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Party City - Tips - Anniversary
  Party Tips & Tricks
Anniversary
Anniversary Party Etiquette
Early anniversaries-prior to 15 years-are generally celebrated alone by the happy couple. This is especially true for couples with small children. It may be the only day of the year they actually get out of the house without the kids! Other time-honored traditions for celebrating anniversaries include brief overnight trips or a second honeymoon at 10 years.
Once a couple reaches 15 years of marriage, the children usually start to realize what a significant contribution their parents' union has made to the family. At this point, the anniversary celebration might involve the immediate family with a special vacation or an intimate dinner party at home or at an upscale restaurant.
Milestone anniversaries are often celebrated with a party planned by the couple's children. However, many couples, including those without children, might decide to throw the party themselves! Regardless of who is hosting the party, it's important to consider a few key questions:
Will you be accepting gifts?
If the answer is no, you should say so on the party invitation. "No gifts, please" or "Your presence is present enough" is a nice way of asking your guests to refrain from bringing gifts. Another option is to request donations to a favorite charity. "In lieu of gifts, contributions to the WW II Veterans Association are appreciated."
Are you renewing your vows with a religious ceremony?
If so, why not invite your friends and family to take part?
Will you have speeches?
If the couple of honor is not used to speaking in public, they may find this part of the anniversary party uncomfortable. If you are throwing the party yourselves, one way to handle speeches is to toast each other: the husband gives a toast to his beautiful wife and vice-versa. Children or close friends of the couple can also make brief speeches. Every couple, however, should be prepared for guests clinking glasses and insisting on some sort of speech. Make it fun and lighthearted, with a dash of sentimentality, and everyone will be sure to remember it!
Commemorate a Milestone
Celebrate your 50th with a personal greeting from the President of the United States. The White House will issue an official greeting to couples (U.S. citizens only) celebrating their 50th anniversary or later. You must make the request 6 weeks in advance of the event date. http://www.whitehouse.gov/greeting/
Alert the press
If the couple of honor has an interesting story to tell, consider alerting the local newspaper about their anniversary. Generally this type of coverage is reserved for those who make it to 75 years, but a heart-warming story is always of interest. Be sure you have the couple's original wedding photo available.
However you decide to celebrate life's milestone anniversaries, Party City's got you covered from decorations to balloons to guest favors. Check out our party themes and get planning!
The Countdown
What to do when? Use this handy little checklist:
3-4 months before the anniversary:
 Get the hosts of the party together and decide on a theme. Will it be a ballroom dancing party, sock-hop or Hawaiian Luau?
2 months before the anniversary party:
Go over the guest list. Consider the couple's family, neighbors, business associates. Try to track down old friends.
Pick a party location: will it be at home or will you rent space? Will you hire a caterer?
6 weeks before the anniversary party:
Mail the invitations. Check out these invite ideas. We've got an invitation for every theme!
4 weeks before the anniversary party:
Go shopping for party essentials.
Make sure you stock up on all the necessary supplies like foil pans, paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils, plastic cups, festive cocktail stirrers, table dÚcor. There's nothing worse than running out of drink cups! Well, except maybe running out of ice.
2 weeks before the anniversary party:
Call any family or friends who may have forgotten to RSVP!
1 week before the anniversary party:
Shop for food/drinks
Create fun and useful favors for party guests
Night of the party:
Set the stage: decorate the party space with balloons, streamers, photos of the couple. Don't forget to hang your anniversary party banner! Make sure the party hosts are stationed near the door to greet guests, hang coats and take drink orders.
25th Anniversary Theme Ideas
Through the Years Party
This is a great way to look back on the people, places, and events the couple has experienced since they first said "I-Do."
 Decoration idea
Think "This is your Life"-use the couple's wedding photo and photos of their family throughout the years as the main inspiration for the party space. Silver should be the prominent color, but beware of overkill! Pick a complimentary color: light blue, white, or even purple to avoid too much of a good thing. Set tables with our 25th anniversary party plates and napkins and use our pretty silver wedding bell place card holders. For a sparkling table, gather 6-8 small votive candles in glass holders. Place them on a glass 8x10 picture frame lined with metallic paper. Or use a mirror to enhance the effect even more. Sprinkle red rose petals around the candles. Have the guests play a fun trivia game about the couple of honor. Where did they meet? What kind of wedding did they have? Where was their honeymoon? Guests can share their favorite memory about the couple in a lovely guest book. Send them all home with mini wedding cake candles or slices of the real thing in pretty boxes.
