Fun Family Reunion Planning Ideas

Continuing with last week's theme of August being Family Fun Month, today we've come up with a few excellent ideas for hosting a family reunion near Knoxville. The scenic landscapes and historic buildings at Country Jewell make it the perfect place to reconnect with your extended family.

If your family has grown due to marriages and births, and relatives have moved away from each other, an annual family reunion is a wonderful way to keep everyone updated, close, and in touch. Here are a few fun ideas for some things to do while you are all together. 

Catch up through photographs

Even if your family makes the effort to meet up every year, a lot can change during that short time. Pictures are a great way to catch everyone up and get conversations started. Ask family members to mail photos to the person in charge of organizing the event, or sign up for a share site online.

These photos can be used to create a running slideshow at the reunion. You can also put together a scrapbook or even frame a few photographs to use as decoration around the room. Set up a photo area for everyone to take group pictures at the reunion. You could even use an instant camera to take pictures that could be displayed right away on a wall or family tree type mural.

Share "secret" family recipes

Most families have at least one dish that everyone looks forward to having when they get together. These foods are the perfect thing to feed everyone buffet-style during the reunion. If you prefer to let someone else do the cooking so that you can spend your time visiting and enjoying the day, ask family members to submit their own favorite recipes and put together a family cookbook for everybody to take back home with them.  

Update your family directory

This is the very best time to make sure that everyone has each other's correct contact information. You can do it the old-fashioned way by having everybody enter their info into a guest book to be shared later. A quicker way to take care of this is to set up a computer at the reunion that everyone can simply type any updates that need to be made into. Those files can then be shared with each other digitally. 

Wear name tags

Some might think that this sounds impersonal for a family gathering, but if you haven't seen someone for a year or more, they could look a lot different than you remember. This is especially true with growing children. Name tags can save everyone the awkwardness of asking "Who are you?" Go an extra step and make name tags large enough to add details like "son of...." or "married to..." to help everyone know how you are all related. 

Map it out

This can be both educational and a great way to decorate an area of the event room. Put up a big map or use a globe and let everyone mark where they are now living. It can be very interesting to see exactly how far out your family tree reaches. 

Designate age-appropriate areas

You will all want to be together at certain points during the day, but let's face it, young children will have a lot more fun if they have their own area full of activities and people their own age. The same goes for teenagers. They are too old to hang out at the kids' table, but too cool to be forced to converse with the grownups. The adults will probably appreciate having a corner all to themselves too. 

Give out fun awards

These can always be good for a laugh if you decide to give prizes for things like "most likely to make grandma lose her temper" or "aunt with the wettest cheek kiss." If you have a competitive family, give them something to strive for at the next reunion like "visited Mom & Dad the most since the last reunion" or "has the most kids."  

Host your next family reunion at Country Jewell!

You may rent our rustic event venue near Knoxville for 4 hours at a time during the week, Monday - Thursday, or in 4-6 hour blocks on weekends, Friday - Sunday, and on holidays. In addition to the beautiful landscaping, spacious celebration area, and charming atmosphere, you will also have access to:

• 20 folding tables
• 100 folding chairs
• warming/serving kitchen
• refrigerator
• oven
• microwave 

Country Jewell is a wonderful place to host all types of celebrations. Some members of your family may want to come back to us to host their engagement party, wedding, anniversary, or other special event in their life. We hope to see you all again and again. We'd love to be a part of your happy family too. 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

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