How to Plan a Family Reunion Without All The Fuss

Tips For Planning a Family Reunion

It’s a pretty rare occasion, getting the entire extended family together at the same time, which is why a family reunion is considered somewhat of a unicorn in the world of event planning.

Whether your family reunion happens once a year or once in a lifetime, planning a family reunion takes a significant amount of coordination to nail down the many moving parts. In fact, you might find yourself wondering exactly how to plan a family reunion.

From the initial stages of gathering input to deciding on activities that keep everyone entertained (even that cranky cousin who’s glued to TikTok) — here are ten tips for planning a family reunion, without all the fuss.

Send out a questionnaire for planning input

It’s smart to start planning a family reunion at least 12 months in advance. The best first step is to send out a survey or questionnaire to collect the when’s, where’s and what’s of your family reunion.

Since some family members could be traveling from out of state or even country, it’s important to settle on a time and place that works well for the majority of attendees, especially if you have a set destination in mind.

A solid rule of thumb is to select three potential dates and locations and send them out in a survey or poll. Doodle is an easy and efficient resource for polling a large group of people. While you’ll never be able to accommodate every family member’s needs or preferences, a survey or poll is the best tool you can use to gather a majority consensus.

Assign and delegate tasks

A family is a group of people for a reason. The daunting task of reuniting them can’t be managed by one person alone. If you’re the primary event planner for the family reunion, appoint a volunteer committee of family members to help you organize the family event. As the “chairperson,” you can oversee the event logistics, manage the communications between “committee members” and make any final decisions about the event planning details.

Create a budget

As is the case with any event, a family reunion will cost some amount of money. As such, you’ll need to set a budget your whole family will feel comfortable with. Unless one wealthy relative is paying for the entire event, you might calculate the maximum you’re willing to spend by deciding on a per-person cost and multiplying it by your total number of guests.

For example, if you’d like to cap the event cost at $40 per person, and there are 75 people attending, your budget for the family reunion will be $3,000. As you coordinate with vendors on fees for the venue, catering, invitations, entertainment, transportation, etc., you can use a budgeting tool to track your expenditures and stay in line with your family reunion budget.

CNBC put together a helpful list of the Best Free Budgeting Tools of 2022 you can check out here.

Select a venue

Once you’ve decided on a family reunion budget everyone can agree on, it’s time to select a venue. You may have already proposed three or more venue options when you polled the guests for input, but now’s the time to whittle it down to one that works for everyone.

It’s easy to envision a family reunion at a classic destination like a campground (hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!), but there are plenty of other venue options to choose from:

• Bed and Breakfast: A bed and breakfast can be a charming and cozy setting for a family reunion. Being together under one quaint roof with plenty of breakout spaces to sit and chat, onsite activities and an attentive host can create a warm and welcoming vibe and keep things memorable.
• Backyard: This venue is completely free and a great option if you have a family member who’s willing to host your event. Backyards are typically casual and come with plenty of space for fun activities and outdoor games. The only issue could be the weather, so think about investing in some large tents or canopies.
• Destination: For the families who love to get away or have a penchant for travel, something like a beach, mountain, ship/ cruise or even a state park could be the perfect backdrop for a family reunion.
• Restaurant/ Hall: If your family reunion is looking like a short-term event such as a lunch or dinner, a restaurant or banquet hall could be a better venue choice. The perks of a restaurant are that all the food is there onsite, but it could be trickier to coordinate entertainment and games.

Decide on a menu

There are many ways to go when it comes to food at your family reunion, and it should be one of the most important line items in your budget.

One way to save on food and beverage costs is to make your family reunion a potluck event! Since you’re all descendents of the same family tree, it could be a great way to experience your shared culture through food.

Have each family member bring a special dish that highlights your unique heritage. You can coordinate in a shared spreadsheet to ensure there are no repeat dishes at your family reunion.

Create a planning command center

One thing that stacks up when it comes to a family reunion is physical and virtual “paperwork.” There’s a ton of housekeeping to do, even with a volunteer committee in place. Between the point person at the venue, transportation logistics, registration updates, lodging details, entertainment, food vendors, etc., there's a lot of information that needs sorting and tracking. You can create a panel for each task or topic in Panels and invite your other planners to collaborate in one place. Panels truly is your one-stop planning command center.

Communicate with attendees

A lot of questions can arise when you’re planning a family reunion, and creating an open line of communication with your guests is key to keeping things running smoothly. A family reunion website is an eco-friendly way to keep all the details in one place, and it’s easy to update information in real time. A paper invitation can leave lingering questions that end up stacking up in the event chairperson’s email inbox.

With Panels, you’ll never have an overstuffed inbox again. That’s because Panels helps you opt into the communications that are most relevant to the task at hand. Whether you’re coordinating with the caterer, sending Slack messages to the hotel concierge or tracking RSVPs from attendees, Panels lets you focus on one task at a time, and only features communications from the contacts that go along with it.

Select games/ activities that include everyone

In order to get your relatives reacquainted with one another and ensure guests of all ages are having fun, it’s smart to have a few structured activities and icebreakers already planned. Encourage people from different generations to interact, and remember to leave some downtime so people can simply chat and relax.

The sky’s the limit on games and activities that will complement your family reunion, but here are a few suggestions:

• Family trivia
• Baby photo guessing game
• Outdoor movie night
• Frisbee
• Bean bag toss
• Bingo
• Relay races
• Board games
• Cooking contests

Focus on What Matters Most

When it comes to planning a family reunion, it’s easy to get carried away with the logistics. After all — especially if you’re the primary event planner — you want things to go off without a hitch. But, don’t forget, if you can't let loose with your family, who can you let loose with?

Remember to focus on what matters most: being surrounded by family and