Blog · 2026-10-24
A Family Reunion Planning Checklist For 30 To 55 Guests
Thirty to forty people in one house is a project. Fifty-five is a different project. Here is the order that keeps one cousin from doing all of it.
A reunion of eight is a group text. A reunion of 30 to 55 is a project with a budget and a floor plan. Start with the beds. Three Peaks sleeps 40 overnight: ten bedrooms and a bunkroom with eight bunk beds that sleeps 16. Infants under two don't count. Thirty to forty in beds is one address. Fifty-five is 40 in the lodge and a real plan for the other 15.
The acres are large. The beds aren't. Rounding 40 up because the property feels big is how someone sleeps in a car. Day guests for a meal are welcome. Surprise overnight guests aren't.
Nine To Twelve Months Out
- Name one organizer and one backup. Not a committee of nine.
- Pick a preferred week and a backup. Summer goes first.
- Count overnight guests, day guests, and babies under two as three different numbers.
- Decide the point of the week: Yellowstone, Island Park, the dunes, or simply the house.
- Inquire, then place the $1,000 deposit. The balance is due three months before arrival.
- Tell the family the per-person cost from the published rate, not a guess.
Six Months Out
- Freeze the overnight list. Late additions are how you arrive at 55 pillows you don't have.
- Assign rooms from the floor plan. Tell bunkroom guests they are in bunks.
- Put one paragraph on the invite: fly into Idaho Falls, rent cars, grocery, drive about 45 minutes.
- Choose two anchor days and leave the rest loose. A reunion with every hour scheduled becomes a conference.
- If Yellowstone is an anchor, cap it at one region and name a park lead.
Three Months Out
- Pay the remaining balance. This is also when cancellation terms matter.
- Collect each family’s share. If someone drops, the lodge total stays and the split changes.
- Plan meals as shifts. The commercial kitchen can hold several cooks. One person should not cook the whole week.
- Shop in Idaho Falls on the way in, and use Rexburg — about 15 minutes away — for the mid-week run. There is no ice machine. Buy ice.
- Write allergies in one list. Forty people is too many for “I think she’s dairy-free.”
The Last Month, And The First Night
Send one guest note: 658 N 2400 E, Saint Anthony. Check-in after 4:00 PM. Check-out before 10:00 AM. Quiet time at 10:00 PM. No smoking. No pets unless Dave has already said yes. Bunkroom guests bring sleeping bags for the top bunks. Sheets and pillows are there.
Water and 30-amp power cover up to two RVs, not a rally. Ask before anyone tows one. On the first night, put a meal grid on the fridge with names, walk the kids through the playrooms once, and leave one evening with no program. That is usually the night people talk about later.
Download the checklist if you want it on paper. Then inquire with the headcount you are willing to stand behind, including who is only coming for the day.
Questions People Ask
Can one lodge host a reunion of 30 to 55 guests?
Three Peaks sleeps 40 overnight. A group of 30 to 40 can all stay. A group of 55 cannot. The extra guests need to be day visitors, or they need beds you arrange somewhere else. Infants under two are not counted in the 40.
How far ahead should a large reunion book?
Summer weeks are the ones that disappear. Six to twelve months is the safe window, and some summer dates go earlier. Off-peak months are more flexible. A $1,000 deposit holds the date once Dave confirms it.
What should be settled before anyone books a flight?
The lodge dates, who is overnight versus day-only, the per-person cost, and the Idaho Falls plan. The airport is about 45 minutes from the lodge. Flights are the painful thing to change.