50th anniversary party planning

I never had the opportunity (mother passed away at 42 years of marriage) but my 2nd cousin had a party for her parents' 60th Anniversary in June of 2008. On the invitation (yes I have scrapped it), it says:

"In lieu of gifts, please bring a photograph or a memory to share. Photos, scrapbooking supplies, planning help and brainstorming will be available."

Yes, she had traditional scrapbooking supplies there... papers (12x12), pens, adhesive, stickers. Many of the people took advantage of it and prepared very basic pages. My cousin put them in an album and still has them even though both parents are now deceased. Some pages are a single photo with a story to go along with it. Best part was the people writing the stories in their own words and handwriting. Lots of fun memories were talked about in the process and I heard lots of laughter that day.

My uncle (cousin to the husband) brought a photo of him in his Navy uniform as well as a photo of the husband and him when the husband was in the Navy and told the story about how it was because of the husband that he joined the Navy when he was old enough. Meant a lot to both the storyteller and the husband.

 

I agree with Cheryl as the age of their friends will make emailing and other forms of electronic communication not something they are comfortable with or use regularly.

 

I did something like this for my parents. It was quite the undertaking, but it was something my mom cherished until the day she died. We sent a letter asking them to write a letter and include a photo, if possible. I sent a lined sheet of paper and a self addressed stamped envelope with my return address on it to make it simpler. Some people chose to send an email, so I just printed everything out.

I can't remember exactly what I said because it was 18 years ago, but we said it was their anniversary, can we keep it a secret, please write down your memories and return it in the envelope with a photo, if possible. I'd show you photos but my sister has it out in California. We ended up doing two large Creative Memories paper albums, both filled to the brim with memories. I left a few blank pages to add those that came after the event, but most of them came on time.

Good luck! You'll find that it will be well worth all the effort!

 

What a cool idea!

 

My sisters and I did this for our parent's 50th. Like Jan we sent a 'form" with a few questions. Like, how did you meet them, what was your relationship? Funniest memory? Best memory? What would you like to tell them that you want them to remember? Also the character trait they most appreciated. We then put these in a paper album.

 

Not an album suggestion, but for my father's 90th birthday in 2018, I scanned a bunch of old and newer photos, then made a slideshow that we ran on a loop on a tv we set up at the venue. The guests really enjoyed seeing photos of my dad, my deceased mom, and themselves (in group shots).

 

We did that and had everyone send photos of them and put that with all the cards in a book You will get wonderful photos that yo have never seen before and little stories of their lives together

 

we did that too for my Grandparents. My uncle still has the book

 

we did the secret thing too... we all laughed as my Grandmother was very annoyed and upset that none of her friends were sending her cards nor even mentioning their anniversay let alone their 50th... Their anniversary was New Years Eve... we went down to Florida as a suprise so it was at my Uncle's house with My grandparents and all of us.. just immeditate family, but when she opened the book and saw all the cards, stories and photos, she cried with happiness!

 

We did that at my AUnt & Uncle's 50th anniversary