All the elements to hold a successful family meeting

Besides the end-of-year hol­i­days, a fam­i­ly meet­ing is often the best time to get togeth­er with the fam­i­ly for a week­end or a whole day. It is an oppor­tu­ni­ty to see or meet cousins, uncles, aunts, nieces, and nephews… Although this moment means cel­e­bra­tion and shar­ing, it also requires rig­or­ous and well-planned organ­i­sa­tion.

Do you want to organ­ise a fam­i­ly meet­ing but don’t know where to start? These are the key ele­ments you need con­sid­er.

1. What is an extended family meeting?

A fam­i­ly meet­ing can be just the imme­di­ate fam­i­ly, but it can also go beyond that, includ­ing extend­ed fam­i­ly. You can bring togeth­er all peo­ple with the same sur­name (and their imme­di­ate fam­i­lies) or descen­dants of the same fam­i­ly, thus over­com­ing the close fam­i­ly cir­cle. This moment can some­times bring togeth­er more than a hun­dred peo­ple. Events for this type of extend­ed fam­i­ly gath­er­ing are usu­al­ly held in the sum­mer in out­door areas to enjoy a wide range of activ­i­ties.

2. Set a date and place

First of all, it is essen­tial to define the date for your fam­i­ly meet­ing and find a venue that can accom­mo­date all your fam­i­ly mem­bers.

Choos­ing a date that suits most peo­ple is impor­tant, con­sid­er­ing their sched­ules and oblig­a­tions, the dis­tance they have to trav­el to get there, etc. You can eas­i­ly organ­ise a sur­vey to deter­mine which date suits most guests.

For the venue, you can choose an out­door space such as a park or a beach, a pri­vate house or rent an entire venue, depend­ing on the num­ber of guests. Make sure you have where to shel­ter in case of bad weath­er, which is com­mon even in sum­mer!

3. Prepare your family’s guest list

List the peo­ple you want to invite to your fam­i­ly par­ty.

You can invite only close fam­i­ly mem­bers or extend the invi­ta­tion to all fam­i­ly mem­bers, from cousins to more dis­tant fam­i­ly.

Ensure you have updat­ed con­tact details for each per­son, so you can send them invi­ta­tions when the time comes.

4. Draw up a budget

Even if it is enjoy­able, a fam­i­ly meet­ing can be cost­ly, depend­ing on the num­ber of guests.

Remem­ber to draw up the bud­get for your event, con­sid­er­ing the costs of food, drinks, activ­i­ties, dec­o­ra­tion, etc. Be sure to plan your bud­get care­ful­ly to avoid over­spend­ing. This will also allow you to know how much each per­son will cost and to agree on a max­i­mum bud­get for your fam­i­ly meet­ing.

5. Plan the menu

Decide what food and drink you want to serve dur­ing your fam­i­ly gath­er­ing. You can opt for a full meal or sim­ply an exten­sive buf­fet, which can pro­vide more scope for inter­ac­tion.
Be sure to include options for guests with dietary restric­tions, such as veg­e­tar­i­an or gluten-free options. You can also use a cater­er, local butch­er or super­mar­ket to help you pre­pare the food. For exam­ple, if you are hav­ing an out­door fam­i­ly gath­er­ing, you could organ­ise a giant bar­be­cue.

6. Organise activities

Decide what activ­i­ties you will organ­ise dur­ing your fam­i­ly meet­ing. The aim is to pre­pare activ­i­ties that every­one can enjoy, such as games, out­door activ­i­ties, a scav­enger hunt, a trea­sure hunt, singing com­pe­ti­tions, etc. Inform your fam­i­ly mem­bers in advance if they need to bring spe­cial equip­ment or cloth­ing for the activ­i­ties (swim­ming cos­tume, tow­el, sports shoes, etc. .…).

7. Notify your family in good time

A fam­i­ly meet­ing requires care­ful organ­i­sa­tion and needs to be pre­pared sev­er­al months in advance.

There­fore, send the invi­ta­tions well ahead so your fam­i­ly mem­bers can plan the event in their agen­das. For exam­ple, you can send them an invi­ta­tion by email so every­one can eas­i­ly respond. Include all rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion such as date, place, start­ing time, and cost per per­son…

8. Make your shopping list

In addi­tion to organ­is­ing meals, list the shop­ping you must do for your fam­i­ly meet­ing.

In par­tic­u­lar, don’t for­get the snacks and oth­er meals (break­fast, after­noon snack, cock­tail…). Ensure you order every­thing you need in time to avoid delays or over­sights.

9. Don’t forget the children

Fam­i­ly gath­er­ings involve chil­dren, so organ­ise activ­i­ties suit­able for chil­dren, such as games for tod­dlers, arts and crafts, water fights, etc.

Ensure you also have food and drinks suit­able for them, such as treats, sweet and savoury snacks, and refresh­ments (water, soft drinks, choco­late, etc.).

10. Liven up the party with music

Play music dur­ing your fam­i­ly gath­er­ing to liv­en it up, either for the main par­ty or through­out the day dur­ing organ­ised activ­i­ties.

If your bud­get allows, you can hire a DJ or a band. In addi­tion to the music, you can cre­ate a pleas­ant atmos­phere and enter­tain­ment for all ages and all tastes.

11. Take souvenir photos!

Final­ly, as a fam­i­ly meet­ing is often an annu­al event, don’t for­get to save mem­o­ries and take pho­tos! You can hire a pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­ph­er to take qual­i­ty pho­tos, so you don’t have to wor­ry about this aspect of your fam­i­ly meet­ing.

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