Form a small committee and pick the date

Ideally, start planning nine months to a year ahead, especially if you want a large group house or a community hall in summer. Step one: do not go it alone. Pull together a committee of three or four people, ideally one from each branch of the family. Each of them keeps their own side informed, and you are far less likely to forget a distant branch.

For the date, start with the hard constraints: school holidays, grandparents who only travel in good weather, cousins who live abroad. Suggest two or three possible weekends and put it to a vote. A long weekend in late spring or early summer is often a good compromise: the weather is kind and families with children are free.

As soon as the date is set, send everyone a save-the-date. It does not need every detail yet: the date, the region and a promise of more to come are enough for people to block out the weekend.

Choose the venue and build the budget

The venue depends on the format: a single day with a big meal, or a full weekend with accommodation. For a day, a village hall, a rented barn or a relative's garden works well. For a weekend, look for a large group house, a holiday village out of season or an estate with several buildings, and check the number of beds, access for older relatives and space for children to play.

For the budget, list the main items: venue hire, caterer or groceries, drinks, accommodation, activities, T-shirts and perhaps a photographer. Then divide by the expected number of guests, with separate adult and child prices. Many families charge less for children and nothing for toddlers.

Keep a buffer of around 10% for surprises and late sign-ups. Decide early whether the reunion just needs to break even or whether some relatives would like to contribute more: a free-amount line in the form lets anyone who wants to chip in a little extra.

Handle registrations by household

This is where things usually get messy. A reunion is made of households: a couple with three kids, a grandmother on her own, a blended family arriving on Saturday only. Collecting replies by text, email and phone, then copying everything into a spreadsheet, quickly becomes a headache.

The better approach is a single family reunion registration form where each household signs up all its members at once. For each person, you need to know whether they are an adult or a child, which meals they will have, whether they are staying overnight and what T-shirt size they want. Add a comment field for dietary needs, allergies or a late arrival.

At a minimum, ask for:

• household name and a contact email;
• number of adults and children, with each person's meals;
• nights on site, if relevant;
• T-shirt sizes and extras (a photo book, for example);
• dietary needs and any other notes.

T-shirts, activities and family reunion ideas

Matching T-shirts have become a reunion classic, and for good reason: they create instant team spirit and make for great group photos. A popular idea is one colour per branch of the family, printed with the name of the common ancestor and the year. Order them early, at least a month ahead, as printing times get longer in spring.

For activities, a giant family tree on the wall is hard to beat: everyone adds their photo and finally works out who is who. Add a quiz on family history, a slideshow of old photos, outdoor games for the kids (sack races, a treasure hunt) and maybe a bake-off between branches.

Plan one official moment too: the big group photo, ideally around midday while everyone is still there. Put one person in charge of it, because getting 100 people into the same spot always takes longer than you think.

Collect the money and give the caterer the right numbers

With Filomy, you create the sign-up form on the reunion's mini-site using the family reunion template: adult and child meals, T-shirt, photo book. Each household adds its members from a link shared over WhatsApp or email, with no app to install, and the total is calculated automatically. You set the price of each item, and toddlers' meals can be free.

You choose the payment methods that suit your family: bank transfer (the IBAN is shown with copy buttons), Wero, Lydia, PayPal, cheque or cash. Each registration gets an FLM-XXXXXX reference to add to the transfer label; the household clicks "I've paid" and you confirm once the money arrives. You can also import your bank statement so transfers are matched automatically, send email reminders, and add a registration by hand for the aunt who prefers the phone.

When the caterer asks for numbers, open the per-day recap: adult and child meals and nights, ready to send, with a CSV export if needed. You also see at a glance what is expected, confirmed and still outstanding. The money goes straight to your account: Filomy never holds it and takes no commission on these payments.

The form is free for up to 50 responses (one response per household). For a very large family, the Event Box (€49.90 one-off) makes responses unlimited and adds the guest book, invitations and RSVP, photo wall and money pot.

After the party: keep the memories

A reunion lasts a weekend but gets retold for years. By the evening, the photos are scattered across 40 different phones. Offer one place to gather them, such as a shared photo wall on the mini-site, and mention it in your thank-you message.

The guest book is the other treasure of the day. Grandparents leave a heartfelt note, children a drawing, distant cousins a promise to meet up sooner next time. On the mini-site it stays available to everyone, including those who could not make it.

Finally, make the most of the momentum: hold a quick debrief with the committee, write down what worked and what to change, and keep your contact list up to date. The next reunion will be much easier to launch, and you will already have a form ready to reuse.