Hi Dee,
Personally, I'd just keep stressing to family members that space is limited and the inclusion of too many guests is causing the exclusion of family members. Maybe others have better ideas? But other than stressing this point nicely in the family letters, maybe your family can entertain the thought of finding a building in the reunion city that will accommodate the attendance your family reunion has been generating.

In a situation like this, you have to be careful. When you try to exclude people (the family members of other family members), then feelings will get hurt. That's why I would suggest that if it is possible, seek a bigger location within the same city to accommodate all. If that's not possible, then continue to nicely explain to family members that space is limited and the availability of alternate places is low. I might even entertain the idea of drafting two separate family letters - the family members who are guilty of bringing an excessive amount of guests will get the letter that kindly explains the situation of limited space to accommodate everyone, and the other family members will get the normal family letter.

Let me ask this: Are certain family members bringing people who are not paying the reunion fees but helping themselves to the food? This can definitely be problematic. It's really not fair to bring three or four non-paying guests, causing your food to run out and the paying family members are not even being fed. Are you all experiencing this type of problem?

Melvin