Family moments are things that you should cherish and each family has some situations in which everybody gathers around and spends some quality time together. Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and similar occasions are some of the events that bring families together, but they are sometimes viewed as boring and repetitive – at least that’s the way they are presented in popular culture. When we look at things across the board, there are very few real reasons that make family reunions boring, except perhaps some internal family struggles and conflicts. There are a lot of different approaches you can take when organizing family events, regardless of the occasion, which can make annual events avoid becoming repetitive and stale. All it takes is genuine effort during your approach to their organization and you can make every family gathering fun and memorable.
Here are a few general tips on how to do this, but keep in mind that not every family is going to enjoy every option and that you are the one who needs to organize the event, so it is to everyone’s liking. After all, they are your family and you know them best.
Location
Things may seem a bit repetitive if you organize them at the same location every year. The same environments with the same people at the same events are a lot of identical factors and even if things don’t go the same as last year, a lot of your family members will consider it a repeat even before they arrive. Having a family dinner at a restaurant can be a nice change of pace and it can create a different atmosphere. When choosing the restaurant for your family event, make sure that they have something for everyone’s taste on their menu in order to avoid a situation in which people cannot find something they like.
Organization
If you organize a certain family event a lot of years in a row, you might run dry of creative ideas. In these cases, I would recommend that you pass the torch to someone else, since they might have a different approach to organizing the event. Many people believe that tradition dictates that it is their duty to organize something, but it far better to have somebody else do it if you are tired from it than to do it halfheartedly.
Theme
This is a great idea if you are organizing birthdays, anniversaries and even weddings. When an event is centered around one person or around a couple, you can add a fun twist on an entire organization and personalize it with a theme that they like. For example, I organized an anniversary for my grandparents by throwing a party with a 60s theme in order to make them feel young again and everyone really had a lot of fun. They told us what we got right and what we got wrong, told us stories from that period of their lives, we danced to 60s music and it really looked like you traveled back in time, when everyone around you is dressed in 60s fashion.
Memorabilia
A little something to remember the event by can make people cherish the memories a bit more. Photos are a natural solution but these days you can go a bit further. I had the idea that it would be nice to have a website that is dedicated to a certain family event containing photos, videos, quotes and comments of family members and so on. At first, it seemed that it is too much work but then I stumbled upon IMCreator. If you already have all the media (pictures & videos) you can easily create a website by using this platform. There is really nothing to it if you have basic computer skills. If you really don’t have any, then get your kid to do it, they will know what to do.
People are far too set in the preconceptions of how certain events need to be organized and what makes them good. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different things. Basically, surprise your family members with a whole new angle. Make sure that it is also fun for you to organize and participate – you won’t get anything done right if you are bored every step of the way.
