My Parent's 40Th Anniversary Party!!!

I know some girls that may be able to help you with more than just some ideas, they can also assist you with custome design of invites, cakes and favors. The "Go 2 Girls" ###-###-#### / ###-###-####.

We threw my parents a tapas, 8 course gourmet dinner for 20. It cost us a small fortune (800) --and we made all the food ourselves. They loved it, as did their friends.

We had a toast at the exact hour they got married.

I printed out little menus so people could see what they were eating for each course. It was a lot of fun to do.

A slideshow of their wedding, family, friends and events will be great!

For my grandparents 50th, we rented the Fellowship Hall at our church. We invited over 100 of their friends. My grandfather was a retired Air Force Officer and he had friends come from all 4 corners of the United States. We had a table set up all about my grandfather and his woodwork he likes to do and one for my grandmother with her crochet, tating and nitting. We had 2 other tables with pictures of my mom and our family and one of my uncle and his family.
We cooked the food ourselves and had some friends offer to help serve. We made Briskets and Chicken, twice baked potatos, green beans, salad and rolls. We also had a wedding cake that they cut first.
My grandparents really enjoy Barbershop Music,so we asked some friends to come sing some of their favorite songs. We also had a friend sing the songs that were sung in their wedding. We also had several people stand up and tell what my grandparents ment to them.
This was all done as a surprise. They had no idea. A friend of ours video taped the majority of the night.
Good luck and congrats to your parents!

For my parents' 50th anniversary, I wrote to all of their friends and relatives and they sent in little notes of memories and pictures they had. I then made a scrapbook to present to them. I also went thru their photo albums (without them knowing) and made a slide show. We took a family trip (my parents, siblings and their kids) and showed them the slide show before dinner. A couple of weeks later, we threw a surprise party for them with all of their friends at a restaurant and had the slide show playing there too. Oh, I was also able to find a really pretty 50th anniversary photo album (for pictures from the trip and surprise party) at Kohls. Good luck and have fun!!

Make a DVD of their story. It can be similar to an old silent movie - - old-time music, a slide of the written narration, then a slide of the photo, repeat. Ex: written narration . . . "Once there was a young handsome cowboy . . ." photo . . . husband as a baby on a pony . . . written narration . . . "He met the love of his life..." then a photo of the wife as a youngster that will make everyone crack up laughing, etc, etc.

Wherever you plan to stage the party, just make sure there's a flat screen up high on wall so everyone can watch the "movie."

I would definitely include a photo collage of them (and the family) over the years. You can check with other relatives for pictures that they might have. It would also be really nice if you could do a signature mat for their wedding picture (like so many people do now at weddings), so guests can write sentiments on the mat for your parents to remember their 40th.

My siblings and I planned a surprise weekend, told my parents to hold the date, and then we drove to Galveston for a family party, since that is where my parents had their honeymoon. Instead of the motel where they stayed (since that is long gone), we booked rooms at the Tremont, which was very nice. Yes, it was expensive, but we used that weekend in place of our family vacations. My parents loved it, and we all loved the family time.