What to serve
Tasty cocktail foods like spinach and feta phyllo triangles, mini quiches, stuffed mushrooms, mini crabcakes, spring rolls, hummus with baked pita chips and a gourmet cheese and fruit platter with crispy French bread. Brew your own beer and serve in bottles adorned with a photo of the couple. Have a variety of chilled white wines and bold red wines available. Consider hiring a bartender or recruiting a family member to serve drinks and don't forget to kick-off the night with a special champagne toast to the couple.
Stuffed Mushroom Caps
· 16 large stuffing mushrooms
· 2 tablespoons organic extra virgin olive oil
· 1 small onion, minced
· 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
· 1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
· 1/4 cup mirin (cooking wine made from sweet rice)
· 2 tablespoons tamari
· juice of 1 lemon
· Rinse mushrooms and remove stems. Dice stems and set aside. Heat oil in a skillet; saute onions and diced mushrooms stems until very soft. Combine mirin, tamari and lemon juice. Add bread crumbs, almonds and half of the marinade to the onions and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat until liquid is absorbed by the bread crumbs. Place mushroom caps, round side up, in a baking dish. Pour remaining marinade over the mushroom caps, fill with bread crumb mixture, and bake at 350ÁF for 20 minutes or until browned. Serves 8.
Viva Las Vegas Party
It's not a top wedding destination for nothing! Celebrate 25 years with a casino-themed bash and everyone goes home a winner.
Decoration idea
Create the environment of an elegant Las Vegas club with all the glamour and excitement. Decorate the room in silver, black and red, dim the lights, and place lots of votive candles in glass holders around to illuminate the space. Set up game tables and cover them in green felt. Consider asking a few family members to host the games: blackjack, lucky dice and roulette. They can even dress the part! Give each guest a silver organza drawstring pouch filled with game chips for gambling. Be sure to have prizes for the winners: lottery scratch tickets, movie passes, restaurant gift certificates. Play classic lounge music and consider renting a bubble machine! Send guests home with chocolate coins or cigars and mini bubbles.
What to serve
Martinis made with flavored vodkas, a 12-foot club sandwich, kettle-cooked potato chips, gourmet cheese and fruit platter with olives, spicy nuts and chocolate cigars.
Classic Martini
· Dry Vermouth
· 2 ounces vodka, chilled
· Pour a little bit of dry vermouth in a chilled martini glass and swirl to coat the inside of the glass. Dispose of excess vermouth. In a shaker full of ice, gently swirl or stir the vodka before straining into glass. Serving suggestion: Garnish with olives or lemon twist and add rocks if you like. Can also be made using gin.
Family Reunion BBQ
What better way to include the extended family and young children than with a down-home outdoor barbeque!
Decoration idea
Think Southern hospitality and cooking. Consider a silver and red balloon arch to welcome guests to the backyard! Decorate the tables in red and white checks and use coordinating paper plates and utensils. Don't forget to stock up on the napkins! For laughs, sprinkle tiny plastic ants on the table covers. Use mason jars filled with fresh cut daisies for centerpieces and have pitchers of ice-cold lemonade and tea on each table. Leave whole lemons scattered on the tables for added decoration! Fill galvanized buckets with ice and pack in cans of beer and soda. For some intergenerational fun, get teams to compete in yard games like the three-legged race, pillow case race, candy hunt, or water balloon toss. Let the couple of honor select the teams and award the winners with mini trophies and ribbons.
What to serve
BBQ ribs, burgers, and hot dogs. Potato salad and coleslaw (be sure to keep on ice and out of sun), baked beans, corn on the cob, and biscuits. Serve homemade ice cream sandwiches (vanilla ice cream between chocolate chip cookies) for dessert.
Cola Ribs
· 2 slabs baby-back ribs or spare ribs, cut into cocktail size portions
· 3 (1-liter) bottles cola (recommended: Coca-Cola)
· 2 bottles your favorite barbecue sauce
· Fill a roasting pan large enough to hold the ribs with 1 1/2 bottles of the cola. Immerse the ribs in the cola and refrigerate overnight.
· Preheat a grill to medium-high. Remove the ribs and cola from the roasting pan, clean the pan, and fill it up again with the remaining cola.
· Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
· Once your grill is nice and hot, lay the ribs on the grill and begin cooking. Every time you turn the ribs over on the grill, put them back in the roasting pan filled with cola and then back onto the grill. Repeat this process before each turn in order to build a layer of sugar on the ribs.
