How to Plan a 50th Wedding Anniversary

Celebrating an anniversary can be one of the most romantic and joyful events in a couple’s history. Oftentimes an anniversary party is thrown by their children, close friends or family members. The golden anniversary is a milestone and should be celebrated appropriately with a party to honor the couple.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Entertainment
• Invitations
• Vendors
• Location

1. Determine the date of the event. The party doesn’t always have to fall on their anniversary. Try to avoid holiday weekends, as people will most likely have prior commitments. Also, try to avoid weekends with large civic events, as most hotel rooms will be booked and traffic will be heavy.

2. Choose the location. Research venues throughout your town, along with others within a reasonable driving distance. Check with family and friends to see if using their homes can be an option, as having it at a banquet hall can be expensive.

3. Decide who is invited. Choose who the couple will want there, not who you want to invite. Think about family, friends, coworkers and colleagues from groups and organizations they may be members of.

4. Send out invitations six to eight weeks prior to the event. If the party is a surprise, make sure this is stated on the invitations so no one will tell the couple. Also, provide a phone number and email address where guests can send their response.

5. Order food, cake, beverage and decorations. Make sure these fit the location and style of the party. Most formal events don’t serve pizza, while most informal parties do not serve filet mignon.

6. Book the entertainment. Choices vary between a DJ who can play every request, to more elegant live bands that have a certain set of songs to play from.

7. Verify all food and decoration orders a few days before the party, and call all guests who have not yet responded. Having an accurate guest count saves time and money!

8. Enjoy yourself at the party, but don’t forget to attend to all hostess responsibilities. These include dealing with any payments on food or decoration orders and ensuring guests have an enjoyable time.

Tips & Warnings

• Start planning at least three months in advance. This is best to ensure more venue and entertainment choices and gives guests ample time to clear their social calendar.
• Also, make sure your plans don’t interfere with any plans the couple has made to celebrate their special day.
• Remember that the 50th anniversary is symbolized by the color gold. Try to incorporate this where you can. Think about using it with napkins, place settings, favors and decorations.
• Keep the couple in mind when planning the party. This is to celebrate them, not to show off what you can do for them or who your friends are.
• Make sure you have a budget in mind before beginning. Otherwise, expenses can get quite out of hand.
• Make sure the couple can attend. Use sneak tactics, invite them to a fake party, or use any other means necessary to ensure they can attend. After all, what is the party without the guests of honor?

[juliesmith]

on 10/10/2008 I recently attended the 50th Anniversary party of a couple that was so wonderful. Their kids got a bunch of old/new pictures from the family album and used http://www.smilingsnaps.com to compile them into a choreographed DVD show depicting their life together. It was perfectly synchronized to music and because it was professionally made, the results were awesome! It was so touching, the couple as well as many guests got emotional while watching those moments come alive on the screen!!