The night before our Downey Dinner, we hosted a Cousins’ Night and Sissy offered up her brand new, not even moved into home for the get together. I was the first person to ever use the oven!
The meal that night was Taco on a Plate, and cousins brought sides and desserts. For the reunion, the hosts provide fried chicken, mashed potatoes, drinks, the rest is pitch in. This is the pie I made for my personal contribution, and Sissy let me borrow her home to do make it in.
Oh my gosh, we had the BEST foods!
And lots of it.
After we eat there are photos of each individual family, and other group shots.
I’d made this sign to hang on the wall above photos, but when Kathleen’s group couldn’t all fit under it, I suggested they held the letters. Look how cute little Y is. She looks proud of herself for helping.
While on our sister trip to Florida this spring, we made photo flowers for centerpieces and Bobbie added sticks to use as stems. I brought hand painted pots with oasis and moss in them, but we soon realized that with our big group, there were too many blooming pictures for a handful of pots. Bobbie supplied canning jars with tea lights and I tossed some moss into those too.
There wasn’t a lot we could do to the venue without investing too much time or money. I thought the flowers added a personal touch. Plus, it gets everyone mingling and going from table to table so that they can “pick” a bouquet of relatives to take home.
The tables were covered in white plastic and I used a sharpie to draw vines and write quotes about families.
Here are some that I used:
“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” —Mother Teresa
“Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing.” – Irina Shayk
“I sustain myself with the love of family.”―Maya Angelou
"In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, bridge to our future."— Alex Haley
“We are family / I got all my sisters with me.”- Sister Sledge
The ideas are really unique and interesting.