Family reunions help us celebrate our family, both past and present. But they’re also great for the future as well. These are the times we can gather in all the branches of our family tree to hear their stories, get to know one another, and preserve memories of each other. Those memories will be important in years to come, so it’s vital to save them now. Here are some ideas of how to save specific and treasured memories at your family reunions.

Photos

This should be a given at reunions, but it bears repeating: take lots of pictures! Scenery is nice, and depending on your personality should be photographed. But you should also take as many pictures as you can of your family. Whether posed or candid, snap a few whenever you have a camera. When you save them to your computer, be sure to keep track of the location, year, and who’s in the photo. Not just for future generations; sometimes those details can slip in just a few years, and kids grow up so fast!

Projects

Depending on how crafty your family gets, try doing something involving the whole family that you can hang onto for those memories. This might include using a paper tablecloth that everyone can write or draw on, so you can save their signatures or other little precious memories.

In weddings recently, it has become popular to have a printed tree in a frame on which guests press their inked thumbprint for posterity. You can do something like this for your whole family in the style of a family tree. This would also make a great gift to a grandparent or great-grandparent so they can see how large their family is.

Capture stories

Family reunions are a great time to tell stories, whether of ancestors long gone or just of the last year. Even with a whole family listening, those memories fade with time. So, have a way to record these stories, like voice memo apps on-hand or a digital camera running during storytime.

You should also encourage your family members to write down their own family reunion experiences. Not every fun story may be captured digitally in just the right moment, but that doesn’t mean it should be forgotten!

Whatever your family reunion activities, they should be remembered! Keeping track of little details and stories will benefit you in the future–as well as your family, present and future! How have you kept track of your family’s memories during a reunion? We’d love to hear from you!