Partyology Fiftieth Anniversary Party

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Fiftieth Anniversary Party

Theme:
50 Golden Memories, Gold Mine or 50 Treasured Years.

Images and inspiration:
Gold and fifty, treasure chest, wedding, church / synagogue / location, religion, person who performed ceremony, marriage certificate, photos, wedding arch, toast, cake, gifts, honeymoon, rings, flowers, candles, romance, hearts, star or anything gold.

Date and time:
We don't recommend this one be a surprise, the anniversary couple may want to invite old friends. The event should be planned around the time of the wedding.

Budget:
Five hundred dollars to three thousand including supplies, food and staff. You should hire staff to serve food, take photos, coordinate activities and clean-up so you can enjoy the day.

Location:
If you can arrange it in the area of the wedding that would be great, otherwise, a banquet facility would work.

Layout:
Think about the original wedding day. If the couple would like to renew vows, consider the best area for that. Set-up a romantic spot for the couple with an arch, sheer fabrics, candles, and lots of flowers. You may want a reception line and guest sign-in area. Have photos and other memorabilia from the couple's fifty years together spread around the room or on a special table for everyone to admire. Set-up tables, or just chairs if not serving a meal, a dance floor and stage.

Record event:
Video record the event with an eye for history and tradition, this will be a treasured family keepsake. Interview guests, record special moments and don't forget to include the children, this is a special day for them too. Also take family group photos and a photo of everyone.

Transportation:
The couple should be delivered in a limousine or a gold car from the 50's.

Costumes:
Gold bow ties for the men, gold flowers for the women.

Invitations:
Small wooden treasure chests, filled with gold coins, and a treasure map with party information on it. Gold bow and regular ties in padded envelopes with party information attached like a price tag (of course you should suggest they wear this tie to the event). A nostalgic invitation could have a copy of the original invitation or wedding photo's incorporated in them and send in a gold envelope of course.

Decorate:
Gold balloons, or clear ones with gold confetti inside, pop at optimal moments.
Cover tables and chairs with white fabric painted with gold hearts, rings, stars, or accented with gold rope and tassels, or covered with sheer gold fabric.
Decoupage copies of wedding photos on containers, the backs of clear plates and anywhere else you can think of.
Make centerpieces of glass bowls filled with gold glass Christmas balls or marbles and flowers slightly painted with gold paint, or gold candelabras and gold bead garland and ivy.
Flower arrangements with fifty flowers in them, maybe each one could be a replica of the theme gift material for each year: paper, silk, diamonds ... Ok, maybe over the top but ...

Food:
Meat, poultry, seafood or vegetarian, choose the couple's favorite foods, or foods served at their wedding reception. Possibly quiche, roasts, pasta and meatballs, casseroles, dip served in hollowed out bread bowls, salads, fresh fruit, plenty of punch and sparkling champagne.
Recreate a portion of the original wedding cake and serve pretty chocolates in gold papers and chocolate coins.

Activities:
Before the event find out as much as you can about the couple's childhood's, courtship, marriage, honeymoon, children, family trips, jobs, friends, houses and gather photo's, documents and film footage.
Wedding trivia questions: what time was couple married, where were they married, by whom, were there any objections/do you have any, what was the color scheme, list the wedding party, who did/not come to the wedding, what gifts did they receive and the list goes on.
Digging for gold quiz: where is the golden gate bridge, list words that contain the word gold, what is the chemical sign for gold, in what year was the California gold rush, list songs with the word gold in the title, at what temperature does gold melt ... you get the idea.
Anniversary gift mix-up: list wedding anniversary gifts and years out of order, guests try to match them.
Panning for gold contest: have guests pan for (fools) gold in pans outside in a stream (children's pool).
Take a trip down marriage lane: write the couple's story and read it to your guests, include slides, songs, audio recordings of interviews of friends and family (especially of those who could not attend the event).
Gold Moon: the couple can go on a gold honeymoon, possibly to the place they originally went or to a wonderful hotel, make sure the staff know it's their fiftieth. How about taking them on a personal trip down memory lane, give the driver explicit directions as to places to stop, play an audio tape or music at certain points of interest and finally end up at their honeymoon location.

Gifts:
Send the anniversary couple flowers, balloons or a gold gift basket. Book of poetry, photo album, special clock or watches, gold picture frame. Wrap gifts in round boxes and stack to form a tiered wedding cake, decorate with silk flowers.

Favors and prizes:
Give any of the decorations from above, gold medals or mini bubble bottles with the event information attached.

Follow-up:
Have everyone sign a picture mat board, then have a photo and mementos from the event inset into a deep frame for the couple. Send guests snapshots of them at the event or have a computer collage with them and the couple put together along with your thanks and a bag of gold (candy) nuggets. Send newspaper an anniversary announcement.

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