Tips And Ideas For Planning A Reunion

As you begin learning how to organize a family reunion, keep in mind that things can get stressful and overwhelming if you can't delegate tasks to others and keep it simple. Don't be afraid to get help organizing your family reunion.

It's this planning together that adds to the bonding experience of the event, after all. Naturally, the first step in planning a reunion is to find out who is invited, who is willing to help and whose addresses you'll need to track down. Once you have the guest list squared away, you'll be well on your way to arranging a memorable gathering.

The best starting point for planning a reunion is to send a general letter out to family members, letting them know that a reunion is in the works. In this letter, you can ask for volunteers, include possible dates, propose a reunion type, ask for suggestions on a general location and inquire for family reunion ideas regarding activities or theme.

As with any invitation, politely request a timely response, so your letter doesn't get shuffled away with other paperwork. You may want to set up a personalized family reunion website at www.myfamily.com to send with the letter and keep tech-savvy relatives up-to-date with the planning procedures.

Planning a reunion can get complicated when you get to budgeting. While a family reunion cruise or stay in a villa may be within range for you, it will exclude family members with lower incomes.

You may also find that even the "simplest" of gatherings -- the one at someone's home -- can turn into a huge expense bill once you add up all the food and the drinks. Hopefully you sent out those surveys and got a sense of what people could afford.

There are many ways to budget a less elaborate party. Some hosts charge each family member $10 or $20 to cover the family reunion location cost or ask that everyone "bring a dish."

There are many intricacies when planning a family reunion, but you'll find the end result is worth the effort.

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Personalized Gift Ideas For Family Reunion

Once you've read a few family reunion tips and ideas online, you may come to the conclusion that giving gifts and precious mementos is something you'd like to do this year to show your love and gratitude.

Just about any product can be labeled with your family name these days, like calendars, mouse pads, clothing, writing utensils, candies, candles and more. Or maybe you would like to put a family quote, emblazon family photos onto something useful or provide a sentimental commemorative gift to one of the family heads. There are many ideas for family reunion gift giving if you know where to look.

There are a number of ideas for family reunion favors at www.cool-party-favors.com/family-reunion-favors.html, which may spark your interest. This family reunion website is full of gifts you can buy in bulk and give to everyone.

For instance, you can offer treasures such as glass photo coasters ($1.89), personalized apothecary jars ($1.59), photo albums ($3), carabiner key rings ($2.75), grippy socks ($4), family reunion photo mint tins ($2.50), personalized mini coolers ($3.79), and custom playing cards ($1.77).

You don't have to spend a fortune to get the perfect, personalized family reunion gift. If you would like to save money, you can order just a few items to be doled out as awards (for "the oldest surviving family member," for instance) or to be given as a prize for winning a game.

Do you have a family that loves games? Well, another one of the coolest ideas for family reunion events is ordering a custom Monopoly board! You can personalize your board at www.mymonopoly.com, writing your name in the center of the board, choosing the names of all street names and special spaces and selecting your own customized theme.

This tailored game sells for $79.99 and takes about a month to make and ship. Fun family reunions combine thoughtful gifts, engaging activities, good food and even better company for the perfect event.

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Showing Your Thoughts With An Idea For Family Reunion Invitation

If you're planning your first inter-generational gathering, then you'll want to come up with a unique idea for family reunion invitations. After all, this invitation will be your first link to family members you may not have spoken to in awhile.

In that simple card and envelope, you need to inspire some of your faraway relatives to buy a plane ticket or take a long road trip to this worthwhile event. You want the family reunion to look organized, fun, important and enticing. While you could save a few bucks by printing out your own ragtag invites, you may want to consider some of these more innovative family reunion ideas.

Another creative idea for family reunion invites is to make a family calendar, with the date of the next reunion printed on it. If you choose this sneaky route, be sure you stick a post-it note to the cover, hinting to look very closely at the month of the reunion, so they don't miss it!

Creating a family reunion memories calendar is ideal for families who have had many gatherings in the past because you can use photos of past reunions for each month, which your family members will just love!

A good place to go for your family calendar needs is FedEx/Kinkos, which does 12-month calendars for $19.99 or 18-month calendars for $24.99 a piece. They allow you to use different photos for each month, so you can really pack a lot of memories in.

