Family reunion planning does take some work, but the good news is we’ve done a lot of that for you! In this guide we’ll share our expert advice on how to plan a meaningful and memorable family reunion that everyone will be glad they attended.
Key Takeaways:
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- Choose the Date
- What is the best time of year for a family reunion?
- Decide on a Budget
- Pick a Family Reunion Location
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- What are the best venues for a family reunion?
- Top 20 Locations in the US for Your Family Reunion
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- Send Invitations and Manage RSVPs
- Family Reunion Menu & Recipes
- Plan the Entertainment
- Create Your Detailed Reunion Schedule
- Family Memories: Sharing Family History
- Take Lots of Pictures and Videos!
- Choose the Date
Getting Ready for the Reunion
Because large family reunions require a lot of planning, begin preparations a few months in advance. Some family reunions take longer to plan than others, so it’s up to you to know when best to start making moves.
Formal reunions naturally take more time to plan than the informal ones.
Overall, advance planning gives you enough time to drum up interest in the reunion and enlist some help to pull it off. It also gives your family members room to request time off from work.
Here’s what you need to do before the actual reunion.
1. Consult the Family
The very first thing you need to do is consult with your family to get a rough idea of who wants to attend, when best to do it, and where. These details can make or break a family reunion. It’s important to lock them in well in advance.
Take note of any dates to avoid, such as a loved one’s graduation ceremony, wedding, or engagement party.
2. Choose a Date
In large, extended families, it’s rarely possible to accommodate everyone’s schedule, so choose the best date possible.
A cardinal rule of reunion planning is that once the date is set, you have to stick to it.
What is the best time of year for a family reunion?
Many people plan their family reunions during the summer months since it’s easier for school-going children to attend. Summer also offers more possibilities for outdoor recreation.
However, if you’re going to plan a summer get-together, make sure that you have the budget to match. If not, schedule the reunion during the off-season when it’s easier to get special discounts for venues, entertainment, catering, and so on.
Now’s also the time to establish how long your family reunion will take. Two hours? An entire afternoon? Just make sure the duration will work with the majority of the family members.
3. Decide on Your Family Reunion Budget
Next, determine the budget. A good way to go about this is to work with the person who was in charge of the budget at the previous reunion. This enables you to know how much money people are willing to spend on the event.
If that’s not possible, you’ll need to make a budget from scratch. Estimate what your most significant items will cost. These are usually food, beverage, and potentially, a venue. Then sum it all up into one final figure.
Once you get a rough figure to work with, decide if you need more money and how you’re going to get it.
Planning a Reunion on a Budget
If you’re working on a tight budget, consider scheduling the whole event off-season. Booking off-season can provide you with big savings in popular destinations. For example, a popular winter destination might actually be very affordable in the summer.
Another budget-saving tip for your reunion, make the party a potluck. Cooking yourselves rather than catering can DRAMATICALLY reduce your costs.
Consider using a free or low-cost venue, like a family member’s backyard or a community park or church hall that already has tables included.
In addition, save money on printed materials by making all invites and group chats digital. Reunacy manages all your family reunion invitations and RSVPs in one place.
Family Reunion Budget Template
Remember to track every expense with spreadsheets. Even those little items add up quickly, so make sure every single item is tracked and accounted for from the word go.
4. Pick a Family Reunion Location
Will the family reunion happen at a family member’s home or at a beach-side destination? Now’s the time to decide where to host the get-together.
Best Venues for Family Reunions
Aim for a location that is most accessible and affordable to the majority of people you want to attend. If family members are clustered in one area, select a spot that’s nearby. If your relatives are more spread out, try to find a central location to help cut down on the travel expenses. Your family reunion location is one of the most important steps in your family reunion planning journey!
Also, make sure the final location caters to a variety of age levels, interests, and physical abilities. Ocean or lakeside state parks are ideal as there are things to do on both water and land.
Top 20 Family Reunion Locations Around the US
Check out our guide to top family reunion locations around the country. You’ll learn about family reunion destinations like Lake Tahoe, California and Cedar Point Amusement Park!
Family Reunion Planning Checklist
5. Send Invitations and Manage RSVPs
Once you have the date, budget, and venue locked in, it’s time to send invitations. You can opt for traditional paper or digital invitations. Either way, send them a few months before the grand event.
