5 Family Reunion Planning Tips

We all know the joys of celebrating the people that we love. Coincidently, we also all know the stress that can be involved with planning a successful family gathering. Although a family reunion takes a lot of planning and effort - it’s always worth it! 

What could be a better way to celebrate the summer season than with a family reunion, made easy with our top 5 family reunion planning tips! 

Tip #1 Decide Your Budget 

The first and most useful step to planning a family reunion is to determine your budget. It sounds daunting to think of contacting your relatives to try and nail down how much money everyone is comfortable spending (if you’re not choosing to foot the bill yourself). It will be well worth it to iron these details out ahead of time and determine how you’ll allocate your funds, who's in charge of tracking spending, and how you’re going to collect the money. 

#2 Select the Venue

Another tricky step, but one of the most important, is picking where to host your family reunion!

We recommend an outdoor space for summertime gatherings, such as a campground or homestead (if that fits your family) for a budget option, or a winery, orchard or park should you have funds for the rental fees. We know that weather can be unpredictable and that your family reunion must go on rain or shine! With a variety of sizes and styles of tent rentals available, Avalon's leading “PartyCad” software can also help you determine the optimal tent setup and layout. 

If you’re worried about the weather being too warm for very young and old relations consider renting a few whisper-quiet tent fans available, so you can still have the pleasure of great conversation while staying comfortable! 

#3 Plan Your Food

Once you’ve made it to this step, you’re over halfway through executing a successful family gathering! Considered one of the most important aspects of any family reunion - to guests, is the food! Barbecue is always a fantastic and easy choice, which will let you (or that eager grill-master uncle of yours) quickly and easily prepare crowd-pleasing food for the masses. Of course, you can always completely take the pressure off by hiring a local caterer…

Make sure you stock up on plates, cutlery and glassware to ensure your guests have a place to put their food and drink. If you’re hosting a weekend family reunion get-together, why not grab a pancake batter dispenser to make your flapjack breakfast a breeze? Pro tip: if you're already barbecuing, get a griddle plate so you can cook pancakes, eggs and bacon on it as well!

And of course, no family gathering is complete without a well-stocked bar or, for a more relaxed approach, fill and chill tables keep four to five cases of your favourite beverages ice cold. 

#4 Make it Fun! 

Now it’s time to get creative. After all, this is a celebration, and it’s supposed to be exciting and fun! Why not get a slushy machine to remind your nieces and nephews why you’re the best aunt or uncle (and of course, you are welcome to make “adult versions” with your preferred liquor).

If you’re planning your family reunion outside, chances are it’s going to be warm; cool down with a dunk tank and see who can dunk grandma first! 

Add to that backyard games, a slip and slide, badminton nets or a Bocce ball tournament and you have a recipe for a successful and memorable family reunion! And when night falls, put on a family-friendly movie up on the nearly 9x12-foot projection screen, or have a family slide show!

#5 Recruit Help

Just because they are family doesn’t mean you can tell them what to do! It is important to remember that although as the host you want to make sure everyone else is comfortable and attended to, you also have the right to enjoy yourself after all your hard work! So start by asking for help and assigning tasks to family members. If everyone does a little, that saves you from doing the lion’s share.

Avalon Event Rentals is happy to help you plan the perfect family reunion and bring everything to fruition. With tents, tables and chairs, and even portable washrooms, you can relax knowing that we’ve got your back (kind of like family). Start by browsing our catalogue or give us a call.