Regardless of the number of visitors you expect, planning a memorable, meaningful, and fun family reunion may be overwhelming. It requires time, effort, organizational abilities, and a sense of humor. The following steps can make your event a success.

Benefits of Planning a Family Reunion

These events come with the following benefits:

• Reconnect with the family. It’s why we call them reunions. You get to see the family after a long time and talk about everything going on in your life.
• Celebrate an event. Is a family member retiring? Did someone have a baby, or do you want to have a birthday party? Celebrating something is among the most common family reunion ideas.
• Embrace your heritage. Reconnecting with the family will also ensure you embrace your heritage. You can talk to family members you didn’t get to know before, ask the elderly to talk about their ancestors, etc.
• Have fun together. Family reunions should equal a good time, and many end up being beautiful memory for a lifetime.

How to Plan a Family Reunion

If you took over the entire concept, begin by choosing a venue suitable for the event. For example, summer birthdays could be in someone’s backyard or a house with a pool you’d rent. You could ask family members where they would like the reunion to be held.

The next step is deciding on a budget. Once you have the finances ready, you can proceed to plan the family reunion activities. Focus on activities that bring you together and those suitable for any age. You can consider something that includes sharing details about the family’s history. Don’t forget to send invites to everyone on time, so everyone can plan their schedule to attend the event

Reach Out to Your Family to Get Ideas

Begin by picking a location and a date. It’s recommended to start planning family reunions at least 3 months in advance. The first step should be distributing questionnaires to your family to get some ideas about what their preferences are. Although you can’t meet everyone’s expectations, a questionnaire is the best way to determine what works for the majority.

Delegate Responsibilities

One person can’t organize all aspects of preparing an event by themselves. You should include enthusiastic and capable committee members. As the team leader, your responsibility is to supervise the event preparation, coordinate the volunteers, handle communications, and act as the peacemaker.

Generally, a reunion committee should have a finance director, a lodging liaison, a correspondent officer, a reservation officer, a food director, a souvenir procurer, and welcoming officers. Delegate these responsibilities to volunteer family members to help your reunion go more smoothly.

Develop a Planning Command Center

Planning a family reunion is a lot of paperwork. The reunion preparation leader requires pertinent details like ordering funny team shirts to celebrate the occasion, food vendor contracts, lodging details, and updated registration details. Consider keeping a folder of all the paperwork you need or saving your information in the Cloud to keep everything on track. One of the reasons for getting custom shirts for family reunions is to make the event more fun and memorable. Now, wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone in your family had the same t-shirt that they loved because it reminded them of all the happy moments?

Make a Back-Up Plan

Every event needs a venue, and that includes family reunions. Make sure that you not only book an event space that has an open area but also an indoor space in case the weather fails you. It would help if you also considered packing some crafts and board games that kids can play or do indoors.

Communicate with Your Family

Invitations should be sent on time. If you opt to mail the reunion attendees, you can opt for a flyer, postcard, card, or a family newsletter. Since this is a digital era, you should opt for online methods to relay the information and motivate your attendees’ interests. For instance, you can develop a private page on Facebook and invite the attendees to join. The responsibility of inviting people and relaying updates can also be delegated to a more tech-savvy family member.

Planning Family Reunion Activities for Every Attendee

Incorporate various activities to meet varied interests and ages. You can incorporate optional outings like golf, historical site excursions, and mall trips. For kids, include indoor and outdoor activities. Teenagers may organize games for younger kids. Group activities add more fun for the attendees and make the event memorable.

Kick the Event Off with an Icebreaker Activity

An Icebreaker activity is a perfect way to set the right tone and the mood for the event. Icebreaker activities include:

• Creating a blank family tree and asking the attendees to fill it in with their details
• Providing a schedule for the event
• Creating welcoming banners
• Giving out freebies like imprinted pens, notepads, and team shirts

Plan the Menu

Another important aspect of planning a family reunion is to have the menu ready. Adjust it to the event and consider whether you need several dishes or just light snacks. If possible, gather information about everyone’s diet regimes. That way, you can ensure every family member can consume their favorite food during the event.

Share Your Family’s Story

Regardless of the diversity of relatives, family heritage is always common. You can celebrate and embrace it by setting out memorabilia and old photos. Consider incorporating music, food, and decorations. Use this opportunity to create a family photo album, a book of family stories, a family recipe book, or a reunion footage video.

Maintain the Family Reunion’s Memories and Momentum

After a successful event, develop a plan to remain in touch until the next event. You can achieve this through a family website or newsletter. Recruit people who can send the newsletter voluntarily. You can also make and oversee a page on Facebook or Geni or create an attractive family history website.

Family reunions are always a fun way to get together with the ones you love. If you need custom graphic t-shirts for your next family event, be sure to reach out to Cuztom Threadz today! We have the custom shirts you need to make your family reunions amazing.