A great family reunion isn't about a fancy venue. It's the cousin who hasn't been in years, the kids who become friends by lunchtime, and the story Uncle Ray tells every single time. Your job as the planner is to set the stage and let the family do the rest.
Below are 40 family reunion ideas, from themes and games to food, awards and keepsakes, plus a simple planning timeline. Pick a handful that fit your family. Nobody needs all 40.
How to plan a family reunion: a simple timeline
Most reunions come together in about a year, and a small one can be done in three months. Here's a timeline that works for most families.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 9 to 12 months before | Pick a planning team of three or four people. Choose a date and a rough budget. Send a save-the-date. |
| 6 to 9 months before | Book the venue. Ask who's coming and collect current addresses, emails and phone numbers. |
| 3 to 6 months before | Plan the food, activities and any T-shirts. Collect money if you're sharing costs. |
| 1 to 2 months before | Order awards and shirts. Set up your photo gallery and print the QR code signs. |
| The week before | Confirm the head count, print name tags and a schedule, and pack the games. |
| After the reunion | Share the photos, thank the planning team and pick next year's host. |
Choosing a venue. Parks with a covered pavilion, a relative's backyard, a church or community hall, a campground or a vacation rental all work well. Look for shade, bathrooms, room for the kids to run, and somewhere comfortable for the oldest relatives to sit.
Keeping costs down. Potluck meals, a park pavilion instead of a hall, and a suggested contribution per family keep the reunion affordable. Ask whoever is good with numbers to keep a simple shared spreadsheet.
Family reunion themes
A theme isn't required, but it makes the invitations, shirts and decorations easy to plan.
- Back to our roots. Celebrate where the family came from, with family recipes, old photos and a map showing where everyone lives now.
- Family Olympics. Branches of the family compete as teams in games all day, with medals at the end.
- Decades party. Each generation dresses in the style of the decade they grew up in.
- Summer camp. Cabins or tents, a campfire, s'mores, color teams and a talent show.
- Luau or backyard beach party. Leis, tropical food and a limbo contest, with no beach needed.
Family reunion games and activities for all ages
The best reunion games mix the generations, so a grandparent and a 7-year-old can end up on the same team.
- Family trivia. Collect questions ahead of time: "Who was born in a snowstorm?" "Which aunt once met Elvis?" Play in teams by family branch.
- Two truths and a lie. Simple, funny and a great way to learn things you never knew about your own relatives.
- Family Feud. Survey everyone before the reunion, then play it live with a host and two teams.
- Scavenger hunt. Make a list (find someone born in another state, someone with the same middle name as you), then mix the ages on each team.
- Water balloon toss. A summer classic for kids and brave adults.
- Three-legged and sack races. Pair the oldest with the youngest for the best photos of the day.
- Cornhole or horseshoes tournament. Post a bracket so everyone can follow along.
- Tug-of-war between branches. Settle the family's oldest rivalries once and for all.
- Family talent show. Songs, jokes, magic tricks and the cousin who still does the robot.
- Memory jar. Leave cards and pens by a jar, and have everyone write a favorite family memory. Read some aloud after dinner.
- Family tree wall. Hang a big blank tree and let everyone add their name, photo and birthday.
- Storytelling circle. Ask the oldest relatives to share stories from when they were kids, and record them on a phone.
- Kids' craft table. Decorate picture frames, paint rocks or make a family banner.
- Group photo by generation. Line everyone up in order of age, then by family branch, then all together.
Family reunion food ideas
Food is where most of the talking happens, so keep it simple and plentiful.
- Potluck with a sign-up sheet. Assign mains, sides and desserts by family branch so you don't end up with nine pasta salads.
- Family recipe tasting. Ask everyone to bring a dish from a family recipe, with a card telling whose recipe it is.
- Build-your-own bars. Tacos, burgers, baked potatoes or sundaes feed a crowd and suit picky eaters.
- Barbecue cook-off. Let the grill masters compete, and have the family vote for the winner.
- Dessert contest. Pies, cakes and cookies, with ribbons for first, second and third.
- Family cookbook. Collect the recipes from the reunion and share them afterward as a printed or digital book.
Family reunion awards: the part everyone remembers
An awards ceremony after dinner is one of the easiest ways to get the whole family laughing together. It takes about 20 minutes, and people talk about it for years. We've made awards since 1999, so this is our favorite part.
- Traveled the farthest. For the cousin who flew in from Alaska.
- Oldest and youngest in attendance. A sweet photo moment when they hold their awards together.
- Newest member of the family. A new baby, a new spouse or a new in-law.
- Funny superlatives. "Best Dad Jokes", "Most Likely to Be Late", "Grill Master", "Best Dance Moves", "Loudest Laugh".
- Game day winners. Medals or trophies for the Family Olympics, the cornhole bracket and the dessert contest.
- Let the family vote. Put the ballot on everyone's phone, then reveal the winners after dinner. Highlight Reel lets guests vote by QR code and shows the winners on the slideshow.
For award ideas for every contest, from cornhole to the pie-baking table, plus a simple awards budget, see our family reunion awards guide. Find trophies, medals and plaques for every one of these in our Family Reunion Trophies and Awards collection.
Photo ideas: capture the whole day
Everyone takes photos at a reunion, but they usually end up scattered across dozens of phones. A little planning gets them all in one place.
- One shared gallery with a QR code. Put a QR code sign on each table so relatives can add their photos from their phones, with no app or account. Our guide to free event photo sharing shows how.
- A "Then and Now" section. Ask everyone to bring an old family photo, then recreate it in the same pose.
- A live slideshow. Put the photos on a TV or projector as they come in. Kids love seeing themselves on the big screen.
- Photo of the day vote. Let everyone vote for their favorite photo, and give the winner a prize.
- Award prints. Add a printed award border to the best shots ("Family Reunion 2027", "Best Grandpa") and print them for the grandparents.
T-shirts, keepsakes and favors
- Matching T-shirts. Use a color for each family branch, with the family name, the year and a fun slogan: "Rooted in Love", "Same Family, Different Year", or "The [Last Name] Reunion: Still Standing". Shirts make the group photo, and they help everyone find their branch in a crowd.
- Name tags with a twist. Add each person's branch and how they're related ("Grandma Rose's great-grandson").
- A family photo plaque. Turn the group photo into a photo plaque for the host, or for the family member who started the reunion tradition.
- Small favors with the year on them. Engraved keychains, ornaments or bottle openers become a collection when you hold reunions every year.
Questions people ask
How far ahead should you plan a family reunion? About a year for a large reunion with travel, and three to six months for a local one.
What do you do at a family reunion? Eat, catch up, play games that mix the generations, take a group photo and share family stories. An awards ceremony after dinner is a great way to end the day.
How do you get people to come? Send a save-the-date early, pick a date around school schedules, keep costs low, and share photos from last time to remind everyone how much fun it was.
How do you keep kids busy? A craft table, a scavenger hunt, water games and a job to do, like handing out name tags or awards.
How do you share the photos afterward? Use one shared gallery for the whole family, so nobody has to text photos back and forth for a month.
Make this year's reunion the one they talk about
Highlight Reel, our free event app, brings it all together: one QR code for everyone's photos, a live slideshow, voting for your family awards, and award prints for the grandparents. Then pick the trophies and medals to match in our family reunion awards collection. See the live demo or get it free.