Whether you’re expecting a dozen cousins or several hundred relatives, planning a meaningful, memorable and fun family reunion is a challenge. It takes time, organizational skills and a sense of humor. It can be lots of fun if you get everyone involved in the organizing. The planning itself provides a great opportunity to catch up with relatives. The main ideas of a family reunion is to make sure the family gets together, shares stories, has fun and continues to keep in touch.
Call Your Closest Relative and Decide on a Reunion Location
You will need volunteers to get the ball rolling. The planning is fun and you should not have a problem getting volunteers. Once you have a few volunteers get the names and address of the family members and send out a questionnaire to see what kind of reunion to have. Will it be a family reunion cruise or will it be at a local park. Put together two or three ideas of where the location should be and what dates would be best. After you get the questionnaire back it will be time to talk invitations.
Will You Need Committees?
Depending on the size of your family reunion you may need several committees. If it is a small family you may just need two or three committees. We will list just a few suggestions for the Committees.
- Finance – Getting a budget together should be one of your first things to do. You will need to know how much you will need from each participant who will attend the reunion.
- Food & Drinks (Make the Drinks Special!) – Consider something new and different like smoothie or coffee bar. Everybody thinks of the food but if you have cappuccino, mochas, and smoothies for drinks then everybody will be talking! You could also create your own cupcake table. Get one of the family members who know how to cook to create your menu.
- Accommodations – Choose someone who is a people person in your family. One who can negotiate group rates at a hotel and can put together a rooming list.
- Photography – Find a family member who is good at taking pictures. You will want lots of photographs of each family who attends.
- Party Favors – Select someone who will fix up a welcome bag for each person. Decide upon a theme
- Genealogy – Pick someone who is interested in Family History. Be sure and set up a table for family members to bring photos of past relatives and have all families list any new arrivals to the family. Have a list of all families’ names and addresses for everyone to take home with them.
Decide upon a Venue
Will it be a local park, a banquet facility or a hotel? Selecting a location is an important milestone as you can now concentrate on picking entertainment, activities and food.
Finalize Details
Once all the committees are set and venue and food and activities are decided upon organize a meeting of all volunteers to finalize details. Once all the details are set, send out an email or note to all attendees with the agenda. Your agenda should be detailed as far as time location and directions.
The Big Day
Have Fun!!! Enjoy the activities and the food you took so much time to plan. Now you know not everything is going as planned just remember the old saying “the family is our refuge, our springboard or link to the past, our bridge to the future.” At the end of your festivities take a vote about when your next reunion should be held and where? Ask your family to email or send you a note about what they liked about the reunion and what they would like different next time.
Please keep Valet Coffee in mind when you are planning your family reunion! Specialty coffees and smoothies are always a hit and appreciated by guests.
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About Valet Coffee
Valet Coffee is a full service, mobile espresso and smoothie bar. It’s a unique way to impress customers, appreciate employees and kick up any special event to the next level. Our professional baristas will bring the taste and feel of an authentic European coffee house. We do all the work, all you have to do is entertain. Valet Coffee’s mobile espresso and smoothie bars are one of Greater Cincinnati’s best marketing tools.
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