Reunacy comes in handy in this regard. It allows you to:
- Create an online family reunion group
- Set up an event and send digital invites
- Send out messages to share the details
- Store all your family photos and family reunion photos in one place
- Each family member can create a profile and participate!
It’ll save a few trees, too!
6. Family Reunion Menu Ideas
Feeding a large group of people with different tastes is perhaps one of the trickiest parts of planning a family reunion.
Easy Potluck Ideas for Family Reunions
Make it easy on yourself by suggesting a potluck or perhaps a menu that celebrates your family’s heritage.
If you do settle for a potluck, you’ll need to determine the menu and assign the dishes to each family member. Find some people in your family to help you brainstorm the food choices and make assignments.
Menu Ideas for Your Family Reunion
Here are some tried and true family reunion foods:
- Pizza: Pizza is ideal for small family reunions. Just remember to place your order well in advance if you’re going to need more than one pizza.
- Chocolate ice cream cake: Who doesn’t love chocolate and ice cream? You can mix these two divine inventions and create a delectably decadent chocolate ice cream cake for the upcoming reunion. If baking is not your thing, have some enthusiastic aunts do it.
- Barbecue: Heat up the oven and serve some juicy, oh-so-tender ribs. The meat will fall right off the bones, and your toothless granny will declare you the master chef.
- Fried chicken: You need to have something at the table that the kids and adults can dig into, and no other dish can beat crispy fried chicken as the ultimate crowd pleaser!
No matter what you choose to include in your family reunion menu, serve several different foods. Some family members might be vegetarians, dairy-free, or glutton-free, and a diverse menu caters to their unique preferences.
If you really want to go all out, have the menu handled by a professional caterer or catering company. But be sure to reach out well in advance.
Family Reunion Recipes
Family recipes are more than instructions on stained index cards. They are emotional time machines.
A single bite of a comfort food can take you instantly back to childhood, recalling Sunday dinner, holiday meals, or barbecue on Saturday afternoons in the summer.
For your family reunion, consider making a special family recipe!
For example, Italian families may want to make Grandma’s pasta sauce recipe, or Dad’s yummy meatballs. Some families from the south make Blackberry Dumplings!
Each dish is a branch of the family tree, and symbolizes the richness of your common heritage.
7. Plan the Entertainment
So far, so good. Now’s time to schedule fun activities and possible entertainment options.
Best Family Reunion Games for All Ages
For a successful family reunion, offer games and activities that suit everyone—from the kids to the elderly to the differently-abled.
Here are some entertainment ideas for the big day:
- Pool party: If your venue has a pool on-site, take full advantage of it. Pools offer endless entertainment options during the summer.
- Play ball: Group ball games are some of the best family reunion activities because they allow everyone to get in on the act. Some games you can easily plan for include soccer, volleyball, baseball, or bocce ball.
- Egg race: Another reunion favorite, the egg race is ideal for a big group. Everyone is racing against each other, and if you drop the egg, your team is out.
- Tug-of-war: If you can find a solid rope (ask the group, somebody probably has one in the garage), a battle between kids or better yet, kids vs. adults will tap into that healthy competitive spirit.
- Family talent show: Let every family member showcase their hidden talent—be it singing, juggling, playing an instrument, etc.—in front of the whole group.
- Scavenger hunt: A scavenger hunt can be about solving clues that lead to treasure or searching and collecting specific items. Break the ice and build camaraderie between distant family members by putting them in one team.
- Family trivia: Host a family trivia event. Your trivia questions could be about work-life, sports, love, and marriage—or they could be questions about your family. For example, ask questions like “Uncle Jack played soccer for which Division 1 college team?” or “Grandma came to the U.S. in what year?” This is a fun way to get everyone involved and learn more about one another as you go.
- Story time: This will be a hit with the kids. If you have a large group, choose a person from each nuclear family to tell a story about someone else. Encourage storytellers to think of something that most of your extended family doesn’t know. The best stories are those that reveal something sweet, unusual, or funny about a specific family member.
Active and Athletic Family Reunion Ideas
If your reunion spans several days, or if your family enjoys a little competition, try out these athletic and outdoorsy activities:
- Canoeing
- Sightseeing
- Dolphin-watching
- Swimming
- Bike-racing
The Big Day: Let’s Start the Party!
