just starting to plan 50th aniversary party - budget suggestions?

[Grumpy's Gal]

we're a year away but just starting to plan a 50th wedding anniversary party for the folks. Maybe 75 guests.

anyone planned such a party? it's on a limited budget so I think if I start asking for ideas on how to save money now.......we should be ok.

First thing -- I'm thinking serving appetizers may be cheaper than a sit down dinner.

Any ideas and information is appreciated!!

any any tips you had from a wedding or graduation party on a budget may help me with this as well -- any advice at all. Food, decorations, invitations, check lists, etc.

 

[erinmomof2]

I planned an anniversary party for my parents a few years ago, and I was on a really tight budget. We had a little over 100 people there. We rented a room at a smaller golf course, it was only $125 for a large nice room and it even had a smaller room to set up food and a bar we could use, it also had a full kitchen we could make use of. I made nearly all the food myself which really saved money. I did buy fried chicken from the local grocery store, I think 150 pieces was about $80. I ordered that in advance and picked it up on the way and kept it warm in the oven until the party. I made meatballs, sausage and peppers, salad, cheesy potatoes, bought rolls, corn, green beans, shrimp, a mexican dip my parents like, and I bought a cake. A couple of other people brought extra desserts. I bought everything on sale starting a couple of months before the party. I think the total for food was $300 (I use coupons which helped). It was a lot of work.

For centerpieces I went to a local winery where you can bottle your own wine. We printed custom lables and put them on the bottle, than set them in the center of the table. We also rented a keg of beer.

It ended up being really nice, and not as expensive as I feared. I started saving up a year in advance. I used a kit I found at Michaels to make invitations on my computer and they were really pretty.

I hope it all goes well for you!

 

[Karebear6505]

My parents and I had one for my grandparents (mom's mom and dad) last summer and had about 75 people. We had it at our house which saved a lot of money because we didn't have to pay for a place to rent, unfortunately though it rained so that might be something you want to think about. We had several tents but it still was pretty miserable. We did a tropical/beach theme so it was more fun and informal. We tried to get my mom's brothers and sister to pitch in and help us financially with the party so it wasn't such a burden on us (since my dad had just lost one of his jobs about a month before) except my aunt and uncles were not cooperative at all financially or with planning the party. So if you have better family members that are more willing than my family to help out this can be a great way to save money.

 

[DawnM]

I just threw a 50th for my parents by myself this past year. I am an only child, so I had to pay for all of it myself.

I got a hall in a church for only the cost of the donation I gave. There were even 3 teens who volunteered to help for a donation for their summer mission trip.

I then went to Sam's club and got:

Sandwich rings (they are surprisingly good!)
Doritos
Cut fruit
Cut veggies
Sodas
Waters
Coffee
Tea
Crackers
cheese
Mixed nuts
potato salad
Cookies
All cups, plates, napkins, table clothes (a large roll of plastic kind)
Cream
Sugar
Sugar substitute

And even ordered a fully decorated sheet cake from Sam's for $35

I had friends come and help set up and clean up and decorate.

I ordered decorations from ebay from someone who had already done a 50th and didn't need them anymore! that was $26 for a large box shipped!

Total cost for all of the above to feed 75 people AND donations was under $700 and there was plenty leftover that I had to send home with people.

I would have loved to have paid for a catered event, but I couldn't find anything for under $4,000 for the rental of the hall and the catering of $40 or so pp.

I realized that everyone was there for my PARENTS, not for the food and everyone commented on how nice the decore was and how great the party was.

Best wishes.

Dawn

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

thank you guys! I know I have a lot of thinking to do but just to hear it can be done is a step in the right direction!

 

[dyna]

I did aan open house 50th anniversary at a local church reception hall for my parents 50th

most of my mothers family are members at the church so got one of them to get the reception hall I offered to pay for hall but was told the rent was taken care of...

I only served cake & punch an coffee, nuts an mints very simple held it from 2 -4 in afternoon on a sunday... put parents oic in paper along with annoucement of the up coming celebration.... passed the word thru friends an family via phone we very casual ppl tho so all was good.

I lucked out found 50th anniversary paper goods on clearance at half price along with most of the decorations used. parents did have what appeared to be a very nice fancy huge cake but other than top layer was a fake cake I returned the rest which was how my cake lady set it up an we actually served sheet cakes...cake lady a good old friend of mine i helped her an she helped me we called it even on the cakes i spent most of that summer working in her kitchen on thursdays an or fridays cleaning up after her doin dishes more than anything an being the gofer person.

