Ideas for parents' 50th anniversary

[nw6675]

My parents' 50th anniversary is in the spring. My sister and I are trying to decide what we can do to celebrate in this Covid world.

1. Party is out - even in the old world they were pretty adamant on this

2. Major travel out. They were going to travel within NC where they live as a compromise, but if mask mandates still in place they won't even do that. (Not looking for debate, they are vaccinated). If they do, we will be paying portions as their gift.

We want to do something nice, but it is so depressing these days to figure celebrations out. Surely y'all have creative ideas that I am not thinking of? They have everything and honestly, their only request would be for Covid to go away and their kids/grandkids to be happy and healthy.

 

[Kellydelly]

You pretty much have everything already nixed. Can you just get them some great takeout and celebrate with just close family?

 

[happily single]

Can you contact all of their friend, family, coworkers, etc and have them each write a funny story or something they remember about the couple. put all of the notes on indivdual pieces of paper (heavy duty) and put them in a pretty box.i Did this for an ex boyfriends 50th bday. Because he has friends all over the world he was very touched to receive so many personalized greetings

 

[Kittyblue]

Can you contact all of their friend, family, coworkers, etc and have them each write a funny story or something they remember about the couple. put all of the notes on indivdual pieces of paper (heavy duty) and put them in a pretty box.i Did this for an ex boyfriends 50th bday. Because he has friends all over the world he was very touched to receive so many personalized greetings

I was also going to suggest this. I did this when my mom turned 70 and she LOVED it.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Can you contact all of their friend, family, coworkers, etc and have them each write a funny story or something they remember about the couple. put all of the notes on indivdual pieces of paper (heavy duty) and put them in a pretty box.i Did this for an ex boyfriends 50th bday. Because he has friends all over the world he was very touched to receive so many personalized greetings

If someone in your family is "tech-y" you can also do this by having people record short messages on their phones and editing them into a video for the couple.

 

[bennifer]

When my parents celebrated their 50th, they were adamant about no party, too. They decided to visit my brother in Miami and my family flew down as a secret and surprised them. That’s all. We had a nice dinner and spent time together for a couple of days. They both said that was exactly how they wanted to to spend their anniversary. I actually was worried for a minute when we walked into my brothers house- neither could talk and my dad tried to stand up to give us hugs, but he kept sitting back down because they were so shocked! Now I wish I would have done what the other PPs suggested, too!

 

[emer95]

If someone in your family is "tech-y" you can also do this by having people record short messages on their phones and editing them into a video for the couple.

Flipgrid is great for this! It’s free and easy for people to use even if they’re not very tech savvy. Then it automatically collects everyone’s messages and presents it.

 

[HeatherC]

What about renting an AirbnB for them for a week somewhere they could drive to and kind of isolate from others if they wanted to. Maybe in the mountains or on a pretty lake or OBX?

We rented a place in Newport, RI for a month for my parents 50th and they loved it! They could walk everywhere and go to all the shops and restaurants while being right in the ocean. Because it was off season it was very affordable as well.

 

[bjscheel]

For my parents' 40th we put together a scrapbook with pictures new and old, and a questionnaire/memories page each kid filled out and a different page each grandkid filled out along with a drawing they did. We still like to look through it 20 years later. It's falling apart but these days you can make it online and not rely on glue sticks.

For their 50th they went to Branson and stayed in a cabin. I think we pitched in for the cost and gave them a $200 Visa gift card for spending.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'll be following this thread. Marie and I have our 50th coming up in about two weeks, 9/11, have no idea what we might do.

 

[HeatherC]

I'll be following this thread. Marie and I have our 50th coming up in about two weeks, 9/11, have no idea what we might do.

Congratulations Dan! You both definitely deserve something special!

 

[Karin1984]

I would just have a nice dinner, collect pictures, videos and other memories (think ticket stubs etc) from each of the kids/grand kids, have some nice time together with the closest family.
If they don't want a party and don't want to travel, the best is to make something yourself and make it personal.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

My sister and I went through old photos and made an album for our parent’s 50th anniversary. Started out with pictures of them when they were dating and worked our way up. They loved it. They’re both gone now and it’s so nice to still have that album to look through.

 

[nw6675]

Thank you all so much! You have given me some great thoughts!

Dan, Happy Anniversary!!!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

My former employer made a video for someone retiring. They used vidday. It was easy for me to upload a video and turned out very nice. I think a video is a nice idea.

 

[low-key]

how about a bunch of pics of there life toghter and 4-5 movies they loved and of course go to a restaurant for take out, and bring home there favorite food

 

[OhhBother]

My parents were also adamant about no party. We had a nice dinner with just family. I ordered a beautiful tiered cake from a local bakery, and the hit of the night was an almost life-size cardboard stand-up of my parents’ wedding photo. Got it at buildahead.com. I also ordered engraved champagne flutes for the two of them with their wedding date on them - got those at Oriental Trading Co.

 

[mom2rtk]

My parents had a nice event for their 50th. Renewed their vows at church and had a dinner catered after for lots of family and friends. For their 60th, they had all the kids and grandkids for dinner at a local steakhouse in their private dining room. So happy all of this happened pre-Covid.

@OhhBother, I wish I had heard your idea about the cardboard cutout before my parents' events! I would have totally done that.

I love the idea of doing something virtual. If they're not party people, this is great cover for doing something remote with no questions asked.

 

[ahutton]

I'll be following this thread. Marie and I have our 50th coming up in about two weeks, 9/11, have no idea what we might do.

Happy 50th Dan and Marie!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Happy upcoming Anniversary Dan! Congratulations to your parents, Eksmama01! What a Blessed milestone indeed. I agree with everyone else about a scrapbook of loving memories perhaps in video and photo/letter/note form so they could enjoy both Whatever you and your sister end up doing, I'm sure it will mean a lot to your parents. Have safe fun to come. I also pray daily that this pandemic would end!