If you've been left in charge of planning a family reunion and are not sure you're up to the job, the following tips will help you get through the organising stage with ease so that you can get on the part where you are hanging out with your family and enjoying good food and conversation!
Start planning ASAP
The sooner you start planning and come up with a date and time, the better. Some family members will have school-age children to work around, and plenty of notice will be helpful for them. Decide how long the reunion will last (many people do it over a weekend) and how much you have to spend to make it happen. Remember that different family members will have different budgets, so try and make it affordable for everyone.
And don't feel like you have to do it alone! See if you can rope in a few close family members to help. They could prove invaluable when it comes to making the reunion come together with ease.
Find out who's coming and book the venue
Once you've invited everyone and have an idea of how many people are coming, find a venue that will fit everyone easily. Remember to account for other guests, such as spouses, children, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. It's definitely safely to overestimate rather than underestimate in this instance, as a venue that is too small for the number of guests could lead to a family reunion that is remembered forever more for the wrong reasons!
Work out the menu
If most of your family members live fairly close to the venue, consider a potluck where each person brings one or two things to eat or drink. If you do decide to cook, it's worth considering a catered event if you're expecting a large number of guests. If you do end up cooking yourself, again, overestimate the number of ingredients you'll need. It's easy to run out of food when cooking for a large number of people, especially when you're not used to doing so.
Consider hiring a charter bus
It may be worth hiring a bus to get all your family members and other guests to the venue. This will take the hassle out of each person having to arrange their own travel and will mean your guests will turn up at the event in good spirits having already developed camaraderie on the bus!
Share14 March 2017
I really like doing all sorts of little things to make my passengers coach trips just that little bit more comfortable. I have DVDs playing during the day and keep the coach nice and cool at night to help people sleep on those long trips. We make lots of trips to stop and stretch and also take some great photos. Australia can seem stark when you are staring out the coach window but there are some really beautiful spots along my routes that make for some beautiful shots. I meet funny people and have great adventures, which I hope you'll like reading about.