Maybe you can ask the guests to make a donation to your parent's favorite charity, or have them each bring a gift for the local food bank or toys for a children's hospital, etc.

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.

My parents felt exactly the same way and their anniversary was in December also. Both did not want a big party where they would be in the "spotlight" and didn't want to add any pressure during the holidays.

We convinced them to let us hold a holiday "open house" for them. This way, people could come and go and it did not have a formal feel to it. We held it in my brother's house which coincidentally was the house my mother grew up in and was married from. We decorated in a holiday theme with gold and white. Had a variety of finger foods and punch, wine, champagne, coffee and tea. It was easy to do and everyone enjoyed themselves without the pressure of a "big to-do". My parents admitted afterward how much they enjoyed themselves. Anyone who asked about gifts was asked to donate to a favorite charity.