Tips for Family Reunion Planning

If you are the one in charge of family reunion planning, you may already be panicking. You don’t have to, though. There are steps that you can take that will make hearing “Let’s plan a family reunion” not be a cause for alarm.

1. The best time to start family reunion planning is during the one you’re attending. Get together with the person who planned the one you’re at and find out from them any snafus they encountered. Ask them to provide a list of addresses that they sent announcements to so you don’t have to scramble to get a list together.

2. Check a calendar to decide upon the best date for the reunion you’ll plan and host. Choose a date around the time the reunions have always been held so everyone will be expecting it.

Other things to consider are:

Do you want to plan the date around an anniversary of the oldest surviving relatives?
Will it be planned around a grandparent’s birthday?
Once you’ve set a date, don’t change it unless there really is no other choice.

3. Decide early on in you family reunion planning if you’re going to inform family that hasn’t been able to attend thus far. If they live out of state and have enough notice, they may try to attend. Get a rough idea of how many people will attend based upon the number of people that have come before.

4. Will you have the reunion closer to where you live, or more centralized to everyone? A great family reunion idea is to find out what buildings or facilities are available in the area and begin now to check for availability. Will you use a community center, someone’s home, or a hotel conference room? Churches may sometimes allow you to use their fellowship halls if you can schedule it when it’s not being used.

5. You’ll probably want to find a free alternative first, based upon the date you chose. If you can’t find a free facility, you’ll want to find one that is cost-effective.

6. Do you plan on scheduling events or activities, or will you allow everyone to plan their own fun? Many family reunions are an excuse for family that can’t get together often to at least get together once a year. They may be more than willing to forgo activities for the opportunity to chat and keep in touch and have a family vacation.

7. Two months before the reunion, begin family reunion planning by sending notices that the event is coming up soon. With the notice, include directions if it’s not a usual location. Be sure to have your home telephone number and cell phone number on the directions just in case someone needs better directions.

8. The day of the reunion, show up earlier than needed to be sure everything is clean and ready for your family. Arrange tables and chairs. Check to be sure there is toilet paper in the restrooms. If you have a sign, place it out where it can be seen.

Even though family reunion planning can be stressful, when the day arrives, don’t give it another thought. Even if things aren’t perfect, no one will make a fuss – they’ll be enjoying themselves too much. Now you can take time to enjoy yourself, too. You’ve earned it!

Family Reunion Accommodations

See our list of Top Ten Resorts for Family Reunions – in the World!
See our Tips for Booking Family Reunion Hotels

Share this Page :

 [feather_share ]

Author
Recent Posts

Travelon Jo

Travelon Jo is a mom and travel blogger who believes that taking your kids travelling is one of the best things you can do for them. As a former travel agent, she knows all about the ins and outs of planning a trip, and loves nothing more than sharing her knowledge with others.