My biggest expense was the stuff for the punch an paper products

Made a couple of picture collages of parents an family over the years my middle DD wore grandmas wedding dress which happened to just be a nice blue dress that mom had at the time was also her graduation dress....DD had worn it for graduation a few weeks before an mom had given the dress to her.

Not sure exactly how many actually came to my parents 50th there was a few who did not sign guest book but i counted over 200 ppl had signed the guest book oh that was another expense a nice guest book but my parents was almost full....

My 3 DD's an neice served the cake an punch they wore the little white lacey aprons my mother had bought that the daughter in laws wore for my grandparents 50th

 

[tink2dw]

My friend Surprised me and Dh with a 25th anniversary Disney themed party even Peter Pan and Tinkerbell showed up!!!

My friend picked a hotel with a Party Room that included food and a service person. She went to a party store for decorations and Disney hats. Her Dh had downloaded Disney music to play and a gift to give to us.

Here is a look!!

 

[Evi]

I'd start by deciding on a budget. I am also planning 50th for df parents this year somehow it became my project lol. Your budget will dictate everything. I'm doing tapas and rented a small function hall. I opted for a small catering company and doing tapas vs full meal so I could afford a band for part of the night then I"m doing ipod vs dj for rest of the evening. Its going to be small in the 30-40 people range and I want it very family oriented.

Catering company will provide linen and silverwear/dishes. I opted for cash bar with pitcher of sangria and a cuvee for toast also coffee/tea service. It broke down to be more affordable then I thought. I am doing invites myself and hand delivering to most of his family over easter since they all get together and then mail out the rest. Also keep decorations simple balloons a few bunches of flowers candles.

 

[semo233]

I planned two of them within the past 3 years...one for my in-laws and another for my own parents the next year. Although we were able to afford to have a caterer, etc., there are many ways to hold a really nice party without service a full meal. Cake with champagne, coffee/tea and a large cheese and cracker display and a large vegetable crudite is a simple, yet elegant party. I ordered a wedding cake from a bakery and had them cut the first slices of cake before it was cut up to serve (just like the wedding). You don't need to do this though and a large sheet cake hidden in the kitchen could be cut up and served.
At both parties, we played music from the year they were married on a CD that I burned and both restaurants had some kind of sound system we could use. I found the top 100 hits of that year and chose the ones I thought they would like best. Then I found either a ready made CD or downloaded them from free sites.
We (okay I) also created large foam core poster boards with pictures of the parents growing up, the wedding and all the years since. I used the photo machine at CVS to blow them up to an easily visible size, probably about $50.
Balloons provided most of the decorations. Gold and white ballons and those helium tanks ran about $75 and created a real party atmosphere.
Remember, it's about honoring your parents and the people you invite.
Good Luck!

 

[tlh0726]

It seems whenever a party question is asked, the answers will vary greatly depending on the area that you live. What is exceptable as the norm to some is greatly frowned upon by others.

I just hosted a 79th birthday party for my mother this past sunday at my home. I served (buffet line) roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, saurkraut (all the previous were in crock pots), dutch salad, fruit cocktail, potato rolls, & cranberry sauce.

I helped a friend do a 50th b-day party, it was held in another friend's basement. She served BBQ sandwiches, hot dogs, macaroni salad, potato salad, baked beans, chicken corn soup, vegetable beef soup, veggie tray, fruit tray, chips, pretzels, dip, cocktail peanuts, mints.

 

[disneyhand]

5 years ago was my parents 50th. They wanted a party and a vow renewal mass and it had to be on the exact date as the original. Then Mom had to have a hip replacement shortly before that, which helped with setting the theme.

We choose tropical/ hawaiin theme because Mom had to be in a wheel chair and couldn't really dress up. I found her a really cute, long hawaiin dress on line (and on sale!!!) with a matching shirt for Dad. She wore sandals and DD painted her toes for her. She had a beautiful purple shawl because she gets cold easily and purple is her favorite color.

My friend who was a florist bought lots of pretty flowers wholesale and made very simple arrangements. We used lots of purple, lots of orchid stems. My DD found really cute flip flop candles that we sat out on the tables. DD also made the invites, using one of Mom and Dad's wedding picture's and some nice paper and ribbons. They turned out great!

