I'm ahead of schedule with this, but I know if I don't start gathering ideas now, I'll be scrambling at the last minute (which I would prefer to avoid). My in-laws' 50th is in August. There is a lot of family drama on that side, so instead of a large party, we're going small. We're hosting everyone at our place in Michigan and we've rented the cabin across the street to help accommodate everyone. We are planning a nice dinner out with cake one night... but other than that, I'm at a loss. I don't want to overdo things, but since we host most of this group once or twice a year, I want to do more/something different to make this special. In addition to the dinner out, I plan on setting up the tripod to take a nicer group photo for my MIL before we head out to dinner (since we'll all be dressed up a bit). I thought about doing a photo slide show, but I don't have access to the photos, I would have to count on my BIL to find them and, like I said before, there's a lot of family drama which I don't want to deal with if I accidentally use the wrong photo or forget one they thought should be there. Any fun activity ideas for a group of 12 with ages ranging from 6-74? Any specific golden anniversary ideas? Clara and I found a fun Easter activity we thought we could modify... a big egg hunt, but instead of candy in the eggs, you get tickets you use to bid on wrapped white elephant gifts. Everyone hunts eggs and everyone gets to bid. We thought we could use gold/yellow eggs to go with the golden anniversary theme, but when I told my husband about it, he just looked at me like I was nuts. I would love any suggestions you all might have! Thanks!
I did this for both my parents and my in-laws parties. As the guests entered, I gave them a journal card to write a favorite memory or blessings or whatever on. I also tried to get a picture of each family that came. Then I created scrapbooks and put the cards with the matching photo. Both of mine were traditional albums that also had cake pictures, ceremony pictures, old pictures, etc. One party had a running slideshow of pictures of the couple from long ago. The other had printed and framed photos. One party, a video camera was set up in another room and each of their children video taped a special message of thanks to our parents. For my parents party, I created digital invites and then later created a digital thank you card. We printed both out and mailed them. I know these aren't games or activities, but they might spark some ideas you could use.
One thing we did for my parent's 40th (which will easily transfer over to any number) was to give them 40 of something. It wasn't supposed to be big, but something they would always remember. Here are some of the things people did: Hershey's Kisses (or Hugs) wire hangers - for hanging together geez - I can't remember any others right now. It was 20 years ago! Here would be some other ideas: rolls of tape for sticking together, blank cards for them to write 50 blessings they experienced through their marriage. I'll think of more. For some reason my brain isn't working tonight. But you get the idea. It was so much fun to see what people did. For their 50th we had people write a letter to them and include a photo, which I made into an album. My mom's now suffering from dementia, and everything comes back to her when she looks at those books! I'll let you know if I think of anything else.
Not so much an activity... but in Canada you can get greetings from the Prime Minister, Governor General and even the Queen for big birthdays and anniversaries. Maybe your state or federal representatives do something similar?
Maybe since you are ahead of schedule, you could ask bil for photos and see how receptive he is? You could always make a private YouTube video, and send it ahead of time with a deadline for changes - adds or subtracts.
Send notes to all of their friends requesting cards with pictures and memories and then you can put in a scrapbook ... you glue all the cards to the papr and use the old fashioned photo corners to put the photos in. tell the friends in the note you need them all by July so you have time to put it all together. that is the greatest gift for a golden wedding anniversary. We did that for our Grandparents...also my Aunt & Uncle. (My parents unfortunately didn't make it to 50 as My Mm passed just shy of 35... today incidentally would be my parents 62nd )
Tracie, I so wish I had some idea to give, my brain hasn't worked for the past few weeks properly, but I will think this through (now I am feeling a bit better!!) and come back!!!!
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! But honestly, I think anything photo related is a no go. My BIL is absolutely no help with any of this. He's recently divorced and is in a bad place where he relies on my MIL to do everything for him. Giving him this project, it will become her project and she just had hip replacement surgery this week. Also, there is so much family/friend drama with that family that not even my husband can figure out who we could or couldn't send too. To give you an example... we don't even know who for sure will come for this small, immediate family only party because of the drama (there is currently a close family member who was recently uninvited by my MIL). I'm done keeping track of their petty grievances. That's a fun idea! I'll look into that! So maybe what I'm really looking for are fun group games/activities that are good for all ages? Everyone is together Thursday - Sunday, so there's lots of time to fill. I may look into bridal shower games and see if anything could be modified for an anniversary party. 4 out of 5 of the grandkids are girls, so maybe they would enjoy designing a toilet paper wedding dress for grandma, but what is the equivalent for the groom? Maybe a trivia game about their marriage or a newlywed game type of thing where they have to answer questions about each other?
First off, you are a great DIL to take this on, esp knowing what kind of drama is involved. I was thinking that maybe you could do a trivia game related to the year they got married, or the year they met, etc. Just info about what was going on at the time.