As the family reunion planner, you may be concerned about getting a tally for attendees at your big event. One idea for family reunion response eliciting is to use online invitations from a family reunion web site like www.purpletrail.com.

This website will let respondents RSVP with the click of a button, making the process as easy as reading the invite itself. They'll also be able to see who else has responded (which sometimes ups the count too), leave notes, announce what they'll be bringing and view other updated details about the party.

Best yet, the website also has built-in features like "Request a Response" and "Send a Reminder," which can automatically zing out additional emails to family members as the date draws near.

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Creating Lasting Memories With Family Reunions

You might look at the $1,000 price-tag of some rentals for family reunions and instinctively say, "No way!" However, if you really think about it, what's $10 to $20 per person to have amazing entertainment at your event that creates lasting family reunion memories?

Some families ask everyone to bring an old item lying around the house to auction or raffle off at their reunions, which is a good way to drum up money for next year's reunion rentals.

You could rent a game show, a murder mystery acting troupe, a karaoke machine or a bounce house, for instance. Here are some family reunion tips and ideas to get you started.

Sumo suits can be a blast at family reunions. For about $375/weekend, you could rent an inflatable sumo wrestler suit to liven up the party. Do you have that one cousin you've secretly always wanted to battle?

Imagine grappling in a ridiculous-looking sumo suit for supremacy! This is one of the family reunion activities that can even get teenagers involved. If you plan this family reunion rental, then make sure someone has a camera handy to capture all those family reunion memories! For more information on ordering and shipping, visit www.sumonationwide.com.

When you send out your family reunion invitation itineraries, you may want to let everyone know about what you've booked to get them excited! Let them know that you've taken the time to creatively plan family reunion activities, games and events for both kids and adults to enjoy.

If you've had trouble reeling in far-away folks in the past, you'll no longer have a hard time when you consider rentals for family reunions!

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Planning Family Reunion Festivities For A Night To Remember

Often times we collect so much junk lying around the house, it's crazy. So, when planning family reunion festivities, why not ask each family member to bring one special item to auction or raffle off?

Perhaps it's an antique piece of furniture that's just been collecting dust, a piece of old jewelry, a knick-knack, baked goods or an article of clothing that no longer fits.

The proceeds can then go toward organizing future family reunions, which will take some of the stress off the family reunion planner. With a little creativity, your family reunion can be the best it's ever been.

Planning family reunion events can encourage friendly competition and be a rite-of-initiation for new spouses, boyfriends and coming-of-age teens. Active outdoor games like football or volleyball are great for younger and middle aged family member bonding, while they also entertain the older family members who get to cheer from the sidelines.

An excellent game for family members of all ages is a water balloon toss. To play, you simply fill up water balloons and have your relatives form two lines across from one another. Simultaneously, each partner tosses the balloon to their cohort. If the cohorts catch the balloons, then everyone moves one step back.

If a family member drops the balloon, both individuals are eliminated. This continues on until only two family members remain the victors! These outdoor activities make fun family reunions the best they can be.

Planning family reunion festivities sometimes requires a bit of forethought. For instance, when you send out the family reunion invitations, you could ask each family member to bring a baby picture with them to the gathering.

You can then assemble all the pictures on a bulletin board, next to a corresponding number. Then you can pass out numbered sheets of paper and have the other family members try to guess who is who.

The person who guesses the most correct wins! Sometimes the game will be funny because the current set of babies will be obvious guesses! Some of the older family members may have such antique-looking photos, they'll be easier to guess too, but some of the middle-aged family members may be a real mystery.

It's always fun to see what photos people feel best represents themselves too.

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Organizing Reunions With Reunion Planning Software

If you're a seasoned reunion planning pro, then you won't need to get help organizing your family reunion from a software program. However, if you're new at the game, then a few well-organized checklists, address books, surveys and budget calculators would be a world of help.

Sometimes you may catch yourself feeling stressed for no good reason. Likely it's just that you need to take a moment, sit down, collect your thoughts and make a few lists. There are several different family reunion software packages to choose from.

Other features of the $29.95 Family Reunion Organizer reunion planning software allows you to plan family reunion vacations or select an appropriate reunion location, whether it is a cruise ship, a park, a backyard, a VFW post, a restaurant or another venue.

You'll get advice on making reservations and creating maps for out-of-town relatives. Creating reunion invitations is easy, given all the information contained in the software program. You can print and mail invitations or use the program to create a custom family reunion web page for you to alert family members of your plans.

