43 years today! It seems like a couple of weeks. It helps to be senile. Now if my body was 43 years younger! My co-worker says that is a long time to be married or even alive. I think we are going to have tofu burgers and baked beans tonight and watch an action flick on DVD. It is nice to have two great kids grown up at ages 37 & 39 with two granddaughters. The teenagers actualy become human after being on their own for 10-20 years or so.

Hi again, I did find the pics from folks 60th. Their ann. is in May & I got 4 in. pots of petunias that were in full bloom at our local Green Arrow nursery were they give "free" plant wrappers. I had put a lovely floral 9x12 placemat-paper in same pattern as napkins & set plant on it as centerpiece for each table & surrounded plant with 4 of the votive candles I had made. I sent plants & candles home with guests. We didn't light them-fire danger with little ones around. All of us kids provided the food (5 of us) & I made lemon tarts & pecan tarts along with bakery bought whipped cream icing cake (mom's favorite, custard & strawberries in center) I made up a memory board of sheet cake cardboard from cake supply store covered with 4 fancy white rectangluar? paper doilies & pics of what "additions" had happened since 50th. There were couple of births, weddings ,graduations. For 50th you could make 1 of reunions, swim party, trips they took, their kids, Xmas,whatever they have done past 50 yrs. I had about 15 pics on this 1 & on 50th about 25 as I had wallet of their wedding (eloped) things they liked to do, dad's plane, hunting, mom's sewing, crocheting, etc. Whatever pics you have! It makes nice conversation piece. I finished board off with Victorian cutouts & silk flowers. Very easy! Just used scotch tape so everything was removable & if pics came from someone else could return them. I took close up's of Memory boards so they could have pics for memory photo book!! Jan

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.

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions! Thank you for the link Deborah. I completely forgot about putting in the bottom. I am feverishly taking notes as I read. I've got flowers, balloons, photo board, slideshow, dj, photographer, videographer lined up already. We too are having the party in a private room at a restaurant. I didn't think about non-alcoholic bubbly, so thank you for that suggestion. I love the memory jar or the asking for memories ahead of time. It might be fun to even have some people lined up to present their memories out loud. We've got some very funny people in the group! Lydia! Ever since I have known my FIL, he has been a chocoholic. He LOOOVES Hersheys and has been know to eat one of those giant bars by himself (and still manage to stay fit, LoL!) I looked into the minis and I think we will order those. How many do you think we need for 80 people? The nice thing about those attending is that there is not one person that hasn't been in our (their) circle of friends for less than 20 years. Practically every one of them attended our wedding, so I am almost positive there will not be any awkward moments. In fact, there will be a lot of catching-up among the guests who haven't seen each other while we wait for my inlaws to arrive. I don't think I will need assigned seating, but will just reserve a few tables for immediate family. I also will just the arrival time on the invites and have my inlaws get there about 20 minutes later. I am on the fence about party favors. We'd rather put the money toward good food, drink, and entertainment. I will check out the invitation websites listed. I've decided that making my invitations won't save that much because I don't have the computer program. I'd have to buy that plus the paper and envelopes, PLUS take the time to learn it, design it, etc. For about $100, it is worth getting them made, I think. A little about me: Former prop. mgmt assistant, turned teacher, turned SAH mom, turned homeschooler, turned remodel addict, turned part-time volunteer teacher again, all the while working as fitness instructor and now personal trainer and care-giver to my aging mother! Somehow, I still manage to maintain my sanity, LOL! I am so excited about this party! I will you all know how it goes. But before that, I am sure I will be back with more questions. :-D