I like all of your ideas~~I think people toast with whatever they are drinking, even water it does not have to be wine.

Sounds like you have everything under control!

Donna (^_^)

For my grandparents' 50th, we did a similar thing to your party. One thing that I thought was special is my aunt and uncle hired a table-side magician because "it takes a little magic to make it 50 years". It was really special. We also each got a framed copy of their wedding photo.

Perfectly fine to toast with Cider.

Congrats to the happy couple!

I had napkins and matches printed with their names and dates. Instead of the matches, you can get little note pads the size of matchbooks. A videotape (in addition to lots of pictures) would be nice.

I'm sure you will get lots of good ideas here. Have fun!

I like all your ideas, especially the donation to Toys for Tots. And congratulations to your folks!

Thanks for the votes of confidence and for the additional ideas.

Naughtykitty - I will have a cousin in attendance who is a professional magician. We always hate to ask him to do his magic though at family functions - since it's his time off. Maybe I could get him to pull a rose out of midair or something similar though?

Another question - I want to make sure all guests are there before my parent's arrival. Is it rude to say "12:00 sharp" on the invitations? What would better wording be?

Great plans you have, Lydia!

We had a surprise dinner at a home that caters to parties. Friends and family of my parents.

We had mother's corsage preserved and framed. I still have it, in the closet :o)

GK's gave them a gold platter with the GK's names engraved on the back, with the date.

Sparkling grape juice is wonderful for the toast. Sounds you have some wonderful ideas.

I would post pics of the party we did for my folks (2+ years ago), but Sis is still looking for the CD the photos are on. *sigh*

Also consider doing a PowerPoint (very easy to do!) on your computer and playing it on a laptop so that it shows on the wall. I had a lot of fun doing that for my folks.

We did a spiked and a plain punch but nearly ran into trouble because the country club we rented fussed about the wine in the punch. Not sure if it was because we didn't buy their expensive stuff or if it was liquor laws.

We also went to the "dollar stores" and to a party store---GOLD stuff was very cheap because it was right around Christmas---and we bought tons of little tabletop things (gold beads, gold buckets for peanuts and mints, gold coin looking chocolate candy, etc.). Bought gold candles and chargers very cheaply at WalMart and Dillards (of all places). Again...the holidays were our friend. :-)

We bought big gold bows (very cheap) for the chairs my folks sat in.

candle holders, etc.

cheap plastic bells for the cake table

misc. gold balls that we put in a glass bowl on one table

gold candles - I think we took the "stuff" off of them

a pretty gold votive candle holder thing we used on the punch table

I think your idea is absolutely wonderful as it is. I'd love to see their faces.

I like all the other ideas as well, but I wouldn't want to use them all ,or it would probably seem over done.

Just my opinion.

Let us know what you decide and how it goes

ivamae

When we surprised our parent's on their 50th, we held it at a local beach club. We had them renew their vows, and we made up two memory boards (tri-fold). One had B&W copies of their parent's along with B&W copies of both of them when they were younger and then when they met. The other board was color and it had all of their children (6 of us) and their 6 grandcildren and all of their pets through the years. I still think that was their favorite aspect of the evening.
Then, we had white and gold balloons, along with yellow and white flowers and gold glittered 50's (numbers)decorating all the tables. Guests were asked (ahead of time) to please fill out a memory card (which we mailed to them) along with any photos and write down anything that was funny or memorable about our parents. When we received the pages back, we put them all into a scrapbook and presented it to our parents. They looked at that for months after.
To this day, we are so happy that we threw them such a great party, because the following year, they both passed away.

Sorry, but most importantly, have someone (family friend) videotape the whole evening......preferably someone not related so that they can videotape all night without wanting to join the festivities. We still watch that tape over and over and you will just love it.

Lydia, the magician would be great! My cousin is a professional magician, and he put on a magic show--it was a huge hit. We still enjoy watching his show on videotape.

There were a number of family and friends there who were gone shortly thereafter. My father addressed each attendee and got them to say a few words on the camcorder. The memories on that tape are priceless....

Oooh.. Thanks Glenda! I just added Mother's corsage to my list. Hadn't thought of that!

Good - good idea! Not sure the restaurant will let us bring in a drink though.

Rita, thanks for sharing your pictures! The Dollar Tree is on my list now.. I think I can add some gold beads or other gold items among the mini candy bars to add a little more pizzaz.

Ivamae- thanks for your kind words and I agree that I don't want to overdo it.

declansmom - great ideas! I had thought about doing the scrapbook idea too and that may still be an option instead of the memory jar. I'll definitely find someone to videotape - thanks for that reminder!

I have not read all replies, but single use (aka disposable) cameras one on each table, to be deposited at the exit (for you to collect) could be a nice touch to add some interesting pictures.

Overall, I think you have it all covered.

Moni

We did the disposable cameras on every table. The room was too big and the flash didn't carry far enough. The pictures were terrible except those taken of guests at that immediate table. *sigh*