Family Reunion - Midlothian,TX

We have done this with my dad's family. He is one of 7 children so it is quite a group. Each sibling/ group of siblings (depends on the size of their families) to plan the meals for that day. They all contribute money and give their shopping list basically one person goes shopping at Sam's. Some of the family live where we havd had the reunion so that makes it easy for them. I would say for families to pick a meal and plan it and buy the groceries for that meal for everyone. You may still have expenses for paper products, silverware, drinks, etc. Each family could bring supply their own.

You could do a dining tournament. Split the families in to teams of 5 (45 people divided by 9 meals) and allow them come up with their team name. Then do a random drawing to desinate each team a meal to cook. For example: Day 1: Team A makes breakfast, team B gets to make lunch, and team C gets dinner. The next two days do the same thing with teams D-I. Each team goes to the grocery store together, splits the food cost and plans their meal. At the end of the week, after everyone has cooked, you vote on best breakfast, lunch and dinner and reward the winning teams with a small novelty prize, like a framed picture of their meal with a caption congratulating them.

This team building skill will not only save YOU money, but also let the families get to know one another. And to make it even more fun, split the families up so that they have to compete against with their own spouses. This way they get to spend time with those they don't get to see that often and have the chance to rub it in their spouces face if they win!

You shouldn't be responsible for shouldering the burden of paying for everyone's food. Planning a 3 day event if burden enough. My family has a reunion every summer and we have always gone with pot luck dinners That way, everyone is sure to have something that they like, and it is nice to have the chance to try new dishes as well as some of the old family recipes. You could even make each night a different theme...Italian, Mexican, etc. In the end, it is about spending time with the people you just don't get to see often, and that is what your memories will be about, not what you ate.

Divide the families into three and make each group responsible for specific meals. That way if they want to do chili they can make it at home and freeze it so it just needs to be heated and you are not spending the whole time cooking. Keep meals simple, casseroles, soups that type of things are easier.
Even grilling for 45 people takes a long time. Is it close enough to town that all could chip in and order take out pizza? Some people might want to get away from the group so you might want to schedule a free night where you can split up into small groups and go for dinner. We no longer have small children and after a while our family of four need a break from all of the noise and activity of small children. We enjoy sit down dinners at nice places that would not be appropriate for little ones. Good luck and enjoy

When my family does this, the person(s) in charge finds the place and gives all of the family all info on cabins to rent or hotels etc. There are usually several choices so that we can pick based on what we can afford. As far as the food goes, each family pretty much does their own breakfast thing. Then we usually have a picnic one day and everyone can bring their own stuff to cook or sandwiches etc or we all chip in and have a big cookout. Then we have one night where there will be a big catered dinner and we pay in advance a per person cost. This is usually done at a big meeting hall at the place. Since there are so many of us (my mom has 8 siblings & each of them have anywhere from 2-6 children and then there are grandchildren etc.) on the other night each family usually does their own mini reunion amongst themselves. At the picnic we have games and there are usually things to do for anyone who wants to such as horseback riding, fishing, swimming, boating, etc. We only do it once every 5 years because we are scattered all over the country so it is a huge undertaking. There are usually at least 2 people in charge. You should not have to do it all yourself.

My husbands family has a 1 day reunion each year that just has lunch. What we used to do is everyone bring a side dish or dessert, a few people would supply meats. Now they went to a catered meal, that costs a little more, this year it was $10 per adult and $5 per child, for our family of 5 it was expensive in the hard times and we opted not to go, plus it is located in Athens, tx about a 3 hour drive from us. I would split it into a few family groups, each group supplies the meat for 1 day or meal. (you could do leftovers for dinner, and the rest supplies the sides and desserts for the meal. It should work out to each family bringing 1 meat and 2 sides. Make sure that each family member understands that it needs to be enough to share with the whole family. I would plan on 2 or 3 different meats a day if there are enough families. If you start now then the families can plan ahead. Things like brisket and BBQ chicken go far. Good luck. You can also plan a silent auction to recoup some costs.

We have had our family reunion for over 50 years now. We group families and each one takes a night/lunch/breakfast. It is the fair way to do it, so it is spread out among everyone. It works out great!

If your doing an invite, I would put something like plan on supplying your own food/drink or if you would like to go in on food please send ________(set amount) by such and such date.

Our family has had a reunion for over 20 years now. On average we have over 150 in attendance. Each person is expected to pay a fee ranging from $25-40. This fee covers the food (which is usually catered), venue, gifts, awards, and decorations. I would suggest sending out letters to let everyone know what the price will be for the food and then figure out who besides you will be responsible for he food, games and fun. We also have different committees of family members to help make it successful.

I hope this helps.

I love Tracye M's idea for a dining tournament! Have teams of wives against teams of husbands. Divide the wives and husbands into enough teams to cover 9 meals. Let team members choose a team name & correspond with each other now to pre-plan their meals. They could choose to do shopping, & any pre-cooking at home, or plan on buying groceries once they get there. Trophies could be given for best meal!

I'd keep it easy and quick with cereals for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and burgers, hot dogs and chicken for dinner. Grill if possible and do cold sides that you can prepare ahead of time. That stuff is easy to estimate the cost also. Just price out about how much you would need for 45 people and then divide the total by 45. Give each family a "per person" food cost for the 3 days and let them know that food will only be provided for those who pay for it, since no one can afford to feed everyone out of their own pocket. You can let them know that they are welcome to do their own shopping/cooking for their family if they don't want to chip in to the "food fund," but there can be no last minute additions, as all supplies will be purchased in advance. Some people might complain (that's how families work, right?), but it's the only way to do it so that it's fair to you. Good luck!

Today I will meet with our family reunion committee to plan our 2011 family reunion. Because of the current state of the economy our fund raising auction last year was not as productive as in years past so we are faced with some new challenges this year.

I can tell you that our 3 day reunion cost $16.00 a person in 2010 and that included everything! To cut costs try doing burgers and hot dogs the first night asking family members to bring salad, chips and drinks. Have a dessert bar one night and ask family to bring a potluck dessert. You can find lots of good reunion budget helps at http://www.familyreunionhelper.com/

I would say to plan your meals and then "pre-shop" to see about what it is going to cost you to feed everyone for the 3 days. Add it up and divide by the number of people attending then when you send out the information about the reunion make sure to include that you are requesting $X per person for food for the week. You might to talk to anyone else that might be helping you plan and see what they prefer. They can either pitch in money for the food or you can make out the grocery list (very detailed - down to the salt & pepper) and divide it up between the families for them to bring with them. good luck and remember to enjoy your family when you are together and take lots of pictures.

When our family does this, each family/group of families is responsible for a different night. It spreads out the cost and it allows people to come up with menus they like to share.

My church diatician and cook said it costa a minimum of $3.00 per person to feed depending on the menu. At all the reunions my daughter goes to for a big family in OK, they each are assigned food to bring, plus pay so much a family for the meat. For example: a-g brings vegetables, h-l brings salads and bread, j-p brings deserts, etc. Everyone brings soda or juice and ????
This may help you. I think it was $15.00 a family per day for meat and they did things like briskett, hamburgers/hot dogs/ spagettii, etc. Hope this helps you.

Have each cabin or family host their own meal. That way is spreads the cost and the burden out among the families. None of it has to be fancy. When we have done the same thing we do hotdogs/chilidogs, pulled pork (slow cooked in crockpot or oven), sometimes the hosting family just orders local bbq or fajitas. Usually if we do this each family is responsible for their own breakfast. With a big group like that set meal times are important. Set rules that stragglers are on their own (either with leftovers or their own food).

Good luck!