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How to Host a Fun Memorable Family Reunion Dinner

Everyone is happy this year’s extended family reunion will be in person, rather than remote over a laptop screen. But everyone is not taking chances, and unless for social or corporate affairs, most are embracing safe family reunions as the Covid-19 pandemic still looms overhead. While there would be a reunion dinner this year, it would be mostly confined to a group of around 10 to 15 people for crowd control, comprising immediate family members. Thus, this lunar new year celebration is to a large extent, going to be a private affair with many wanting to keep reunions fun, memorable, and safe by dining at home.

In preparation to usher in the Tiger Year with a well-red ceiling.

Families put up red lanterns at the main entrance or the ceiling inside their home ahead of Lunar New Year as Chinese communities around the world welcome Year of the Tiger on Feb 1. The Chinese associated ‘RED’ with joy, good fortune, energy, and vitality. Donning brand red decorations and lanterns represent a symbol of good fortune ushering in luck and prosperity with family. The typical celebrations take place up to 15 days or more depending on the culture celebrating. These days, the name Lunar New Year is preferred because it is more inclusive, and the holiday is known by different names in different countries. For example, in China, it is called Chun Jie (Spring Festival), and differences in other Asian countries too.

 

Chinese Lunar New Year family reunions are so much fun, but they also take a lot of planning and attention to detail. Tasked with a family reunion, but don’t know where to start?  These are some of the fun and memorable most loved family reunion ideas to inspire you to help you plan an incredible family affair.

When you think of Tiger, it is a symbol of courage, creativity, strength, and confidence roaring back this Lunar New Year, and thus, it is a great year for thinking large, and being bold. And it’s a year for you, let’s start at the reunion dinners with brand new initiatives and style!

 

1. A Unique Personal Table Setting: Remember first impression counts! Do a proper table setting that will impress your loved ones and guests. Make the entire table with soft tone shade, and put some red patterned napkins on it. Or you can use table runners as marvels to decorate your table and put your favourite flowers in a vase or a classic silver Candelabra as a centerpiece.

Spoil yourself and loved ones and dress your table to inspire and make the occasion truly memorable and unique.

Dress your table with your style in the soft cool texture table cloth, and set the table with  Hammock Grey tone Dinnerware Noritake Cutlery sets, which are sure to impress family members and guests with just one glance.

 

2. Wearing Red Anyone?: Red, being the most prominent auspicious colour of the lunar holiday, or gold for good luck, as the year of the tiger also represent big changes, it is time to dust off your favourite ‘red’ fashion items in the wardrobe and lucky gold accessories.

According to Chinese customary traditions, bright red is the preeminent colour of festivity, symbolic of good health and fortune, wealth, prosperity, and longevity.

This new year is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour. A delightful time to set up a cosplay outfit for the reunion dinner. Choose a retro Chinese outfit in the style of a Shanghai long kung fu outfit, long sleeves for your men in the house, and a long QiPao for the lady. Dress in style, play pouring tea, and pay respects to the elderly ‘Agong Ama’ (grandma and grandpa).

 

3. Generous gift-giving: Since the Chinese New Year is always a festival associated with money, this year is doubly oriented toward financial well-being. The traditional Chinese New Year traditional greetings focus on material wealth, and the traditional gift to be given is a red envelope containing money

This year is about seeking more adventure bringing fun and joy to loved ones, so adding in a few new gift purchases couldn’t hurt either. Noritake 7 pieces couple breakfast set with small Teapot by Yoshino which features a beautiful harmony of east and west fresh spring flowers and colours is a perfect gift idea to spice up this Lunar New Year family reunion.

 

4. Special Chinese New Year Foods: Treat your family to special traditional recipes you all love or you can share recipe ideas through a group chat, to get a feel for the different dishes everyone loves. Then, you select a special dish, for example, Yee Sang with a twist that all participants can contribute to making. Yee Sang, a raw fish salad or prosperity toss is one of the most popular dishes uniquely available only in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. But now you can see it among the Chinese communities around the world, and that it’s enjoyed not only by those celebrating Chinese New Year but other ethnic groups as well. The etiquette of Yee Sang is that this is served on one large platter. The star ingredient- the raw fish is added to the table. The salad is dressed at the table with the sauces poured over the salad. Everyone around the table has to stand up and use their chopsticks to mix and toss the salad. As you toss the salad, you have to shout out your wishes for the new year like ‘getting a promotion’ or ‘winning a big deal in business. It is believed that the higher you toss the salad, the better your luck will be for the new year.

The Yee Sang is a unique salad dish, and it is a colourful, fun interactive dish that is served at the start of the Chinese New Year Banquet or reunion dinner party.

 

5. Get Others Involved: Arranging a family reunion is no small task, especially if you’re a large family or located across long distances. Don’t be afraid to ask others for help. Task family members with details including planning, catering, activities, invites, setup, clearing up and recording the day. That’ll also give you another fun reason to get together ahead of the big event.

Have a clean notebook to do the checklist.

 

6. Have fun with the reunion dinner party etiquette: Families come in with lots of different personalities and preferences to consider. As such, it is important to think about everyone’s needs, interests, budgets, and ages so you can plan accordingly. Make sure you plan activities and games that are easy for the entire family to enjoy. When planning to do catering, ask people for their favourite meal ideas and any dietary requirement.

Be sure to show up and give children a red envelope with “good luck” money enclosed.

 

A big part of the Chinese new year is greeting one another with lucky sayings and phrases to wish each other good health, wealth, good fortune when they meet during the Chinese new year (lunar new year) period, and give children a red envelope (lai see/hong bao) with “good luck” money enclosed.

 

7. Document the event: A family reunion is a special moment that doesn’t typically come around every year, as we had missed the last two years due to the pandemic lockdown. What better time for a family photo shoot than at your family reunion? Decorate a favourite spot in your home and take some lovely casual and staged photographs of you all to treasure. Inform everyone earlier so they can dress up in something they love to suit the theme. You can book your favourite photographer to come to the dinner event who snaps fun candid photos of everyone. Create lasting memories you can look back on forever by documenting the day and encouraging others to do the same. You can build your family photo book or shared folder on Google Photos and invite everyone to contribute all you need is a place to collect and store photos.

When it comes to creating the perfect dining experience, ARTELIA owns a reputation that is second to none. As Luxury tableware that has evolved over four decades, ARTELIA caters to its elite customers bringing exclusivity and uniqueness to each meal on your table. From hosting a banquet at home, like the Chinese Lunar New Year family reunion dinner, ARTELIA accompanied you with its finest brands in tableware, exquisite pieces, limited edition designs, or even the latest and most contemporary, to make your family reunion fun and memorable.

To shop for luxury tableware elegant fine glass and silverware, and also decorative ornaments adorning corners of your home, go to  www.artelia.com.my

Best Wishes for the Chinese Lunar New Year, and may peace, prosperity,  health, and happiness fill your home in 2022.

 

Date: 29th January 2022 (Saturday)
By: Teresa Dian Chew,
Principal Image Consultant, Chief Influencer and Author

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