Good Places to have Family Reunions

The location for a family reunion is very important. You can hold it indoors or outdoors and on your family's property or public property.

You need to make sure that the entire family or at least a majority agree with the location.
If half of your family are into extreme sports and the other half consider church exciting, it can be very hard to compromise and you may end up having to have everyone vote on a choice of different places.

A family home or something very memorable to everyone is always a good idea and doesn't require reservations or permits.

Tourist destinations are great for family reunions. This includes theme parks, beaches, resorts, or even a nice hotel with something fun nearby.
Many of these places will offer a great discount if you tell them you are setting up a family reunion there.

Disneyland for example has special packages designed for this sort of thing. The best time to visit tourist destinations is during the off season. Instead of setting up a family reunion for June, try May. There will be a lot less people there and rates may be a lot cheaper.

If you decide to rent either a park, church, or other public facility, make sure to plan as far in advance as possible.

Some places may require some type of permit if your family is very large and others may need a security deposit as well. National parks aren't very expensive if your family loves the outdoors and you could even turn it into a big camp-out if everyone is willing. Read more...

Fun Family Reunion Activities

Sure family reunions are great for historical purposes and helps your family stay very close but there might be a problem. What the heck is everyone going to do for hours together?
Sure you can eat and talk but how much time can that really kill? You will need to plan some activities!

Activities can be fun for almost everyone depending on what you want to do. You should have activities that are fun for the entire family and also special activities to help keep the children busy and under control.

So, what are some good all-inclusive activities? Well, most people's problem with these is that they try way too hard on them.

The best activities are very simple ones. Sports and games are two of the easiest things to organize and very fun for a lot of family members.

Depending on the size of your family, you could do anything from volleyball to softball and anything in between. If your family is very athletic, you could hold a mini family Olympics complete with ribbons and awards.

Children can get bored easily at family reunions. Teenagers will most likely wander around playing their gameboys or complaining but the younger ones definitely need entertainment.

If you are going to be at a park, a great thing to consider is a giant bouncy house or slide. You can usually rent these by the hour and the rental place will set them up and take them down for you. Kids love these and they help burn off a lot of energy.

Children's games or tables for coloring are also great ideas. Sack races and other fun stuff can really give children a memory that will last a lifetime. Read more...

Recording Your Family Reunion

A family reunion might take forever to plan for and successfully pull off so you will want to make sure to capture all the memories you can.
Some people are lucky and have a photographer or videographer already in the family and they have all of their own equipment. For the rest of us, there are a couple of options available. You could hire someone or do it yourself.

Hiring a professional to record your family reunion can save a lot of time and trouble if you can afford it.
Professionals know the right cameras and lenses to use for every kind of lighting and weather condition and it can make a normal picture look amazing.

Most people don't have the kind of special equipment laying around to do this. Of course, professionals cost quite a bit of money but if each household of the family pitches in a little bit, it won't be so bad. You could always just hire them for a couple of hours also instead of the entire day.

If you decide to do it yourself, it can be overwhelming if nobody helps. You will need to try to delegate others to help with pictures and filming. It can be easy to miss all the fun and be very disappointed later on if you are the only one running around with a camera.

Most people have digital cameras these days so just make sure there some reliable people operating them. Even 2 cameras can work as long as the people using them aren't always standing side by side.

Family reunions don't happen all the time so you want to make sure you are taking good pictures and movies that will be mementos for years to come. Read more...