Planning a Golden Anniversary Party

According to census bureau statistics, about 5% of couples achieve 50 years of wedded bliss – the golden anniversary.  This IS a special occasion!  Whether you are the children or grandchildren of such a special couple, you want to honor them and celebrate with them in a way that will make them happy.

The first step is to talk to the couple and find out what they want.

Ask LOTS of questions of the couple. I do not recommend a surprise party; the couple should be involved.   An anniversary party is not much different than a wedding reception, when you get right down to it.  It may surprise you what details are important to the couple.  Here are some ideas to get you started in your quest for the perfect party:

Date, time,  and location of the party

Come and go reception or sit-down dinner

Formal, semi-formal, or casual dress

Announcement in the local newspaper or invitation only

Food choices

Decorations

Family photos and/or slideshow

Party favors

In the case of our party, my in-laws wanted to have a come-and-go reception on a Saturday afternoon at the same church where they were married.  We sent invitations to their immediate families and also placed an announcement in the local newspapers to invite friends and extended family.  For the announcement in the paper, they wanted to use a family photo with all of the children and grandchildren, which meant scheduling a session with a photographer.  They were not particularly specific about the food to be served, but my father-in-law did request German Chocolate Cake.  The only decorations that they wanted were some photo selections from the session with the photographer.   Most everything else was left up to us.

The second step is to divide responsibilities among the planners. 

Look at your own schedules and see what is practical for everyone.  If your work schedule is such that you will be really busy near the party date, then choose tasks for yourself that can be done early in the preparations, such as addressing and mailing invitations.  Take into consideration everyone’s skills, or lack thereof.  If no one has the confidence or time to prepare the food, then have the event catered.  If you want to make a DVD of old pictures to show but don’t know how, ask a friend who does.   We were fortunate that we were able to do a lot of tasks ourselves.  Be sure to communicate frequently.  Since we were all in different towns, we set up an online location where we could discuss ideas and post photos and questions.

Next – get started!  My intention with this blog is share what we did for our party, since we had a difficult time finding information on the internet for a come-and-go reception for an unknown amount of people. 

Invitations

We researched invitation ideas and invitation wording until we came up with something that everyone liked.  The challenge always seems to be how to invite someone and say “No gifts please!” as tactfully as possible.  The invitations sent to the immediate families were worded as the following:  “Because you have played an important part in their lives, please join us for a come-and-go 50^th anniversary celebration honoring [the couple] [Date Time Location]  Please bring only your love and friendship as a gift. [Names of children and grandchildren]”  It included a photo from their first year of marriage with the phrase “It’s all because two people fell in love” around it.  

 Additionally, a current family photo with all of the children and grandchildren was placed in the local newspapers with the following wording: “The children and grandchildren of [the couple] wish to announce that a come-and-go reception celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary will be held at [location] on [date] between [time].  All friends and family are invited.  Please let your good wishes and warm memories be your gift.”

Food

We had way too much of some things, and just the right amount for others.  Our menu included a two-layer “fancy cake”, German chocolate cake, lemon bars, fruit tray and dip, vegetable tray and dip, assorted cheese cubes and crackers, barbecued smokies, nuts, and mints.  For drinks, we had dispensers of lemonade, sweet tea, unsweet tea, and water. 

I wish that I could give you a fool-proof way to calculate how much is needed, but I can’t.  One rule of thumb I found on a website suggested 1 oz. of an appetizer per person, which worked great for the smokies, but not for the fruit.  If you are planning a reception with an unknown amount of people, I do recommend that you do some research into local charities, churches, fire hall, etc. that would be willing to accept any leftovers.

Decorations

We wanted to keep the decorations simple but elegant as well.  We were fortunate that the room that we used was recently renovated, and we were the first to enjoy the new décor.  We choose to have two tables for the food, one table for viewing the DVD, and one table for family photos that would double as a gift table.  We also added six round tables for guests to sit and eat.   Each of the round tables were decorated as shown below with a white tablecloth and gold runners.

The table for viewing the DVD held the basket of party favors, a decorative placard, and a flower arrangement.

The other table had family photos and a box for guests to drop cards and notes.  Since my in-laws did not have an “official” wedding photo, we went to the local photo center and printed an 8”x10” of our favorite photos from the few candids that were available and framed it.  We used a small shelf to add height to this table and used a contrasting larger tablecloth to drape over.  The lovely flowers that we had on the food table and photo table were sent by a family member.  They added much needed color to our mostly gold and neutral colored room.  We also added a string of battery operated white lights to the photo table since the lighting in that corner of the room was a bit dark.

