I am wanting to know from any of you, what are some good ideas that you know of for decorations, things to do, party favors, food etc. I am planning my Dad and Step mom's 25th wedding Anniversary in October. Its a surprise. I have never planned something like this before and was wondering if any of you could help with ideas. There will be about 80 people invited. Nothing real fancy just a nice time to fellowship with family and friends.
Thanks in advance!
For party favors, how about the custom M&Ms....they can now put photos on them. Get a couple old photos to put on them. You can have them pre-bagged or loose. We did this for a baby shower....big hit. Just go to their web site for details.
i think stephanie had some grea ideas. another thing to do would make a video jornal during the party. also leave disposible cameras lying around. people can grab-n-snap whenever they feel moved to!
i also think this is a wonderful thing you're doing. they must be very special.
Hi M.,
I recently threw a 60th birthday party for my parents that had 85 guests. After much research, we decided the best for our wallet and easiest way for us was to go with the cheapest banquet hall. (The prices are drastically lower on a Sunday afternoon! But, the food and atmosphere are still the same.) Anyway, for invitations, I made ours on the computer and scanned photos of my parents onto it. I had them printed at Kinko's when they had their color copy sale. As a side note, I included an email address along with phone number for RSVPS. That worked wonderfully. For decorations, we made 6 different place mats (black & white copies) that were collages of photographs of their life throughout the years. This kept people entertained throughout the party! Everyone loved looking at how much people changed. My mom and dad even took a set home to frame for their hallway. We added a few balloons from the dollar store to round out the decorations. As each guest came in, their picture was taken and they were asked to sign a memory book. After the party we were able to have all of the pictures and the pages from the memory book made into a coffee table book (bound book)for my parents. For entertainment during the party, we had a PowerPoint presentation of old pictures while a few songs played. For dessert, we bought a cake at Sam's Club. (They and Costco seem to be the cheapest.) As to telling my mom and dad where they had to go, they were sent an invitation for a fake 70th birthday party on my husbands side of the family. Good luck and have fun! Make sure to designate someone to record the entrance of your dad and step mom and any speeches that may be given with a camcorder. You might be too busy or emotional to remember to push the button! :-)
Hi M.!
What a great gift to give you parents, I am sure they will treasure it :). For my parents 30th anniversary I included a post card size card in each invitation for guests to share a memory or a well wish for my parents. I was able to get the invitations and postcards pretty reasonably done at Office Max when their color prints are on sale. Also, you may look in to making a photo video to have playing during the party so people can see pictures from over the years. We served cake and snack stuff like chips and dip, veggies and dip, meatballs, etc since it was at 2 p.m. (after lunch and before dinner). Good luck!
80 people is a lot to take on and can get fancy quick! Sounds like a blast, though, and I do love to plan a good party! i would suggest going with some sort of theme, it makes it easier to do decor, invites, etc. I loved the previous idea of sharing memories in a postcard, that could be your theme...you can do sooooo much with that! You can do a slide show, turn the memory cards into a scrapbook, do a video diary, I could go on and on! You could also decorate in 80s decor since that's when they got married and go from there!
Also, since I'm assuming 80 people won't fit in your house, I'd look into renting a hotel ball room or if that's too expensive look into a church hall. The nice part of a hotel is that they will set the tables and do the service/set up so you don't have to worry about that. Most hotels offer a nice variety of food options so you can do dinner, lunch, brunch or just munchies! If you're going for easy, breezy, I suggest brunch b/c you can get away with it much cheaper and you're actually feeding people a meal. Brunch food is easy to make, buy, cater, etc. Plus, you can do champagne if you want but it's not like you have to supply a lot of alcohol.
Like I said, I could go on about parties forever! Here are some ideas, have fun and good luck!
