How to Plan a Family Reunion

A family reunion can be a blessed event that brings together many generations. It can be a chance to catch up on what's happening in the lives of more distant relatives and even meet new additions to the family.

Planning a family reunion can be a daunting task for a person trying to organize it. However, the job can be simplified with these helpful tips.

First and foremost, you need to purchase a notebook to keep all your family reunion plans and information in order. Without one, your organizational tasks can be a nightmare. The first thin that you will want to put in your notebook is all the names, addresses, and phone numbers of family members that you already know and stay in close contact. Once you compile this initial list, it will be a good idea to call those people and have them give you any contact information for other relatives that your list may lack. So that you don't forget family members, it may be a good idea to make a simple family tree. This will make it easier to recall everyone that should make the invite list.

Next, a date and place should be selected for the family reunion. The date should almost always be on a weekend if it is a 1-day event simply because more people will not have work obligations. Also, be sure to pick a date far enough in advance to allow time for planning and to make sure relatives don't have any other events scheduled.

After selecting a date, you will need to pick a place to hold your reunion. The simplest and cheapest option is at someone's house. If that is not possible, the next best option is a park where a pavilion or area can be reserved for a small fee. If none of these appeal to your reunion planning, a hall can be reserved. However, it is going to be a far higher cost than the former two options.

Once the date and location are selected, food should be decided. Potluck is usually the best way to have a family reunion cheaply. A certain type of dish (main entrée, drinks/chips, side dish, dessert) can be assigned with each of the invitations to ensure you don't end up with 20 green bean casseroles and no meat or drinks. If potluck is not a well-received idea, you may consider some sort of catering, but again it will be far more expensive than everyone chipping in and cooking.

Lastly, some sort of take-a-way should be planned to commemorate the reunion. This can be a t-shirt, a small photo album, a family recipe book, or some other trinket that is planned well in advance. Usually with the invitation, this take-a-way is mentioned and orders are taken to defray the cost. However, if you think every attendee will want one, you can include the cost of making the trinkets in your overall budget.

The accounting and budget of any family reunion is probably the most unpleasant part. Usually, a small fee is charged to each attendee to pay for the total cost of the reunion. Make a very detailed budget that includes all expenses (hall/park rental, food, take-aways) and divide by the number of guest, this will give you a ticket price. Don't go overboard with the budget and make the ticket price so expensive that you have very few attendees. It is also a good idea to help out other family members with their ticket prices if they are having financial hardships. A family reunion is more about togetherness than leaving someone out, so be flexible on this issue for greater success.

While stressful, planning a family reunion can bring the great joy of knowing that you helped to bring your family together again. If in doubt about any planning, it's a good idea to be democratic and take a family vote. This will ensure the most happy family members since they had a hand in the decision making.