Guest Author
Over time families can be torn apart, and you may find that family members end up living in different states, and sometimes even in different countries! Bringing everyone together to share and create happy memories is essential.
However, to make this happen, a lot of planning and preparation is required. Family reunions do not just happen by chance. So, what do you need to do in order to host the perfect family reunion? This article takes a look.
Where and When
Firstly, you need to decide where the reunion will happen and when. Getting a time and date sorted for the future event will give you an ample amount of time to arrange everything that you need. When you are thinking about where and when to hold your reunion, you need to take into consideration the location of as many family members as possible.
Of course, you will not be able to accommodate everyone—however, you could try and get a central and easy-to-reach location that is suitable for most.
Once you have decided on a location, you then have to think about a timeframe. You need to give family members enough time to arrange their travel and possible accommodation.
Who Is Going to Attend – Creating a Guest List
Although it is a family reunion, think carefully about who you invite. If you invite too many family members, you may find that the event will be too overwhelming for some people. However, this may be exactly what everyone wants—to see everyone together!
As you are putting together a guest list, think about relationships, and think about the dynamic that certain people (or groups of people can bring to your event). You don’t want to offend anyone by not inviting them, but you need to consider how well certain family members get on.
If the location is big enough that they can avoid contact, then it may be okay to invite both, but if not, consider whether it would be better for everyone to keep numbers limited.
You want to be sure that you can create a fun and welcoming environment, and to do this, you must think carefully about who you will invite and why.
Activities and Hosting
Even though you will have played an important role in organizing the reunion, are you happy to host and organize the activities and arrange the food and drink? Or, would you prefer to let others take the reins?
You want to be able to relax and enjoy the event as much as other attendees, and for this to happen, you may want to look at getting a party planner involved. You may also wish to look at getting a bartending service to attend (to ensure that guests’ and attendees’ drinks never stay empty).
Get Family Involved
Organizing and planning an event of any size can be challenging, and it can be stressful—especially if you are trying to do everything by yourself. It is important that you reach out to others and get other people involved with the planning process.
When you get others involved, you get their valuable input, and you get their opinions and thoughts too. You want to be sure that the event is as successful as it can be, and the more people that are involved, the higher chance of success you have.