Getting a historical perspective is very important when you start to plan for a family reunion.
Knowing what has worked in the past from someone who has already arranged a previous reunion will help cut down the time and money you invest in planning the next one.
Once you have tracked down the previous family reunion planner, these are the questions to ask.
- How much were people willing to travel? Were most people comfortable taking an airplane?
- How much money were family reunion attendees willing to spend? You want a ballpark idea of what your family members are willing to spend so that you don’t start planning something that can’t be afforded by the average attendee.
- How was payment for the reunion handled? Per person or per family? Were accommodations handled separately?
- Was there a hotel needed for the last family reunion? Will you need to block hotel rooms for this family reunion? If yes, then how many hotel rooms should you negotiate a group rate for?
- What did they do for fundraising?
- Who do we have to plan the reunion around? E.x. If there are a lot of kids in the family, then you would want to plan the reunion around the school schedule.
- What is the one event that went really well? Can it be repeated? What is the one event no one liked?
- What kind of activities were enjoyed by the kids? By the adults? Were theme parks involved, or sporting events?
- What theme was used for the family reunion? You don’t want to repeat the same theme over again. You also want to get ideas on what they think might work better.
- What was missing from the last reunion?
- Do they have any post family reunion surveys from the last reunion? If they do, then request copies so you can go over them to get even more ideas.
- Does the family prefer a large city or small? Do they prefer historical cities (Williamsburg, VA) or ones that have a lot of kid friendly activities (Orlando)
- Were there any special needs that you should be aware of for one or more family members?
The answers to the above questions will help establish the framework for planning a family reunion. The advice you get will be invaluable since you won’t waste time looking at cities, events, or activities that your family is not interested in.
What should you read next?
Since you’re planning a family reunion, take a look at some money saving ideas for your next event.