There are also budget calculators, shopping list templates, expense tracking forms, committee delegation listing, fundraising suggestions and activity planning suggestions.

Another alternative to reunion planning software is to simply create your own lists in MS Word or spreadsheets in Excel. Of course, you can't be sure you're covering all bases necessarily.

You won't need these programs if you're just having a simple family gathering, per say, but if you're interested in preserving your family history, learning as much as you can about other family members and gathering the tools to be more committed to remembering birthdays and staying in touch, then you will find this tool to be a great asset.

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Creating Memories With Family Reunion Planning

Family reunion planning can be as extravagant or as simple as you want it to be. Some families plan dinners at the house or picnics at the park, while other families prefer staying at all-inclusive resorts and taking family reunion vacations together.

Any way you look at it, memories will be created, whether you burned that peach cobbler or not! So there's no use stressing out over the minute details. Yet you may be thinking that is easier said than done, so here are some tips for organizing a stress-free and fun reunion.

To avoid the stress of family reunion planning, some families choose to go on a reunion vacation that is arranged by a travel agent. For as low as $98/night, you could take a Vermont family reunion vacation at Tyler Place resort (www.tylerplace.com).

For $119/night, a family of four can rent a cabin at the YMCA campground in the Rocky Mountains (www.ymcarockies.org). For $179/person, a family of four could stay four nights at the Atlantis family reunion resort in the Bahamas.

"Over the past few years, we have seen a marked change in the numbers of large family groups traveling together," says Lauren Snyder, CMO, Atlantis Paradise Island Resorts. "As a result, we've upgraded our connecting rooms and created a Family Olympics program for large groups, including events on the beach and trophies for the winning team." As you can see, there are many options for your group to travel at affordable prices.

The most important thing to remember is that family reunion planning should be fun. The key to a stress-free family reunion is to plan well in advance, thus giving yourself enough time to get everything done.

Before you mail out family reunion invitations, send out a survey asking family members to number their top 3 choices (out of a list you've compiled) for an upcoming gathering. On the list, you could write family reunion ideas like someone's home, a Carnival Cruise, a mountain cabin, national park, YMCA park, banquet hall, restaurant, or an all-inclusive resort.

Be sure to do a little research and come up with price quotes and specific places so you can help family members select something in their budget. There are limitless possibilities, but you want as many kin to attend as possible, so it's important to survey before you book.

You can't please everyone, but at least you'll arrive at a general consensus.

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Tips For Planning A Family Reunion

Organizing a family reunion is a lot of work, with the cooking, cleaning, supervising kids, finding sleeping arrangements for all relatives and deciding upon transportation. For these reasons, many far-flung families are deciding to meet at sea, where gourmet meals are covered and planned activities make the gathering more memorable than ever!

There are activities suitable for everyone on a cruise and the neutral territory will prevent anyone from feeling like they're "intruding" upon another family's space. A family reunion cruise can be easily arranged through a travel agency or a company like World Voyager Vacations.

The best way to plan a destination family reunion is to stick to the basics and not over-stress. Focus on the cruise line and family reunion location. Be sure the cruise line knows you're planning to make this a reunion and travel together. Don't worry about shore excursions, dining times or other minute details beforehand.

It's best to see what everyone is up for when the time comes, but you could email everyone with updates and details to get them excited, such as which shore excursions are available, which port stops are on the itinerary and when family members must book by to receive the promotional rates. Not surprisingly, a lot of planners go with a travel agent to get the best deals.

When choosing a cruise line for your next family reunion, try to find a ship line that specializes in family reunion vacations. For instance, Royal Caribbean offers VIP room amenities, rock wall climbing sessions, on-board family scavenger hunts, a reunion trivia challenge, door decorations and personalized cakes.

Disney Cruise Line's family package includes personalized t-shirts and commemorative certificates. Carnival offers complimentary champagne and chocolates or private cocktail parties for groups of 8 or more.

Holland America's family reunion program (for five or more rooms) gives guests a family photo, a 20-punch beverage card and one of the following: a choice of dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, free snorkel rental, free swim mat rental, or free banana boat rides on Half Moon Cay. For families booking ten or more rooms, the family patriarch gets an upgrade from a stateroom to a veranda.

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