Family Reunion Ideas

Family reunions are a great way to connect with one's family members and also to know about our ancestors and distant relatives. In order to make the reunion fun, exciting and memorable, lots of planning and preparation is required. If you too are planning a family reunion and are looking for some ideas to conduct it adeptly, here is some information which you will surely find handy.

Guest List
The first thing that should be done when planning a family reunion is to make a guest list of the people who you want to invite. Depending upon the resources that are available to you, you can plan whom and how many to include. If you want it to be a cozy affair, you may invite only your immediate, close relatives such as your siblings and their families, your parents and grandparents. If you are planning to make it a grand affair, you can include your first cousins, second cousins, third cousins and their families too.

Reunion Committees
If the number of attendees for the family reunion are more, it is better to divide the work among different family members. One of the best ideas is to create a number of committees and make one head of each committee who will be responsible for the work assigned to it. You may make the following reunion committees.

Budgeting
This committee will decide about the finances that are required for organizing the whole event. It will also decide the contributions that will come from each and every family member. Proper utilization of the finances is also this committee's job. Planning the finances well, makes sure that there are no ill feelings among the family members.

Communication
It will be responsible for collecting the addresses and sending out invitations. Any kind of communication whether through phone calls or mails will be taken care of by this committee.

Decoration
This committee will be responsible for choosing the location for the family reunion. It will also be responsible for various decorations at the site such as table decorations, venue decorations, buffet decoration, setting up the welcome tables, etc.

Food
Food is a very important part of a party. So, the ones in this committee will decide whether to set up cooks at the location or to order food from some restaurant or to engage a caterer.

Activities
This committee will be in charge of the activities, games, competitions, etc., that will be conducted at the event. In order to make the reunion fun and memorable, such activities should be properly planned, well in advance.

Photography
This committee will be responsible for two things. Firstly, it will collect as many photographs as it can from the different family members and create a family tree with the photographs collected, at the venue. Secondly, on the day of the event it will either arrange for a photographer or assign one person out of the relatives to take photographs.

Create a Post-event Newsletter
Once the event has been well-organized and well conducted, you may create newsletters which contain the photographs and stories about the event. You can include lots of family information, some special comments from the family members, in the newsletter too. Send this newsletter to all the guests and to all the relatives who were invited, yet could not make it to the event. Sending a newsletter is a great way to preserve the memories and some special, unforgettable moments of the reunion.

Fun Ideas

One of the best family reunion ideas is to plan a camping trip over the weekend, with the entire family. You can stay in a log cabin or in a tent. If lots of elder people are going to be part of the family reunion, it might be difficult for them to stay outdoors. Otherwise, camping can be quite fun for the children as well as couples. Select such a place for a camp where people can indulge in activities such as hiking, boating, sports, etc. You can even plan for an outdoor barbecue menu instead of ordering food from some restaurant.

Another fun idea is to have a special theme for the event and base everything right from the food, invitations and activities to the clothes of the guests, on that theme. Some of the themes for family unions, which will be liked by all are a Hollywood night, wedding theme and African safari.

I hope these ideas will help you to plan and conduct the family reunion proficiently. Proper planning, time and patience, along with fun activities such as family talent shows and karaoke night, can make it one of the best events of your life!