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Planning a family reunion is anything but a last minute affair and, though there are some excellent reunion venues near Atlanta, finding the right one is far from the first thing one needs to consider when thinking about getting all the relatives together. If this is the first time that you will be organizing the event, don’t even consider trying to schedule one less than a year in advance. There will be plenty of things to take into account and a considerable amount of opinions—solicited and unsolicited—to deal with as to where and when to have it and who to invite. Hopefully, these few suggestions will help ease the pain of planning that first family reunion, though it’s strongly recommended that one doesn’t do this kind of event alone. Once you’ve decided that this is what you want to do, solicit help from others in the family or you’ll find yourself quickly overwhelmed. Who Should You Invite? If you’re single, the problem is somewhat eased by the fact that you only have to decide whether to invite your mom’s or your dad’s side of the family or both; but if you’re married, you’ve just doubled your decision matrix. Before you begin to plan, sit down with everyone and figure out who you want to invite. If the family tree on both sides is particularly large, it would make more sense to have two reunions rather than one and decide on which side of the family to plan first. Once you have that aspect narrowed down, then you need to decide whether only close relatives should be invited or whether it should extend to everyone. Remember, every cousin or second cousin comes with their branch of the family tree as well and you probably don’t want to leave anyone out. The best strategy is to sit down with mom and dad and document as best as possible all the relatives and their descendants that can be identified. When Should the Event Occur? Consider the fact that, depending on the distance, some family members may need to travel and may need to take time off of work in order to get to the event’s location. In addition, to accommodate those who do need to travel and stay overnight, it’s easier to lock in good prices for hotels the further in advance that you plan the event. Also, don’t forget that you’ll want to give adequate time to solicit feedback from everyone as to a good time of the year to stage the reunion. You also have to decide whether this is going to be a one-day event or an entire weekend—the latter being more challenging but also more fun in that it gives everyone more time to connect. This is especially true if many family members don’t get an opportunity to see each other very often. Once you make that decision, it’s best to give 3 optional dates and solicit responses, requesting that they prioritize their preferences from 1 to 3, and asking whether any of the options are untenable. Remember that if you include a holiday weekend, this could impact the availability of venue and prices of the rooms for overnight stays. Finally, don’t worry if some can’t make the date that you decide upon. The point is to select a time that most can attend and then stick to that date and don’t change it for any reason. Where Should the Event Take Place? This should be a simple decision if you first take into account where most of your family members reside. The more far-flung that they live, the more central of a location that you need to pick. If the majority of the family is clustered near each other, then the obvious choice is nearby regardless whether a few need to travel a long distance. However, if the family is spread out from one coast to another, then a location in the central part of the country is the best choice for making the venue the most accessible and affordable for everyone, and certainly a reunion venue near Atlanta can fill that requirement!
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