8. Share the Reason for Getting Together
When people have responsibilities, they tend to have a more vested interest in the success of an event.
So, if you haven’t already, create a planning committee. Recruit volunteers and dole out tasks as appropriate as part of your family reunion planning.
For instance, you could request some aunts to cook and some enthusiastic cousins to take charge of the games.
Here is a list of duties and responsibilities that you need help with:
- Activities and entertainment
- Cleanup
- Decorations, invitations, and registration
- Food preparation and catering
- Budget management
- Family Photography
10. Create Your Detailed Family Reunion Schedule
Having a clear and detailed reunion schedule will keep your family organized and reduce the inevitable chaos. A clear schedule also allows you to thoughtfully plan high-energy group activities and games with moments of rest.
11. Have a Backup Plan
Anything can happen when planning a family gathering like this. A caterer can opt-out halfway, the entertainer can fall sick, or worse, the weather can act up.
It’s smart to have a backup venue, entertainer, and caterer. If possible, plan for both indoor games and outdoor activities. It would also be best if you had a backup organizer, or a few people helping you plan!
12. Family Memories: Sharing Family History
Whether it’s through memory books or printed T-shirts, make sure your family history stands out throughout the event. Let it inspire the decorations, food, presentations, and so on.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and it is the little details that will stick in the minds of the attendees forever!
How to Share Family History at Your Reunion
If time allows, display photos and videos that share your family’s story and lineage. Honor the fallen heroes, celebrate those who deserve it, and introduce each new family member.
You’ll teach the younger generations about your family, its history, and the importance of getting together!
13. Take Lots of Pictures & Videos!
Family Reunion Photo Ideas
Is there a family member who makes the best pie, or pasta, you’ve ever had in your life? Make sure to take a picture of that dish, with the cook!
Does Grandpa Joe reading stories to the little kids look like a photo-worthy moment? Capture that too.
It is the little details like this that make family reunions special, timeless, and personal, so be sure to capture them in real-time. Check out our guide on Family Photography for more tips from expert photographers!
Family Reunion Photo Planning Tips
Here are some additional tips on how to get the best reunion photos:
- Let ’em know! Not everyone likes being photographed without some makeup on or when they look tired.
- Shoot at eye level. Even kids love it when adults enter their world.
- Be patient and as unseen as possible.
- Get everyone all together. Group photos are a family gathering staple for a reason!
- Be present. It’s okay to put the camera down sometimes.
14. Be Sure to Take Lots of Pictures & Videos!
Is there a family member who makes the best pie you’ve had in your life? Make sure to take a picture of that pie. Does Grandpa Joe reading stories to the little kids look like a photo-worthy moment? Capture that too. It is such little details that make family reunions special, timeless, and personal, so be sure to capture them in real-time. And, two pictures are not enough, take as many as you can!
Here are some additional tips on how to get the best reunion photos:
- Let ’em know! Not everyone likes being photographed without some makeup on or when they look tired.
- Shoot at eye level. Even kids love it when adults enter their world.
- Be patient and as unseen as possible.
- Get everyone all together. Group photos are a family gathering staple for a reason!
- Be present. It’s okay to put the camera down sometimes.
After the Reunion
Hopefully, you’ve had a great time with your family during the reunion. Here’s what you need to do within two weeks of the event.
14. Write Thank-You Letters
Pen thank-you notes to the planning committee, caterer, special attendees, nuclear families, and anyone else who made the event a success.
15. Bring Your Family Photos to Life!
You must have taken some photos and videos during the event, right? Now’s time to upload them to Reunacy so everybody can enjoy them!
Make sure that everyone in your family uploads the photos and videos from their phones too! The photo storage feature makes Reunacy an ideal family reunion planning app. Instead of various photos lost in text messages, you can store all the photos from everyone in one place.
Storing all the photos will also help you remember what you did, for when it’s time to plan the next reunion.
Plan Your Next Family Reunion With Reunacy!
Ultimately, the rewards that come with reuniting make it all worth it. A well-run family reunion can be a great opportunity to reconnect, reminisce, and, most importantly, have a lot of fun!
This guide is amazing! I love the tips on activities and games that cater to all ages. It’s got me excited to start planning our family reunion and make it unforgettable! Thank you for sharing such helpful ideas!