I came to this site looking for ideas for my parents who are trying to come up with a good 50th anniversary gift for my grandparents as well. I appreciate the ideas that have been posted thus far. I do have a suggestion for the group - My mom made a cross-stitch blanket that is hanging above my grandparents' bed for one of their anniversaries. It's basically a family tree and includes a square for each person - My mom stiched i.e. "John" (son) and his birthdate and then "Jane" (wife) and her birthdate, and in between the two - their wedding anniversary date. And then below John and Jane are the three kids and their birthdates. In each person's square she stitched a little item that represents that person - like my square has a piano because I play piano... my cousin's has a baseball, etc. It was VERY well received and it's perfect because we know how when you get old you are very good at forgetting dates! I thought this was the best gift idea ever and it was very well received. And every time a new family member is added, my Mom just updates the blanket.... The problem is now, we have their 50th anniversary coming up and this past anniversary gift is going to be very hard to top.

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.

Male - female? Dollar amount? Having turned 50 several/several years ago, I can say that the gag gifts received are not really memorable and just got passed along or tossed. For something meaningful - write out 50 reasons why you like them as a friend or 50 memories you have of things you've done with them, or 50 things you'ld like to do with them in the future....kind of a bucket list ( ie restaurants to go to , shopping, movie, etc.). As far as buyable gift ideas, perhaps a book that falls into their area of interest- look at Amazons 2013 best books of the year for ideas. Or a coffee table book with photography, such as Humans of New York or again look at Amazon's 2013 best books of the year. Or, get a state specific photography book....search for Colorado coffee table book or California coffee table book, etc. Bake them a pie or get a collection of coffees or teas. A bottle of wine. 50 bottles of different kinds of beer. If a female, a pretty necklace, scarf or handbag. I've given gifts from Amazing clubs.com before where they send a gift each month. You can pick and choose for the number of months or type of product depending on the persons interest. Perhaps that's more than you want to spend, but it's always been well received by the people I've given it to. It's like a gift that keeps on giving. If I remember you can print off a gift card or maybe I just made up something telling them what to expect.

Because of the large percentage of men attending, went w/ the following Swiss Army knife - the gift went to a girl in her 20's. Interestingly, of the 30+ gifts, 4 were throw blankets. The most popular "stolen" gift was a set of 2 Wusthof kitchen knives. I ended up with a foot massager. Thank you everyone for the great ideas; some I used for other gifts for friends & family.