We held the party at DH's union hall, so it was fairly inexpensive. The hall was actually nice. We did need to purchase event insurance though. You might want to check with friends and family to see if anyone has a union hall or homeowners association party room that can be rented reasonably.

For food, we used a casual local Greek restaurant that had a catering menu. They delivered the food ready to set up and eat. We served it buffet style. We ordered greek appetizer platters, beef and chicken kabobs, rice, pita and tzakiti and Greek salad from them. They brought disposable serving utensils. The food was yummy and very reasonable in price. Even picky people found enough to eat.

We bought drinks at Costco. Beer, wine, water, soda. I brought my big coffee pot from home. Ordered 2 sheet cakes from Costco, so we could have 2 flavors. Found the paper goods and utensils at a party store, with a coupon. We also served some veggies, chips and dip, of course from Costco.

Mom pitched in money and with our frugal shopping we were able to fly my Niece and my Aunt (Mom's sister) out as a surprise. We had about 60 guests. Sorry this is so long!

 

[AntePrincess]

Whatever you decide to do, I'd suggest keeping in mind the tone of the original wedding. Most weddings fifty years ago were not the productions that they've become today.

The things I would aim for in a 50th anniversary:

1. Nice cake with topper.
2. Photo backdrop. Kind of like what you'd have at a prom.
3. Newspaper announcement.
4. Music from the time they got married. You an rent jukeboxes and stock them with the music you choose.

If my budget were slim, I'd be content with cake, punch, mints and nuts. Otherwise I'd aim for the sort of catering they had for the wedding. A more lavish buffet and I'd get growers' bunches of carnations for centerpieces, ideally in their wedding colors if they had them.

Anyway, I feel your "pain." I'm the only planning my parents' pearl (30th) anniversary.

 

[Kirby]

My sister and I gave a reception last November for our parents 60th wedding anniversary. While we didn't spend a lot of money, we didn't exactly skimp on it either.

We had it at a church we used to attend a couple of years ago. All they asked was for a donation that would cover the utility bills. The reception was held on a Saturday from 2 - 4 pm.

We printed up our own invitations and mailed them out. We didn't put the annoucement in the paper but the next week submitted their photo for the local paper saying that they had been married 60 years.

Our biggest expense was the cake and flowers. We went to an independent bakery because we wanted a flavored cake instead of one of the standard three flavors we would have gotten at the grocery store. But we did buy two flower arrangements at Kroger.

We chose shades of purple for the color of the tablecloths. My parents wedding colors were blue and pink. We didn't want it to look like a baby shower. We chose purple because that was the color that our mom and her sisters chose for their parents 60th anniversary reception. They chose purple because they said it was a sign of royalty.

Besides cake, we served nuts, butter mints, coffee, punch and tea. Our parents did not want a big reception with food.

We had a sign in table and was able to pick up a nice registration book at Wal Mart for $10. We got all our party decorations, tablecloths, cups, plates, napkins and mints at Party City. What we didn't open and use we returned.

I went through all of my parents pictures and selected pictures of them from their dating years all the way through last year for a picture table. Instead of buying picture frames to put them all in, I used what frames that my sister and I had.

Another nice thing that my daughter did was scan all of those pictures plus others and made a slide show that ran continuously throughout the reception for people to see.

My sister's son and a cousin of ours took pictures. As a Christmas present, we took the pictures and made a photo book through My Publisher for them. That was the best gift and my mom looks at that book all the time.

Make sure you get lots of pictures, especially family group pictures.

 

[crjack]

Some things that people really enjoyed at my in-laws 50th was the music as pp mentioned and also the photos. You can do a lot at a CVS photo type of place with enlarging and restoring the quality of older photos.

Friends and relatives loved viewing older pictures and we displayed them on easels around the hall. They also enjoyed dancing to familiar music. (We asked a close family friend who was in the wedding party for any music she remembered played at the wedding).

(A slideshow is pretty easy to do on your own and people always love those.)

Also, she gave me a copy of the wedding invitation that she had saved. I printed the 50th party inviations on very similar paper with a similar font and had them both framed side by side. My MIL loved it and had it hanging in their house until she passed away.

It really is about getting family and friends together to celebrate a special event.