I want to stop and thank Betsy and all the folks
at TKL who have contributed information and
shared your own experiences with party planning.
A special thank you to Hobbs, JoAnn/NM, Elly,
Carol, kt/mn, and many many others. Our parents'
Golden Anniversary party was wonderful.

I made Golden Fruit Punch and added apricot
nectar and pineapple juice and served sparkling
grape juice for their restriced diet friends.
We had sheet cakes that we served the guests and
a "token" wedding cake on a plate stand with a
50th topper that my parents cut.

Chicken salad with party bread, cheese ring
with strawberry preserves, Benedictine(cucumber)
sandwiches, homemade cheese crackers, pecan
tassies, banana tea bread with fruit filling,
sausage balls, mini quiches, assorted pinwheel
sandwiches (from Sam's), a huge platter of
fruits with a cream cheese/marshmallow fluff
dip, chocolate candies, and mints and nuts...
all served on silver plates with lots of
garnishes and flowers. It was all simple, but
very festive and there was hardly anything left!

Elly's suggestion about the 1949 fun facts was
a big hit. We called our Congressman, who then
arranged for a congratulatory greeting from the
president. I organized lots of memory books and
even put her wedding hat on a tulle covered
wig head on the guest book table. We had easles
with their scouting, volunteer work, and even
dad's old high school athletic letters and mom's
play books and bobbie socks pictures. Baby
pictures of their children along with current
photos, their spouses, and grandchildren were
lined up on the mantle of the party room to give
it a "homey" feeling.

A CD of Big Bang tunes played softly as people
conversed and I hit the play button with "their"
song as they cut the cake and the video on the
tripod rolled. Favors were two gold Hershey's
kisses wrapped in tulle and tied with satin ribbon
with their names and 1949-1999 Golden Anniversary
printed in gold on my label maker. These were
laminated, cut, and punched with a heart shaped
hole punch to thread the ribbon through.

I'm sharing all this in hopes that it will help
someone with ideas. It takes lots of planning
and coordination. I did it all by myself, so
it can be done! All the work is worth it when
the honorees walk in smiling and maybe a little
weepy. After 50 years together, it's the least
we can do for them.

I hope my children were taking notes!