22 Feb The Initial Step in Planning Texas Family Reunion
This is the first of our 6 part series that will provide you some great concepts for planning your next family reunion. Start with these 4 simple tips and watch for the other 5 tips to help you select what kind of reunion you really wish to plan.
Getting Started
Whom to invite: Everyone, ideally. Sometimes it’s the random second cousin you never thought would show up who ends up being the life of the party. If you can’t include every branch of the family tree, one of the first things you would like to do is to decide how far up the family tree you want to go. Will it only involve brothers and sisters, maybe first cousins, second cousins or beyond? This can depend on how often you have a family event and how close you currently are to your immediate family. If you all live in the same city and every other Friday feels like a family reunion already, go deeper into the tree and invite all of those people you haven’t seen since you were all kids.
Families with school-aged children generally need to plan around the school schedule. How far in advance you plan can rely a great deal on how long the event will be and how many people you are going to invite.
How long it should last: For an annual reunion, a weekend will suffice. Plan a few extra days for those who can stay longer if reunions don’t occur as regularly. But keep in mind: When you plan a reunion, be mindful that the duration of the event will also increase costs and the amount of time spent away from work and school. Try taking a survey of your family and ask them how long they think it should be if you are wondering how long it should be. Don’t leave the question open ended, but instead, ask if they would be more likely to attend an event that was 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, or 5 days. This will keep the answers from getting too random.
How to organize it: Pick a “point person” from each nuclear family so that wires don’t get crossed, and t. Also, take an informal survey of what people are willing to spend and when they would like to go. Included in our blog are a number of checklists, Q&A’s, and other things that will be helpful as you plan your Texas reunion.