If you want to plan a big family reunion in 2024 after years of you and your extended family leading separate lives, you might be incredibly nervous about how this is going to go, and this might mean that you want your planning for the occasion to be flawless.
Then, here are some of the steps that you can take to make sure that your reunion is the day that you’ve dreamed about and that every single person has a good time while they’re there.
Find the Perfect Private Venue
Before you do anything else, it’s vital that you pick out a venue where you can relax as a group and have fun. You should check that the venue can accommodate your party size, and that it’s clean and luxurious, giving your relatives a lovely space that they can reconnect in.
You might also look for a venue that has break-out rooms or a spacious outdoor area, as this can allow your loved ones to wander off in smaller groups and get away from the mayhem for a quiet moment if they need to.
You should also check that this venue is equidistant from a lot of your family members so that it’s fair for everyone and that no one has trouble getting to the event. This means that you should look around for a venue for private party that can suit your needs and that everyone will want to return to in no time at all.
Think About Family Feuds
Although you might want to believe that your family all get on well, there might be a reason that no one has met up for a long time, and this could be due to feuds and problems within the family.
Even if these are now all in the past, you should be aware of any potential arguments and try and keep these guests away from each other when you’re making a seating plan. You should also try to time the party right and clear up any issues before the venue opens its doors.
You might also speak individually to family members to see whether they might be able to put any problems behind them for the duration of the evening. This will stop the big event that you’ve been planning for so long ending in chaos and upset.
Create a Comprehensive Guest List
You don’t want to send out invitations only to find that some people have been missed off and that they’re upset and offended that they haven’t been invited. This means that before you do anything else, you should create a comprehensive guest list of everyone who should be invited, including great aunts, uncles and distant cousins.
By creating a list and getting someone else to check this over, you’ll be ensuring that no one gets forgotten about and that you know exactly who should be attending your reunion. You can then use this when you’re creating seating plans and invitations.
Get Help
However, you shouldn’t be planning the event all on your own, especially if you’re going to invite dozens and dozens of people. Instead, you should enlist the help of a few trusted family members who you can delegate tasks to and can give you different perspectives and ideas.
This can help to take some of the stress away from you and prevent you from taking the entire blame if something goes wrong. It can also mean that you have someone else there to check that you haven’t missed anything off the arrangements and to help you set up on the big day, as well as to liaise with different vendors.
You should always ask a family member that you get on well with to help you, though, or you might find that you spend your entire planning time arguing and that this sets the arrangements back rather than pushes them forward. You might even decide to hire a party planner who organizes events as a profession every day.
Create Physical Invitations
When you’re intending on hosting a large family reunion, you should create physical invitations for guests, rather than just telling people that you’re setting up a party or sending an email invite. This will make the date more memorable and encourage people to RSVP. It will also make them feel wanted and this invitation can be kept as a reminder of the occasion for years to come.