Once you’ve worked out most of the items above you should start planning how you will spread the word to your guests about the upcoming reunion you have been hard at work organizing. Be sure you share your enthusiasm and communicate how much fun and energy you’ve but in to ensuring the success of the reunion….all you need is their participation for everything to be perfect! Don’t worry! Anyone who has ever planned a party will appreciate how much time and effort it took to successfully bring the family together. Have fun selecting your invitations, there are a lot to choose from in all types of themes and colors. Be sure you keep your wording clean and simple, and ask for an rsvp in the form of a phone call or text message so that you can manage the amount of family that will be attending. Try to send your invitations out as early as possible, 3 or 4 weeks ahead of time, so that everyone will have plenty of notice, and no one will miss out. You should even consider sending a Save the Date early in your planning process that states details to follow, so that everyone has...Read More

Okay, now you have a date, location and guest list; it is time to start planning a menu. You should start out with a budget in mind, or have a plan for raising some money to subsidize your party. It isn’t uncommon to ask everyone to bring a favorite dish, and you only will need to provide the main course and drinks. Whatever you decide, plan a menu that is easy to execute and will appeal to adults and children of all ages. Be sure you have help with the food preparation, serving and clean up. It will be important to have worked out the logistically how you will get everyone served, seated and grouped together. Once you have a tentative menu you can close in on your food costs, and formulate your shopping list. Again, ask for help, it will eliminate a lot of stress and worry. Once the food has been decided you need to plan a variety of activities that will keep everyone entertained, laughing and open up discussions. It will also help bring the family members close together, especially if they are team oriented activities. When thinking of the activities, keep in mind that it is...Read More

Back to your planning, be sure you pick a date and time that will allow others to travel easily and enjoy one another. Selecting what time of year is best, and how long your reunion should last are critical but, depending on what part of the country your reside in the summer months are usually the best choice. Kids are out of school, the weather is usually nice, and travel won’t be scattered with ice and snow! So go ahead, pick the best weekend or holiday you can find, select your location and let the rest of your clan know. Remember, you can’t please everyone so expect a little rumbling from those that can’t fit your timeframe in to their schedule. Perhaps in the years to follow you will have initiated a family tradition and everyone will set this time aside to reunite with loved ones. Be sure when you send out your invitations that you, and your committee, allow enough time for everyone to respond and plan accordingly. Keep in mind that not everyone you invite is going to come, but invite them all so not one person is forgotten or left out. You can’t have a family reunion...Read More

Are you a family oriented type of person? Do you want to reconnect with distant relatives that you’ve fallen out of touch with? If so, then you really should consider initiating a Family Reunion!!! As with everything, make your first step organization!  If you are planning a small reunion of 20 people or less, then you can probably pull the event off without a lot of outside assistance. However, if it is going to be larger than 20 you are certain to need help, and asking other relatives to assist will ease in your planning and preparation. So, begin by selecting others to form your family reunion group, this group can be very similar in duties and assignments to any other type of committee. Your main responsibility as the leader will be to make sure that everything remains smooth and orderly. A dysfunctional committee can ruin your reunion and create a lot of discord within the family. So avoid confrontation, and make sure that everyone is participating equally. Once the committee is selected and gathered their first exercise should be to create a master planning sheet that contains the guest list, location, menu, activities, necessary funds, and anything else that...Read More