We tried to think of everything for our parents' 50th -- limo, flowers, music, cake, members of their wedding party!, photo books from their wedding, etc. etc. but we forget a photographer! I definitely wish we had had a photographer. :(

I don't know about the etiquette of including the arrival times you suggest... not sure why you would want that? I recently attended a 60th birthday party where we were told to arrive at a certain time. We were all there as requested, and it ended up being a room full of people sitting and waiting for OVER AN HOUR for the 'special guest' to arrive. Bad idea and it didn't go over well.

You are so right!! I don't know what I was thinking. I will give the party time and hope people are smart enough not to be late to a surprise party.

I already have a photographer, videographer and DJ lined up. I did think of those right away.

Thanks!

Houseful, just as an added idea, when we planned DH's parents' 50th surprise party, one of the things that we added at the last minute was a guest book for all the guests to sign. There was space to add addresses so we could send thank you cards later, and pockets to put photos that we printed off, so the parents could sit back later and reminisce over the events. We enlisted one of the grandteens to wander the crowd, sit with guests, and offer the guest book. It ended up being a lovely memory book!

Don't forget to have a few extra vases for flowers that WILL arrive, and need a place to be displayed. Many of the inlaws flowers were later donated to a seniors home, so the vases we picked up were just from the dollar store, and we didn't need to worry about getting them back to owners.

Not sure on what your situation will be regarding gifts, but we picked up a large basket for the usual anniversary cards and the small tags that were included with gifts. We also had someone in charge of writing on the back of some of the gift tags, just what the person had given the parents. Made it very easy to mention what the gift had been, and the giver if for instance "Love Mary" had been written on the card. Which Mary? Who? LOL.

We ended up with a large 3 ring binder of "stuff", info on bakeries, caterers, videographers, business cards, bed and breakfast locations for incoming guests, maps of the area, etc etc, and pages and pages of notes of who was taking care of what, who was picking up what when, who was booking whatever. It was very handy to have one point of reference for all the info.

We had a most lovely time arranging the anniversary surprise, as the parents live in England and some of the logistics of organizing long distance with all the siblings spread out across the UK and Canada, were a little more difficult to iron out. I will say that some of the best moments were not caught on camera or video sadly, but we all have lots of fabulous memories that we cherish! We DID have guests that showed up hours early, for some unknown reason, as they lived near the inlaws, intown, but oh well! We put them to work too! LOL

Enjoy your event, and be prepared to be exhausted at the end!

Here's the clickable link Houseful :)

Here is a link that might be useful: 50th Wedding Anniv.

Thanks, Deborah. I'm posting it again below.

Countrycottage, That sounds like a wonderful party.

I love your suggestions, especially the vase suggestions. And I am getting a binder to do as you suggested. We have 5 teenagers that will each get a job during the party. They will love that!

Since this forum is slow, I reposted in the Kitchen Table forum. They have given me some great advice!

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Kitchen Table