Planning the family reunion: ideas for family parties

When the topic of planning a family reunion comes up among family members, many find it difficult to agree on the location or activities. Does this dilemma often delay the planning process? Don’t be discouraged. You’re not alone. Most families experience the same challenge. When the well of good ideas for your next family reunion is over, here are some suggestions to get your planning going.

1. Choose a topic

2. Choose activities related to the topic

3. Choose the ideal location

4. Create your lunch / dinner itinerary and program

5. Event planning software

Choose a family reunion theme

The first step in planning the event is choosing a theme. Your theme will help you determine the activities, location, and elements of your dinner schedule and itinerary. There are a number of themes common to annual family reunions. Topics often focus on surname, property, and estate. Other topics may be closely related to the event activities, such as the following:

Traditional thematic meeting

Genealogical Farm Tour

Family party

Family reunion cruise

Ball of living legends

Theme-based event planners

Some event planning apps have theme-based planning. Each theme comes with a pre-written itinerary, dinner and activity program, as well as logos and even t-shirt and invitation designs.

Choose activities related to the theme of the family reunion

Now that your theme is established, you can better consider the activities that would be appropriate for this special occasion. Typical activities may include a visit to the old house, an on-site lunch program, a family history recital, story time, the presentation of a family quilt or other heirloom, honoring the elders of the family. Some of these activities can be incorporated into a dinner program.

Choose the ideal location

Having established the theme and an outline of activities, choosing an ideal location should be much easier. The venues considered should allow for the enjoyment of most, if not all, of the listed activities.

Create your itinerary

Once the location is selected, it’s time to start putting together an event itinerary. Create a simple list of activities and include the day and time scheduled for each activity.

Event planning software

As mentioned earlier, meeting planning software applications make topic selection and associated activities much easier. When looking for such a planner, choose one that provides a theme selector. Topic selectors guide you through the initial planning process by providing topic-related activities. The app must provide a pre-written itinerary and lunch / dinner schedule. Other important features would include a timeline planner and a list of attendees. Even better are the planners that include a budget calculator app.

So if the well has run out of good ideas for your next gathering, filling it is as simple as selecting a family reunion theme and associated activities. A reliable theme-based event planning app may be all that is needed.