Wedding Anniversary Party

Wedding Anniversary Party

Parties for wedding anniversaries are generally only publicly celebrated for the "jubilees" (25th Silver Wedding Anniversary, 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary and possibly 60th, 70th or 75th). There’s no real reason others cannot be celebrated but it’s unusual for it to involve anything other than very close family or friends. Even the 25th is not widely celebrated, the 50th is the big one.

If there is going to be a big celebration it is usually organised by the children and needs to reflect the impression that the couple’s years together have made on the world. It can mean a lot of work because it’s common to track down friends from all those years and to bring all the relatives together. It can mean an event involving a hundred people, the organisers have to be up to it. It’s best if you set the budget first and then see how many people you can bring in and cater for.

The order of events should be:

Arrival
Guests arrive and can take off any coats to be placed somewhere safe. They should be greeted by the Guests of Honour (the couple) and there needs to be somewhere to put any gifts that are given (not to be unwrapped at this point). Drinks should be available – wines, fruit juices and water – for the guests after being greeted plus some hors d’oeuvres to keep the hunger pangs away.

Meal
Once all the guests have arrived there should be a little period for chatting then the meal is served. Nowadays the less formal buffet style is usually preferred over a big sit-down meal, which gives a friendly feel to the whole event. However a formal meal also has advantages particularly when it comes to the giving of toasts and speeches.

Speeches

After eating comes speeches and toasts – keep the speeches short.

The first speech should be given by one of the couple’s children, one of their parents (if still around), or by a brother or sister of the couple. If none of these are available then a close, long-term friend. The speech should be upbeat, definitely not mentioning anything bad that might have happened between the couple at any time, it should mention how they met, how soon they were married, any amusing anecdote from their early relationship – something that’s genuinely funny, not something embarrassing.

The speech can also include any messages received by close family that could not attend. If a guest book has been created, or some other joint gift, this is the time to present it to the couple.

While the speech is going on the guests should be supplied with a glass of champagne each. It ends with a toast to the couple using their first names: "Please raise your glasses, I give you David and Caroline".
After which one or other of the couple gives a short speech, essentially thanking everyone for coming, thanking whoever organised it and ending with the toast: "To family and friends".

Dancing
The party now becomes relaxed and the dancing can take place. Music should initially be from the period that the couple like best, after that it can become more modern.