12-month checklist
Start a year out.
Panic never.
The best family reunions are planned over months, not weeks. This is the month-by-month checklist that keeps you on track from 12 months out to the week before. Every task has a reason and a deadline. No guessing. No last-minute scrambles. Just a steady build to a day the whole family looks forward to.
Start planning your reunion12 months out: Form the committee and pick the date.
The first thing you need is help. Identify 4 to 6 people who are willing to be on the planning committee. Assign roles: lead organizer, treasurer, food coordinator, activities lead, communications lead. Then pick the date. Summer weekends around July 4th and Labor Day are popular, but check with the major branches first. If the biggest branch cannot make July, pick August. The date should work for the most people, not the most convenient weekend for the organizer.
Form the committee
4 to 6 people with defined roles. Lead organizer, treasurer, food coordinator, activities lead, communications lead. Assign them in Grove so everyone sees their lane.
Pick the date
Poll the major branches. Check for conflicts with holidays, school calendars, and other family events. Lock it in and do not change it.
9 months out: Book the venue and set the budget.
This is when you lock in the location. Park pavilion, community center, church fellowship hall, hotel ballroom - whatever fits the family and the budget. Book it now because the good spots fill up fast for summer weekends. At the same time, draft a preliminary budget. How much will the venue cost? How will you handle food? What is the per-person target? These decisions shape everything that comes after. Set up the budget in Grove so the treasurer can track income and expenses from the start.
6 months out: Send the save-the-date.
People need lead time, especially if they are traveling. Six months is when you send the save-the-date with the basics: the date, the city, and a note that registration is coming soon. This is not the full invitation. It is a heads-up so people can request time off work, start looking at flights, and put it on their calendar. Share Grove's reunion page link even at this stage. It does not need to be fully built yet - just the date, the location, and a way to start collecting interest.
4 months out: Open registration.
Now you open the door. Set up registration on Grove with the pricing tiers (early bird, regular, kids, seniors, scholarship). Collect names, headcount per household, t-shirt sizes, dietary needs, and payment. The reunion page becomes the hub. Share the link everywhere: group chats, social media, email, text. Branch representatives push it to their people. This is where the momentum builds. Watch the RSVP count climb and adjust your planning based on real numbers.
Registration flow
Names, headcount, t-shirt sizes, dietary needs, payment. All collected in one pass. No follow-up needed.
Pricing tiers
Early bird, regular, kids, seniors, scholarship. Everyone finds a tier that works for them.
Branch push
Branch representatives share the link with their people. The network effect builds the RSVP list faster than one person texting everyone.
2 months out: Finalize the menu and the schedule.
You have a headcount. Now you can plan the food. If it is potluck, open the potluck board and let people start claiming dishes. If you are ordering meat for the grill, place the order based on your RSVP numbers. At the same time, build the schedule: arrival and setup, the welcome, the meal, activities, the family meeting, the program, and cleanup. Post it on the reunion page so everyone knows what to expect. This is also when you finalize activities and assign volunteers to run each one.
1 month out: T-shirt orders and final push.
Close the t-shirt order window and place the order. You need at least 3 to 4 weeks for production and delivery. At the same time, send a final push to the family members who have not registered yet. A direct message from their branch representative works better than a mass announcement. Check the potluck board for gaps. Follow up on any outstanding committee tasks. This is the month where loose ends get tied up.
2 weeks out: Confirm the headcount and finalize vendors.
Pull the final headcount from Grove. This is the number you give to the venue, the caterer (if you have one), and the meat supplier. Confirm all vendor orders. Double-check the park reservation. Verify that the DJ, photographer, or any hired help is confirmed. Print the schedule and post it in the committee channel. Send a reminder to all registered attendees with the final details: address, parking, what time to arrive, what to bring.
1 week out: Print name tags. Load the schedule. Breathe.
Print name tags from the registration list. Yes, name tags. In a family of 80+ people, not everyone knows everyone, and the cousins who have not been to a reunion in ten years will appreciate not having to guess. Load the final schedule onto the reunion page so it is ready for the day of. Pack the supplies: tape, markers, trash bags, a first aid kit, the speaker, extension cords. The committee should have a final check-in call to make sure everyone knows their role for the day. Then stop planning and go to bed early. You have earned it.
Name tags
Print them from the registration list. Include first name, last name, and branch. People will thank you for it.
Day-of page
The reunion page becomes the live hub. Schedule, announcements, and photo sharing all happen here.
Supply checklist
Tape, markers, trash bags, first aid kit, portable speaker, extension cords, ice, coolers. The unsexy stuff that makes the day run.
Grove auto-seeds this checklist for you.
When you create a reunion in Grove, the task board comes pre-loaded with a checklist based on your event date. Tasks are spread across the timeline with realistic deadlines. You can customize it, reassign tasks to committee members, and track progress in one place. No more printing a checklist from a blog post and losing it in a drawer. The checklist lives where the planning happens.
Keep reading
More reunion planning guides.
Family reunion budget template
Line items, ranges, and a printable worksheet to pair with this checklist.
How to plan a family reunion
The long-form guide behind this checklist, step by step.
RSVP templates and reminder wording
Swipe-ready copy for save-the-dates, invites, and deadline nudges.
How to send family reunion invitations
What to include, when to send, and how to make sure nobody is forgotten.
The checklist is built in. Just set your date.
Grove auto-generates your planning timeline when you create a reunion. Free to start. No credit card.
Start planning your reunion