Family reunion?

Question

I am planning a family reunion(about 30 people) for this summer.
There will only be two children there.
What activities should I plan, food, etc...???
It will be over a weekend.
Our family has never had a reunion before so I kept it small.
I've never done this before so any suggestions at all would be helpful.
thanks

oh yeah what about comming up with prizes, t-shirts etc....

Answer 1

10 Steps To A Great Family Reunion

I hope these steps will help you get started.

1. Send out a flyer about the event and ask for suggestion on place day(s) and time.
Since you are the family reunion planner I suggest you consider listing a number of locations that would be suitable for your household. Remember to include the ancestral family homestead on the list.

Choose the place and location by majority vote.

2. Hold a family reunion meeting inviting any who are able to volunteer time and footwork to help with the reunion event plans. At the meeting discuss family reunion activities. Allow each member to offer suggestion regarding activities and vote on what you will do. a family reunion planner ""activities lists should prove very helpful for this.

3. Now it is time to form your family reunion subcommittees. A family reunion planner "committees reunion evaluation sheet" is ideal for this phase of planning. Ask questions about the reunion theme, mission statement and look ideas for logos and at samples t-shirts. Compare vendor prices and make firm purchasing decisions.

4. Assign duties to each attending member. Such duties include:
Travel and accommodations, Welcome committee, setup, cleanup, food and dining, decorating, entertainment, T-shirts party favors keepsakes, materials, etc. Make sure department duties do not overlap. Family reunion planner "subcommittees assignment lists" works well for this task.

5. It is now time to get the word out. Use flyers, text messaging, invitations and email. Send out reminder each quarter and additional reminders as you get 8 -4 weeks closer to the event.

6. Your next task is to see to it that all department of instructions on what to do, how to do it and most important, when to do it. Your task as family reunion chairperson would be to follow up in a timely manner to see how tasks are coming along. A family reunion "department instruction sheet" works best for this phase.

7. A few months prior to the event start contacting all committee members for an update of assigned tasks. A family reunion planner organizer with a "timeline reminder checklist" is ideal at this point.

8. By now all task should be taken care of. Conference with each department head to ascertain needs in the form of materials and funds.

9, Hold a fund drive to raise needed money. Donations of family heirlooms or items for yard sales work well. Online funds drives are a lot of fun.

10. Fund all departments as needed. Hold final meetings to wrap things up. Start on your chairperson welcome letter and have a happy family reunion! For more details consider the links below.

Answer 2

Usually the person planning the reunion has everyone sign up for a dish they would like to bring then you do not end up with 20 potato salads and nothing else. The host makes sure there is a location rain or shine, enough seating for all and a place to stay if they have a long way to travel. The host usually provides beverages and disposable plates and utensils and grills/charcoal or gas if needed. Just being able to visit with all is the point of a reunion. You could put together a ball game or two if you would like. They are always fun with mixed teams of all ages. Don't forget the camera for lots of group pictures. Have Fun!

Answer 3

Horseshoes or a bean bag toss is something people of all ages (and stages of mobility) can join in on, and always a staple at our reunions. We do the potluck thing, and coordinate who is to bring what type of food (apps, desserts, casseroles, etc). That way you aren't stuck doing all of the food prep work, and everyone will get to sample more eats. We also do the t-shirt thing and it's always a hit. Even if someone doesn't wear it out after, they will still usually wear it (at the very least) to hack around the house in - and who doesn't like comfy clothes? We get ours silk screened with the date, our reunion's "title" and a logo, so it's even more personal. If you don't want to do that, there are programs and a special type of transfer paper (iron-on) that you can make your own design/logo with, and won't have to deal with a company. I have known several people to use that method, but I can't personally speak about it because I haven't.
If you do a search, you are sure to find TONS of games for inside and out. The gift passing game is ever-popular for some reason...the one where there are tons of small gifts (enough for everyone), and all the participants names are put into a hat/box multiple times (different papers). When the name is pulled you pick a (wrapped/unknown) gift from the pile. When all of the gifts are taken, and your name is called (again), you have to take a gift (this time from someone who has one because the "pile" is gone). You do this until all the names are gone, and then the game ends...you keep/unwrap whatever gifts you end up with. I have several more ideas, but don't want to keep you forever. You are more than welcome to email me with any questions.
Take care, and have fun! :)

Answer 4

If you have outside space, set up things like horseshoes, badminton. Maybe as attendees to bring a game to share. Have them bring old pictures or old family mementos they can show to others, that's always enjoyed..Prizes could be mugs or cups or t-shirts printed with the family name and the reunion date. If you have the info, you could always print out family trees back to the "originating" ancestor.

I made a unique t-shirt several years ago. I printed of my direct ancestry back to Ireland, and turned it into an iron on transfer. I put it on the front of a t-shirt and decorated it for St. Patrick's Day. That would be a lot of trouble to go to for a lot of people at once, but you could have a t-shirt printer print them for you for a lot less time and money.

As for food: Most reunions I've gone to have been pot luck. Everybody brought 2 or 3 dishes. Have them let you know what they are bringing, you keep a list, so there won't be too much of one thing. It's not good if everybody brings fried chicken--LOL

I really enjoy family reunions. I hope you have a very good time at yours.

Answer 5

Ask your family to bring a few pics to do a who's who and see how much of your family really knows your family.
Food, keep it simple - or have everyone bring a little something.
Perfect idea to keep it small.
My family never had one but somehow, last year, my aunt threw one at a chicken place and like only 30 showed up and it was nice. We had chicken, red beans and rice, and mac n cheese, and we brought snow balls from a next door icecream place.
It was nice. As for prizes, you can buy somethings from the dollar store and put it together like a basket. T-shirts are expensive-May-be next time then you can ask for money for that. This year you want to have a stress free first reunion, then by the time it's time for another one, more people would help out...

Answer 6

At our family reunion we always have a family auction where everyone brings something either boughten or from their house and we bid and the money that is raised goes to paying for the next reunion. At the family reunion we usually have a big pot luck where everyone brings a huge portion of a food that most people will like and then you could try renting out a hall like VFWs or something like that.

Answer 7

You could ask people to bring family pictures so that everybody can reminisce. At my family reunion, we have some folks that like to play the guitar so while they play the family joins in and sings. It sounds hokey, but it is so much fun. T-shirts are a nice momento just ask everybody to send you $5.00 bucks or so per person to cover the cost as it could be expensive if you try to do it all by yourself. We usually have ours at a state park or county park at a picnic shelter. It works great and there is usually very little cost. Have everybody bring a covered dish so that each family is contributing something to feed the masses. It works great....anybody that doesn't like to cook can pick up fried chicken, barbecue, or premade potato salad, etc. It is so much more fun when everybody participates.

Answer 8

If you want to do a contest, you could give prizes for the person who travelled the furthest, the oldest, etc...Alot of families have theri reunions at picnic groves, and if yours is, it's fun to do things like organize a ball game, or frisbee, or things like that. Since this is your first, it would be nice if you could put up some kind of chart about who belongs to whom--maybe a rough family tree with a photo of the person...

Answer 9

Some hotels have great accommodations for reunions. Where ever you are staying find out what tourist type activities they have to offer and book a family outing. As for the food, my family always gets whatever everybody likes.

Answer 10

To be honest it's sometimes fun at reunions to do games that all the people attending might have done in the past, think three-legged race, etc. Also another really fun game is to get baby pictures from everyone attending and have everyone try to guess who the baby is.