We also hung lights from the ceiling in the middle of the room along the top of the newly crafted columns using hooks specifically made for clipping onto dropped ceiling grids.  The lights made that area feel like a promenade.

The Making of the DVD

The greatest challenge for making the DVD is picking through fifty years of family photo albums and boxes of photos that have yet to be put into an album.  We also had digital photos to go through as well.  In order to make the job somewhat easier, we had a set of criteria we followed for choosing the photos.

• Each picture had to have one or both of my in-laws in the picture
• The picture had to have my in-law(s) looking at the camera or it had to be very obvious who it was
• The picture needed to be flattering, unless it was really funny.  For instance, we had one picture where my mother-in-law was getting a pie in the face.  Not flattering, but definitely funny!

We chose and scanned all of the film photos that we wanted to use and made multiple backups for the family.  We also added an old photo of the place where my father-in-law proposed (the drive-in theater) and a jpeg of the movie poster (Blue Hawaii).  Several songs were chosen for the DVD and the pictures arranged to fit the songs.

Love Me Tender

Can’t Help Falling in Love (specifically requested by mother-in-law)

Going to the Chapel (wedding photos)

On the Road Again (travel photos)

Life is a Highway (more travel photos)

Stuff That Works

You’ve got a Friend in Me

Stuck with You

What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life

With over 200 photos, each was shown for 4-5 seconds so that the video would play 6-8 times through for the duration of the party.  Since we do not live in the same town as my in-laws, we spent several days during the holidays choosing and scanning the photos. Allow yourself at least 30 hours for this task, depending on the number of photos you have and whether you personally own a scanner.  Time for the assembling of the DVD will vary based upon your level of experience with the software you choose, so be honest with yourself about your skills and give yourself plenty of time.  If you are hiring someone to create the DVD for you, check with them one to two months prior to when you need the DVD to find out what kind of backlog they have.

Location of the party

I wanted to share a few things to remember about choosing a location:

Remember the honorees.  Try to choose a place that holds special memories for them.  For my in-laws, this was the church where they got married those years ago and now have attended for almost 35 years.

Remember who the guests are.  Be sure that it has adequate access for handicapped individuals.  This is a fiftieth wedding anniversary, and most of their friends may not be able to negotiate stairs very well.

Remember the number of people that will be in the space. In our case, we had no idea how many would be in and out at a given time, but as it was a fellowship room at a church, we knew it would be sufficient.

Remember traffic flow.  Be sure that you can have all of your cake and eat it too, literally. Our room was large and four-sided with no obstacles to work around except the columns.  The room allowed for a variety of possible layouts.

Miscellaneous goodies

We wanted to have a few extra-special items at our party as well.  Pinterest is a great site for searching out 50^th anniversary party ideas.

In lieu of a guest book, we found an idea online for a memory book created with notes from the guests.  We placed a glass bowl on each of the round tables with pens and note paper with the following instructions:  “We’re making a book!  We would like to include your note to the couple or favorite memory!”  The papers are from booklets of scrapbooking tags that we picked up at Joann’s in the dollar bin and the pens are from Staples.

We chose to make party favors, that came to be fondly known as the “parting gifts”,  for our guests.  Using 12”x12” colored paper from Hobby Lobby, we cut three vertical 4” wide strips.  We then attached a 3” wide strip with two photos – then and now – of my in-laws along with a paragraph of their history between the two photos.   We printed these ourselves, since photocopies did not look good at all.  A double hole punch at the top along with a 6” length of gold sheer ribbon also from Hobby Lobby added a nice touch. 

We also wanted candid photos of the party, so we had three family members with cameras walking around capturing those special moments of the couple with old friends and family. You could also ask a friend or two to help with this, if all of the family members will be busy talking with guests.

My mother-in-law really liked a decorative placard she spotted in Old Time Pottery that said “All Because Two People Fell in Love” , but it was rather large.  We were able to find a smaller one that was appropriate sitting on the table for DVD viewing.

Don’t forget the corsage!  We asked which florist would be providing the flowers and we dropped in and ordered a corsage to match. We did this the day before the party, but you may want to give your florist more time.

Since we depended on several local friends to help with the arrangements, we make "thank you" gifts for them as well as our hostesses.  This idea was found on Michael's website. 

We had our fun and frustrations with planning and executing this party, but it was all worth it in the end.  I hope that I have been able to help you in planning your special occasion.