I think you could take any "shower" game and make it work for an anniversary game? Shower - like baby, wedding, etc. The safety pin game. Everyone gets a safety pin... whomever has the most pins at the end wins. People listen and chat, and when they hear a certain word(s) (anniversary, the couple's names, 50th, etc) they get to take that persons pin... and the one with the most wins. Trivia Game of the Anniversary Couple - get 10 facts and then have everyone answer them... whomever has the most right wins. The Year They Got Married... Trivia... the most right answers wins. How much was bread? Gas? Newspaper? Etc. Find Your Partner - Have all married couples or couple put on blindfolds and they have to find their other half. Hard Part - no talking - so smell and touch. The ones not married can help others move about. First couple to match, win. For these games, you could put people into small teams. Then each team can decide who will play along for each game. Most of these are super silly... but everyone will be laughing! Cookie Face. (needs cookies) Everyone puts a cookie on their forehead. They have to get that cookie into their mouth, with no hands. Time it for 1 minute. (It's really hard!) Stack It - (need lots of the same coin) Have them stack 25 pennies (you could do 50 for the Anniversary) in a minute. The kicker is that you can only use one hand, the other is behijnd your back. Junk in the Trunk (requires belts, tissue boxes and ping pong balls). Strap on the empty tissue box with the belt around your waist. Put 6-8 balls in each box. Set the timer, and wait to see who gets all the ping pong balls out in time. Defy Gravity - (Requires balloons) Every player has to keep 2 balloons off the floor for 2 minutes - with one hand. M&M March - (need M&M's and straws). Place 25 M&M's on a plate. An empty plate next to it. Using a straw, and one hand to hold it, you have to transfer the M&M's from one plate to the other but sucking up the M&M, and moving it. lol!
We usually go and do "klootschieten" with family events. (Google Ireland road bowling for something similar and readable for you English speaking people. Lol) We go walking in a nature area with long unpaved roads, we bring a wagon filled with drinks and food. We split into two teams (but stay together), give each member a number (1, 2, 3, etc) and simply go for a walk while slowly playing the game by in turns throwing the ball/stone/thing (it's like an oval). About halfway we stop and have a snack break (usually we do this in my uncles area and his neighbours bring cake to the stop) It's super simple, it's fun, easy enough to enjoy for any age or talent, and just an easy activity without it being too much of an activity, you know? Because of the walking you can actually choose the people you want to talk/walk with but at the same time it automatically makes you mingle with more people then just your buddy. Also being outside is a big plus for me if there's drama and not everyone likes each other. Also for kids because they can be active and run and play. Bring a dog and there's an extra form of kids entertainment.
These are a little off theme for a Golden Anniversary, but I'm thinking of some summer fun with the whole gang ... How 'bout party games from the 50's-60's. Kind of a flashback to when the parents were kids. Then the young ones can play/learn from the older people... I do like the idea of newspaper headings from the year. Set up a music playlist of the popular songs from their wedding year. Just doing some random searches, I'm sure you can get more authentic accurate... cake walk, musical chairs, drop the close pin in the jar. Some of these backyard games Trivia questions from each decade of their marriage. Prices for those who do best in each decade and over all. Name that tune On a TV somewhere in the house, run old cartoons. The younger kids might need a quiet time if the party goes all day Price is right. People have to guess how much things cost the year of the wedding
Happy 50th to them!!! So the year they were married was 1967 correct? I agree with Kimberly, would be fun to get some tv shows that were popular at the time. And have them running on a tv somewhere. (still are!! when you look!) The Andy Griffith Show Gilligan's Island The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres Lost in Space Bewitched Games like what was their first car as a married couple? How much did it cost new? I think I remember you go somewhere on Lake Michigan correct? I agree with a walk somewhere with a picnic along the way. Or a scavenger hunt. Our church hosted a scavenger hunt years ago. They would have two couple go together in a car you had your clues and they had a punch at the location that would prove you were there, you would just punch your card. First car back wins. BUT you could do this with a walk too! Do you have a photo of their wedding cake? Possible to re-create it yourself? as you know 50th is GOLD so all your decorations or accents could be gold. What about GOLD personalized pencils with their names and wedding date? If you play some games those could be handed out at that time. Stars make gold stars and hang them from the ceiling if they have chairs set up just for them.
Yay!! Great suggestions everyone!! I'm actually beginning to get excited about this now That was a great list of suggestions! Thanks so much! LOVE this! I just looked up the rules and it seems really fun! I love the idea of the wagon full of drinks and snacks too I really would like to try this! That's another great idea! Maybe one of the nights we'll have a theme night... that could be a lot of fun! Maybe that could be the first night when everyone gets there since that night will be pretty casual. Love these ideas. Yes! I hadn't even thought of TV shows. I looked up the most popular movies in 1967 and I didn't really find one that would appeal to the wide range of ages. But the TV shows could... plus they could just be running as background vs. being something that everyone needed to sit down and watch at once.
I like your egg hunt idea. Since it's an anniversary, they also have little plastic heart containers that you could use instead of eggs: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ddi-Mini-Plastic-Heart-Containers/53468425. Just as an aside, my kids are getting a little old for egg hunts so my son now organizes one for the whole family with silly gifts at the end. I can confirm that even the adults enjoyed it on Sunday. Trivia is also a good idea. Or you could do a "newlywed" kind of game where you have two people on a team try to guess what the other person will say. Of course, if you have kids, you'd probably want to call it something else (How well do you know your family game?). Set up a photobooth with wedding stuff? Veils, tophat, bowtie, bouquet?
Great ideas Dawn, thanks! How does yours work? The instructions I have for the one I mentioned in the first post are a little vague. I'm going to hunt around the internet and see what I find. And I did find the little heart shaped containers on the Oriental Trading site, so those could be fun. They have gold eggs too, but they're significantly more. This is a fun idea too... I'll have to see what I can gather up. I might also try to find just gold stuff too.
Some of this would probably not work for your purpose, but he gives everyone a different color egg. You can only collect your color (which makes sure everyone gets to participate). You know the number of eggs you have to collect and general area where they are hidden and then you go out and hunt. When you find all your eggs, you bring them back and open them up. Some eggs contain candy and some also contain letters written on slips of paper. You use the letters to spell out a clue (e.g., my clue this year was spices). You go to where your clue instructs and find your prize.
All of my ideas and have dones have already been mentioned. Just make it as stress-less for you as possible, especially if there's already drama in the making.