate where necessary. Have someone in charge of food arrangements, someone for entertainment, someone for reservations and travel details, someone for any special events there, etc.
Decide if it will be a weekend, an afternoon or evening deal, all day, or whatever the reunion's time frame is.
Will it be a destination family reunion? A local park or campground? A rental somewhere that everyone stays at? Someone’s home is hosting? Will everyone figure it out for themselves?
Have any budget parameters and discussions needed and the expectations. An app called SplitWise can be helpful.
Your decisions on the above points will determine how you proceed with the remaining plans.
When you know the dates, make any appropriate reservations if needed, and communicate these details to family members and tell them to save the date.
Food preparation for family reunions
This scope will depend upon the length of the get-together and budget factors. An afternoon will carry different aspects than a whole weekend together.
One person could be in charge of one meal or one aspect. However you decide to do this, try not to make it too heavy or overburden one person.
If someone is overworked on events like family reunions, it can make it miserable for them. The family needs to work together as a team, each pulling their own weight somehow.
Recruit those who didn’t mean prep to do the cleanup duties.
Here are a few ideas for handling the food issue:
Catering: Hire a catering company to handle it, with everyone chipping in for the costs or paying for it themselves.
Soups: can be a versatile option that works well in cool and warm temperatures. Pair it with bread and salad for a satisfying meal.
Grilling food: Fire up the BBQ and serve classic hamburgers and hot dogs, or go all out with a barbecue spread.
Potluck Party: A potluck is a fantastic way to involve the entire family and ensure a variety of foods. Have each family member bring their favorite dish and line it up on a buffet table.
To avoid duplicates, list suggested dishes and let family members sign up for an entree, side, appetizer, dessert, or drink.
Pizza Party: For smaller gatherings, order pizza from a local shop. Many places offer delivery, but remember to place your order a few days in advance if you need multiple pizzas.
Taco Bar: Create a DIY taco bar with tortillas, taco shells, and everyone’s favorite toppings.
Baked Potato Bar: Similar to a taco bar but with pre-baked potatoes. Toppings can be cheese, broccoli, sour cream, chives, taco-seasoned meat, olives, and many other foods.
It can also be a creative spread of your family favorites. Your food prep can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make of it. Just work together and enjoy the process.
Things to do at a family reunion
Offer a variety of activities that can be done at family reunions to ensure it keeps everyone interested and engaged.
You might want to make it tech-free, except for picture-taking. Some families hire a photographer to take candid and posed pictures throughout the day.
Here are ideas for activities to plan. Depending on how complex each is, some may need a leader/planner for that event.
Host a fun auction. The Funds raised could go towards the cost of next year’s family reunion or towards helping some family members who are struggling.
Auction items could be' vouchers’ for Uncle Ben’s car service, babysitting hours, or Granny’s famous pie. Get creative with the offerings.
Perhaps incite a fun competition between family for known services or even gag gifts. An hour of silence from that member who can’t stop talking.
Trivia — Have trivia questions and a game related to family-specific questions and history—a great way to learn and communicate with everyone.
Yard games — pull out some of the classics like croquet, cornhole, badminton, and other favorites.
Board games or card games — Grab the favorites and maybe the newest popular game and teach each other how to play. Encourage the young to play with the old.
Hire entertainment like a band and do some dancing. Maybe a comedian or other family-related entertainers.
Karaoke or talent show allow those who want to show off their talents.
Photo swap — have everyone bring copies of their favorite family photos to give to each other.
Make a family cookbook—have everyone bring a certain number of their favorite recipes. Have someone be the lead to ultimately collect and assemble the cookbook for future distribution.
Have a bonfire. Take turns telling family stories. Encourage listening to the person who is sharing. Set a timer to give everyone equal time to share.
Family history lesson — let someone who knows the most about past generations of family history share that knowledge.
Crafts projects — have one or two going that can be done together. Have the experiences ones teach the others.
Key takeaways for successful family reunions
Here are a few key takeaways to consider.
It's quite common for nuclear family members to hang out together at large family reunions and not engage much with other family members. Perhaps they either don’t see each other often or just meet. Perhaps some ice breaker games could help with this.
Try to create settings where that is mixed up so the larger family unit can develop closer relationships, learn more about different parts of the family, and see their roots as much bigger than the small core of members.
Keep in mind the needs and interests of people of various ages. Make an effort to ensure that every person is cared for, valued, and respected and that age-appropriate provisions are made for them.
Provide some quieter spaces for introverts when they get too much, where they can go for a peaceful moment to recharge or even if they just need a nap.
There are also safety considerations to keep in mind. I know of a very tragic situation in my own family. In a very busy and crowded reunion setting, everyone thought everyone else had watch over a certain child while packing to leave. I won’t go into details out of respect, but it had a dire outcome. It's an element we usually don’t think about in family gatherings.
When children are in the mix, no matter their age, have a buddy system in place that one designated person should always know where that child is. One person set for every child.
Have fun, take notes about what went well and was a great hit, and what should have been done differently next time. Use those notes for the next one to improve it even more.
Here is a book series recommendation that is important for families today. That is of sharing and preserving our stories and history to be passed down as a legacy for future generations. We are losing our stories.
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I love this so much. And I really love your photos. Did you create them?