You mentioned a tequila tasting so I assume the destination is somewhere in Mexico.
Another question. Are the people attending this gathering all about the same age or do they span
several generations? That can make a big difference.
Yup, Mexico it is. The resort should have lots of bottled water floating around... I really liked the water bottle idea but realized that it makes little sense to pour bottled water into another bottle... and no one will be refilling from the sink.
I got with the guy who does my field trip t-shirts and he can do some great towels for us with custom embroidery. We picked a green-and-white striped beach towel (huge) with "Cabo 2013" in the corner with a palm tree.
As far as age range... my grandparents, who are both in their 80s, are coming. Pretty much everyone else is in the 30-60 range, with a handful of kids 8-15. I am going to assume the teenagers will want to be left alone as much as is reasonable because we are not cool enough to hang out with, and the under tens will need resting time.
We also changed the plans a bit for the "big beach dinner." I realized that the per head cost charged by the resort (which was a lot) would be better spent somewhere else. We canceled the dinner and instead rented the resort's presidential suite, which has a full kitchen and formal dining seating for 20 plus smaller tables in the same room, bar seating, etc.... enough for everyone to sit and eat and hang out together. This is more our speed than a fancy four-course meal.
So far, the itinerary is as follows:
Day 1 - Cocktail reception in our suite (evening)
Day 2 - Afternoon trip to the spa (pay your own way)
Day 3 - 3-hour snorkeling tour (pay your own way) Sunset cruise (hosted by us)
Day 4 - 4-hour kayak trip through the estuary (pay your own way), tequila tasting (hosted)
Day 5 - Celebration dinner (hosted by us)
None of the "hosted" events should be considered "mandatory" and I want to make sure the guests know this. I just want to know if they're coming so we can plan accordingly.