8 steps to planning the perfect 50th wedding anniversary celebration

A couple making it to their 50th wedding anniversary is nothing short of amazing. The golden wedding anniversary is celebrated the world over as a milestone achievement, where family and friends come together and celebrate the couple.

That being said, planning one of these 50th wedding anniversary celebrations isn't easy, they aren't as common as weddings themselves so you probably haven't been to one you could use as a reference and not that many are available to watch online. Happily, we’re here to help.

But, we're going to be doing things a bit differently from all the sites you’ll come across. Rather than give you a massive list of activities that you're probably not going to do, we’re instead giving you a concrete, actionable plan for hosting the perfect 50th wedding anniversary party.

The best part is you don't need to break the bank or call in the marines, it's all about keeping it as simple as possible. Not to worry, we’ll still give you a list of other possible activities to do in case you don’t have enough time to pull the plan together. 

Ready? Let's get straight in.

Hosting a full celebration of the marriage

The best way to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary is to hold a celebration of the union and all the amazing things that came from it.

To make it as easy as possible, we’ve come up with an 8 step process for planning and hosting this amazing 50th wedding anniversary celebration. If this sounds like a lot of steps, don't worry, one of them involves partying out, so you know it's a pretty chill list.

Step 1: Gather your info

Gather as many old pictures and information about the original wedding party as possible, we’re going to be replicating the theme of the wedding for the ceremony and it’s going to be a huge help having as much detail as possible. 

Step 2: Create your team

Call up a few family members and friends to help you out with planning the event, doing this with them will make the process much more fun and exciting and it's a great way of getting more members of the family involved. A note of caution, if you want this to be a surprise for the couple, it goes without saying, don't invite anyone who can't keep a secret to save their life. Remember the old saying, loose lips sink ships. 

It would also be a great idea to get an older member of the family, who attended the wedding preferably, to join in on the team, they can help you with first hand info and easily do some undercover snooping on the couple without raising suspicions, plus, it should be great fun for them as well.

Step 3: Choose the event location

Now that you've got an idea of what the original party looked like, you’re ready to start planning the 50th wedding anniversary ceremony.

First things first, you’ll need a location for the event, if you're in the same state the wedding happened, then you could actually score huge points by renting out the original venue (if it still exists). If you're not able to get the original location or it's too far away from your guests to attend, no worries, you can replicate the theme as closely as possible. 

If it was an outdoor wedding, any calm open space will do, if it was indoor, even better as you simply need a hall big enough for all the guests. Remember, you don't have to exactly replicate the wedding decorations, you just need to come close to the original.

Step 4: Finalize your Decor

Time to get all the wedding anniversary party decorations ready for the event. 

This being the gold anniversary, you can't go wrong having as much gold as you can, pairing gold and black is also a really tasteful alternative to traditional gold and white aesthetics.

When planning the anniversary celebration, you don't need to blow your budget on fancy decorations or expensive catering, this is one of those times where simpler can indeed be better.

Here’s a basic list of what'll you need to make the party awesome:

1. A minister for the vow renewal (if you're having one)
2. Wedding anniversary signs (these are really inexpensive ways of making the whole event look professionally planned, get one for the entrance and a few for important info like menu items, seating charts, directions to events etc. they're an awesome alternative to ushers for giving directions)
3. A nice banner congratulating the couple on a happy 50th anniversary
4. A wedding anniversary photo booth so you can capture fun picture with the couple and all the guests (this is a regular hit at weddings right now and an easy way to add in great fun for your event)
5. Food and drinks for the occasion, this can be home made by some of the guests.
6. Decorations for the tables and walls ( Golden tablecloths, cutleries and balloons will be great for the 50th wedding anniversary theme.)
7. A playlist of the couples favorite songs, both from the original wedding and more recently.
8. Hashtags for guests to use when posting pics and videos of the event.
9. A photo board with a collage of pictures from the wedding and important life events in the couples lives.

Be sure to give yourself lots of time to setup the planning for this and order any wedding anniversary party decorations and party signs you’ll be using ahead of time, but if you do leave it till last minute, don't worry our superfast shipping is always ready to save the day

Step 5: Host a bridal shower / bachelor party

This step is optional but we feel it could really elevate the whole wedding recreation theme we’re going for.

You’ll be hosting a mini bridal shower for the woman and a bachelor party for the man but instead of the traditional events in both parties, we’re making these more about showing love and appreciation for them as individuals.

The goal is to gather all the family, loved ones and friends of the couple and have them share just how important they are in their lives and how much they appreciate the impact they have in your little community.

You invite all the female members to the ‘bridal shower’, including the grandchildren and everyone gets a turn saying what they feel about the celebrant, and you do the same at the ‘bachelor party’.

The point of this is to show them just how loved they are by the people around them and just how important their union has been to their community.

What you'll need to make these events awesome:

1. Bridal shower sign/ bachelor party sign
2. Bridal shower photo booth frame
3. Food and drinks (provided by family and friends attending the party).

These parties are meant to be as intimate as possible, preferably done in someone's home, you can get all the decorations you need from the SpeedyOrders store and get them to you ASAP, just in case you're planning all this on short notice. 

Step 6: Prepare and decorate for the event

Put all the decorations in place for the event, make sure the signs are where they'll be visible, the minister is confirmed and everyone helping out knows what they're doing.

This is probably the most stressful part of the process but if you're able to coordinate everyone properly, you’re guaranteed an event the couple and your guests will absolutely cherish forever.

We won’t sugarcoat it, it's going to be a lot of work but it’s well worth the effort for the joy you're bringing to the couple and all your guests.

Step 7: Hold the vow renewal ceremony and reception

Finally, the day’s here, you've done all the planning, you've got all the amazing anniversary decorations in place and the couple are stunned by how amazing the results of your efforts are.

Be sure to get as many photos of the whole family getting involved in the ceremony. Have the children of the couple play in as part of the groom and bride’s wedding party where possible. 

You can have a small toast from one or two people after the vows have been renewed, but it can be more if you couldn’t do step 4.

If you've done the planning well, there's not much more you can do here, time for the best part of this whole process… 

Step 8: Enjoy yourself and make lots of memories

You've earned it, all your hard work has brought smiles and joy to everyone who’s attending the party and the couple absolutely love it.

Take out some time for yourself and get involved in the ceremonies, don't get caught up in making sure it all runs smoothly, you're just as much a part of this party as anyone and you should be in all the photos, playing with the custom photo booths, digging in on the great food and celebrating the couples 50th wedding anniversary.

You've come a long way and more than earned your right to party, have a blast and make sure the happy couple get home safe.

CONCLUSION

There you go, a straight forward plan for throwing the best 50th wedding anniversary celebration ever. We hope the lucky couple know just how awesome you are for even thinking about doing this for them.

Goodluck with your event and remember, SpeedyOrders is here to help you out with any signs and frames you need for your awesome 50th wedding anniversary celebration.