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50th Anniv travel theme success! What we did...Posted by Lynne on June 18, 2003 at 16:32:51:
Since I got so many wonderful ideas from this message board, I thought I'd post and let you know what we did for our parents' 50th. The party was in the mountains at a resort. We booked it about 16 months in advance. We chose a TRAVEL theme b/c that's what our parents love to do. Invitations had gold embossed suitcase (Faux Designs) and we used RSVP postcards to save money (we got 100 for $10 at office supply store). We printed the message on invitations & RSVPs ourselves- you could not tell the difference. We decided to name the event, "The Journey of a Lifetime." For color scheme, we chose gold & ivory. For decorations, we had gold & ivory balloons placed around the room (for balloon anchors, we used rocks wrapped with ivory tissue & gold ribbon- much more cost effective than the ones you buy in the store). We also had a display table where we had the wedding album displayed. Also on the table we put various pictures (in 8x10 gold frames- $1.00 each at discount store) of parents traveling to different places. My brother used his color copier to enlarge photos & he labeled them so everyone would know what country it was taken in. We also took some toy luggage and spray-painted it gold. We sprinkled gold 50 confetti around also. We also had a letter from the mayor of the town in which they were married. That was really easy to get- I found the phone # on the internet & just called his office. I wrote to the President in January to get a greeting but have not yet received it. For dinner, we had round tables which seated 8 people. we had a sit-down dinner and on the RSVP they were supposed to choose between chicken cordon bleu and roast beef. If you have place cards, you can write on the back what they chose for dinner in case they forget by that time. Also the servers can see it from across the table and get them the right dinner without having to ask. For centerpieces, we took a glass bowl ($1.00 at discount store) and had the florist just give us assorted flowers in bulk so we could get more for our money. We cut & arranged flowers ourselves. We really know nothing about it but it was not hard- I don't think they looked homemade. In each bowl, we put 2 flags (4"x6") from different countries. Also on each table I put quotes about love & marriage. I'll post those quotes separately. I bought ivory card stock, printed them myself, then got a rubber stamp with a suitcase and embossed them with gold. We put 4 at each table. Everyone had a place card that had the same suitcase as the invitations ( we also had nametags with the same suitcase logo). For favors, we had luggage tags printed. The tags were white and they had a gold suitcase on them. Underneath the suitcase it said, "The Journey of a Lifetime" and we put them right below the place cards. At the sign in table, we had a guest book, a centerpiece, balloons, love quotes, and a gold basket for people to put cards in (we asked for no gifts). Also a good family friend made a photo collage of my parents with pictures from over the years. We displayed that on the entrance table- it looked great. For entertainment, we had a classical guitarist- great choice!!! he brought his own speakers and other equipment. Also, the grandkids (ranging in age from 2yr-11yr) did the Love Kit I found on this site- it was a hit! Lots of OOHHs and AAHHS and laughs from the audience. The 3 grandaughters wore matching pink dresses and the grandson a nice suit. We asked 4 different people to speak who represented different eras of my parents' lives. Also their pastor asked to say a few words. The microphone was essential! Then we had a slide show (The resort only charged us $10 for the screen). My brother scanned in photos of our parents and my husband "doctored" them by cutting & pasting them with other pictures (he used Adobe Photoshop). For instance, we had them "traveling" on the Apollo 11, with Sir Edmund Hillary on Mt. Everest, with Charles Lindberg on the Spirit of St. Louis, with George Washington as he crossed the Delaware, etc. The script my brother wrote was hilarious. Everyone laughed. We ended with a real slide of my parents walking arm in arm on the beach in Hawaii. Then my parents cut some cake- it was more symbolic than anything because we'd ordered dessert for everyone else. The cake was just a small one- not a big wedding kind. Then my parents spoke a few words. After the party was over, my cousin gathered all the balloons in a big bouquet, and took my parents out to balcony where they let them go. He got it on film & it is a lovely memory. The whole party was a huge hit and thanks to everyone who posts good ideas on this board. It took about a year to plan but many things could not be done until the last month or so. Also I live in a different state than my parents so it can be done! Luckily my brother lives near my parents so that helped. We worked together & had a blast. Sorry about the long post....
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