For my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary, I put together a photo album. It started out with their wedding picture, followed by photographs of their parents, a geneology chart for each of them (dating back to the 1700's), their baby pictures, pictures of them as teenagers, their first date picture, courtship pictures, marriage, birth of children, first house, etc. At the end, I had a section labeled "Friends". About a month before the anniversary, I sent out questionnaires to all their close friends asking them to respond to questions like "How did you first meet?" "What special memories do you have of your friendship?" "What qualities of Mom & Dad do you think contributed to their long & happy marriage?" and "What is your favorite love song, poem or story?" Almost everyone responded. I used the responses and pictures of the friends at the back of the photo album. My parents loved reading all the comments. It brought back many great memories. I also prepared a plaque with $.50 pieces from each year of their marriage in the shape of a 50. For the coins I had trouble finding on my own, I went to a coin shop. I mounted the coins on red velvet on a wood board and had it framed. The hot glue has come loose on some of the coins, so rubber cement might work better. If you want any other ideas, let me know.

Great ideas, everyone! Pbrisjar, they wanted to have a BBQ at home too. Now they think it is at their daughter's house. She thinks they will freak out at the cost and they do not intend to tell them. She is letting them think that until a couple days before. They are not fancy, have buried both sets of parents and have more than they need. She's always trying to give stuff away (nieces, nephews, kids, etc.) She is my mother's daughter - "everything should be put to good use." They have a modest home in Mexico and modest home here. When they aren't in Mexico or here, they live on a boat in Canada. They would think flowers were a big waste of money. LOL! A cake may be nice because we all could enjoy but I'm hesitant to ask the restaurant to serve the cake. It's the kids' party and I don't want to seem like I'm taking over, YKWIM? If it was going to be at someone's house, I'd do a cake in a heartbeat. Great idea. As for this couple, they still drive the Toyota they bought (used) when the kids were young (it's immaculate). You could say they live life to the fullest, between their camper and boat, and two *very* modest homes. My sister cuts her hair every three months, so when she cuts it, she cuts it very, very short. :+" My sister thinks my house is fancy and it's always a work in progress. LOL!

Are you musically inclined and patient with children? How about organizing the grand and great grand children to put on a performance for their grandparents. They can dress in the style that was popular when they married and they can sing the songs that have the most meaning to the couple. I saw this recently and it was a hit. You can even take it a step further and have them (or you) read out prices of items from 50 years ago, and headlines. Hopefully you're close enough to the family to do this without feeling like you're intruding, but it's something unique that they probably won't forget.

Hilary, that's not overboard at all - I take pictures of all other crafts that I make for gifts, so why can't we take pictures of our albums? That's exactly what they are - they're works of art that can never be duplicated. I actually have a small photo album (one of those cheapy ones stores used to give away with photo processing) with pictures of all my quilts I've made, plus another with all of the cakes I've decorated. These are things I don't see every day (and the cakes are all long gone!) so I want some remembrance of the work I did. Not overboard at all. :) Patti