Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary - also Ptbo Questions!

[Jo-Anne]

Hi everyone - hoping some of you have gone through this process and can shed some light! My parents will be having their 50th wedding anniversary in August and I'm a little in the dark as to where to start in beginning to plan a "party" for them. My sister and I live in Toronto and my folks live in Peterborough. We're thinking about hosting an open house early in the day for folks to drop by and then taking a few of their close friends out for dinner that evening. Do you think it's ok to ask parents if we host the drop-in at their house vs renting a room? Of course, I'd pay to have house cleaned in advance and have the caterers do all the food work, but I'm concerned my Mom would go into the hostess mode and not relax and enjoy herself! Its just that renting a room somewhere seems so "cold and impersonal". Any thoughts?

I've never catered an event and wondering how expensive that type of thing is. I've also been out of Peterborough for a long time and wondering if any Ptbo Disers have suggestions on either a caterer or a nice restaurant for the evening dinner (probably around 15-20 people).

I also understand you can get "best wishes" certificates from local MPs, Prime Minister and Queen - any idea of what is involved to do this and how far in advance I need to be requesting?


Thanks for any help! Jo

 

[cabmom]

Just my thoughts on the catering, we had to do my grandmother inlaws funeral reception at our house. The catering cost us around $250 for sandwiches, fruit, veges and deserts for 20 to 30 people. There was lots of food. I would get some referals for catering in the Ptbo area. If you know that you would be getting a lot of people, I would rent a hall. Try the seniors centre in their area.

Marilynn

 

[Numbersca]

Hi Jo-Anne, as a member of the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, I have had the opportunity to sample the offerings of most of the member caterers. They are generally very good. Go to the web site at peterboroughchamber.ca and click on Directory. My choice for a restaurant would be 38 Degrees. It is not the cheapest, but one of the best in town. We go there for “special” events.

As for having people drop by their house, I think that depends on their personality, some people would have it no other way, and the size of the house, can it handle the traffic?

Get in touch with your local MP’s office to get the certificates you mentioned. I would hope that over 3 months would be enough time, but I would start now as we all know how fast the government moves.