Planning an Anniversary Party Made Simple!
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If you have parents, a beloved aunt and uncle, or grandparents who have reached a milestone anniversary year, you'll probably find yourself planning an anniversary party. This can be a joyous occasion to celebrate the couple themselves, as well as to bring family and friends together to bond at this special time. Wedding anniversaries are wonderful times to celebrate the life of a family as you recall old memories and make new ones together.
To organize an anniversary party, you don't have to wait for a major anniversary year to happen. It's nice to surprise people on an off year. Perhaps the 18th or the 28th instead of on the 25th. Then the celebration will have a major element of surprise. However, it's those big anniversaries that really move people. So if your loved ones are coming close to 25, 35, 50, or even 60 or 75 years together, it's time to begin planning an anniversary party.
First consider in your anniversary party plans whether this should be a surprise party or not. Hopefully you know these people well enough to know whether a surprise would be a good thing or a terrible idea. Maybe the woman wants to buy a new dress and get her hair done so a surprise would not be great. On the other hand, she may be the type who does things better spontaneously so she doesn't have to have any worries about the planning or what she will wear. Maybe she doesn't want to have her husband bothered about having to dress up. Only you wlll know, and maybe you'll have to ask around.
Anniversary Party Plans: The Venue
Next you'll have to decide on the venue. That will somewhat depend on the size of the crowd you're expecting. An anniverary party can be a big deal at a hotel or club or it can be a smaller event in a home. Anniversary party etiquette demands that you take into consideration what the guests of honor prefer. Some would like only immediate family, others extended family, and still others would include friends they haven't seen for years and acquaintances from work and neighborhood. The venue will help you decide on the food.
When planning an anniversary party ask yourself - Will it be a cocktail type affair with drinks and finger foods? Will it be a sit down dinner or a buffet? If you are going to have it at home, yours or someone else's in the family, you'll have to decide to cook yourself, make it a pot luck, or have it catered. If it's a pot luck, have a sign up sheet ready so that people don't duplicate each other and the meal is gracious and well planned.
Use a checklist to make your anniversary party planning smooth sailing. This way - you won't forget anything in you planned for the wedding anniversary party. Maybe you have to provide plates, glasses, silverwear, napkins and the like. Write it down.
Decorations are important part of planning an anniversary party. Here's why the big year themed anniversary parties are so important. If it's a silver anniversary, silvery decorations can bring a shimmer to your venue. If it's a golden anniversary, you can use that to bring an elegance to the affair. For a 40th wedding anniversary party, the theme is ruby, so red decorations would be suitable.
Think about having photos of the couple around the area at various stages of their romance, with and without the children. Maybe a slide show could be presented or videos if they've been made over the years. Make sure they include enough images of the invited guests so that everyone will stay interested and excited about the whole show.
This is just a preliminary idea of what must be done in anniversary party planning, but it's a good beginning for starting your imagination in this wonderful and creative endeavor.
Editors note - If you like fun interactive entertainment - check out our anniversary party games section.
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40th Anniversary Party Ideas
50th Wedding Anniversary Parties HUB
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