Celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary

A 50th Wedding Anniversary is true milestone to be celebrated!  Friends and family celebrate the special couple’s love and commitment to one another.  Recently my family and I celebrated our parents 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary and in this article I will share our party planning tips. These tips will include choosing a location, choosing invitations, as well as tips on photographs at the special event.

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Location

Planning a celebration of this importance has the feeling a bit like planning a wedding. And in a sense it is similar, when it comes to securing a location for the event, it is not uncommon to begin planning as much as 18 months prior to the anniversary. Research at this stage can include telephoning several local hotels with the following questions:

• Is the facility/room available on the desired date and time?
• Is there a charge or fee for use of the room?
• What is the guest capacity of the room?
• Does the hotel offer catering?

When you have narrowed your search to three possible locations, arrange to visit them to determine if the room and location feels right for your gathering. This is also a time to discuss flowers, table arrangements, staffing and gratuities with hotel management. When you feel you have secured the best location for the celebration, you may need to sign a contract outlining the date of your event and additional information discussed with the location sales manager.

Guest Invitations

Start with a guest list and decide if you would like to send Save-The-Date cards. These can be located online or at a paper, office supply, or greeting card store. There are many styles and themes available to suit your needs. If time or expense is a concern, consider emailing your guest list with the Save-The Date information.

Invitations can be sent out two months prior to the event, but no later than six weeks before the event. Professionally printed invitations are available in a variety of styles, fonts, paper, and designs. Allow enough time to order these as the delivery time may vary from vendor to vendor. There are many online sites available to choose the perfect invitation. Alternatively, office supply stores carry beautiful invitation kits that are very reasonably priced and include the invitations and envelopes, as well as response cards and corresponding envelopes that can also be used as Thank You notes. Using an ink jet printer these can be made at home for a fraction of the cost of having invitations printed. Use a thin gold permanent marker to address the invitation and response card envelopes for a professional look.

Gifts and Memory Cards

Often times married couples celebrating this milestone anniversary will request that there be no gifts, sometimes with a phrase such as the following printed on the invitation: “No gifts please, your presence is the best present”.

One special way of honoring this request and still gifting them with a loving and memorable item is to ask each person on the guest list to complete and return a memory card. On the memory card can be a special or meaningful memory, and photographs if desired, of times spent together with the celebrating couple. These cards and photos can be placed in a special album and presented to the celebrating couple before or during the celebration. If the couple opens the memory album during the celebration, each guest will be able to share in the memories too. This is a wonderful opportunity for all to share in the celebration and times spent together and will be a cherished item for years to come.

Photographs

Finally, some tips on photographs at your event.

Really the best advice for photographing the event is to start taking photographs early.

Take photos during your planning phase, during your preparations, and while setting up or preparing for the celebration. Begin taking photos as guests arrive, covering each guest and also with the anniversary couple. Remember to wait until all persons are aware that you would like to take a picture, so you have a great photo. Asking if someone would mind having their photo taken is a great way of prepping everyone to look at the camera and say cheese!

With most cameras today being digital you are only limited by the amount of available memory. If you do not like the photo, it can be deleted and another can be taken. Bring extra batteries too.

In conclusion, I hope these tips or suggestions on selecting a location, inviting guests, sharing memories, and photographing the special event are useful to you or provide stimulus for other ideas to make your 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration an enjoyable and memorable event.

This article originally published Ideas and Tips for a 50th Wedding Anniverary Celebration.

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