· After the ribs are almost finished cooking, about 30 to 35 minutes, take the ribs off the grill. Fill a new roasting pan with your favorite barbecue sauce. When the ribs are cool enough to handle, cut the ribs into individual portions, and put them into the roasting pan with the barbecue sauce. Bake the ribs in the oven for 1 hour, or until the meat is falling off the bone.
50th Anniversary Theme Ideas
Ballroom Dancing Party
Before it was popular with B-list celebs, ballroom was the rage among young married couples! What better way to celebrate 50 years of marriage than to give the couple of honor the dance floor!
Decoration idea
This big idea requires a big space, with the dance floor taking center stage. It's a once-in-a lifetime event so make it memorable! Rent a tent for your yard and pretty it up with twinkling white lights. Hang a glass "disco ball" to reflect light and give the feeling of an old ballroom. You can even project the number 50 onto the dance floor! Scatter bunches of gold and white balloons throughout the party space and cover tables with white cloth and a gold topper. Use our 50th anniversary plates, napkins, and utensils. For centerpieces, place a single white lilly flower (without the stem) in a bubble vase with water. Surround the vase with 3-4 white votive candles in glass holders. Sprinkle rose petals across the table. Another option? Place gold glass pebbles in the bottom of the vase with floating candles. If you afford live music, great! But a sound system and a loaded iPod will work just as well. Consider hiring a local dance instructor to give the group a quick lesson or perform with a partner. Are you computer savvy? Produce a photo slide show and kick the night off with a tribute to the couple. Have them open the dance floor with their wedding song. For fun, challenge guests to name 50 inventions discovered since the couple got married. Or collect photos of the couple through the years and have guests guess what year the photo was taken. Send guests home with slices of wedding cake in pretty boxes or gold foil chocolate coins in organza pouches.
What to serve
Tasty cocktail foods like spinach and feta phyllo triangles, mini quiches, stuffed mushrooms, mini crabcakes, spring rolls, hummus with baked pita chips and a gourmet cheese and fruit platter with crispy French bread. Brew your own beer and serve in bottles adorned with photos of the couple. Have a variety of chilled white wines and bold red wines available. Consider hiring a bartender or recruiting a family member to serve drinks and don't forget to kick-off the night with a special champagne toast to the couple.
Music for dancing
Load these classics onto your iPod and cha-cha-cha.
Smack Dab in the Middle by Count Basie
The Comeback by Count Basie
Work Baby Work by Royal Crown Revue
Watts Local by Royal Crown Revue
Let Me Off Uptown by Gene Krupa & His Orchestra
Hey Bartender by Floyd Dixon
Too Marvelous for Words by Frank Sinatra
On a Slow Boat to China by Bing Crosby
G.I. Jive by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah by Louis Armstrong
1950s sock-hop
Pull out the poodle skirts, saddle shoes and black leather jackets and recreate the year the couple said "I-Do." For inspiration rent the movie Grease or catch old episodes of Happy Days on Nick at Nite or TV Land!
Decoration idea
This outdoor party combines classic 50s diner with the long forgotten drive-in. Best planned for dusk. Let the couple's home movies take center stage by hanging a large sheet between two trees to serve as a movie screen. Use old 45rpm records as decorations. If you are renting a tent, hang records from the ceiling cross-bars. Cover tables in hot pink, black and white and use our Rock ïn Roll themed decorations. Leave bowls of fresh popcorn on every table. If you can swing it, consider renting a jukebox and have a dance contest. See who can last the longest or do the twist the best! Or try a hula-hoop competition for some real laughs. Test the guests on their 50s trivia by asking what things cost (gas was 23 cents in 1956) or play "Whose Line Was It" using lines from classic 50s movies and TV shows like Rebel Without a Cause, Grease, or Ozzie and Harriett. Send guests home with CDs of popular 50s hits and plan a balloon drop for the end of the night.
What to serve
If you want to go with diner-fare, serve steak tips, cheeseburgers and hotdogs on the grill with all the fixins, fried clam strips with coleslaw, steak fries root beer floats and apple pie a-la-mode. Serve ice cold beer and the classic 50s cocktail, the sidecar. Another option, if you start the party at movie time, serve dessert and drinks only and set up a delicious make your own sundae bar.
Sidecar:
· 1 ounce Cointreau
· 1 ounce lemon juice (about 1/2 of a lemon)
· 2 ounces cognac
· Chill a cocktail glass by filling it with ice cubes for a few seconds. Dump out the ice and rub the rim of the glass with a piece of lemon. Dip the rim in sugar and shake off the excess, set aside.
· Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and the three ingredients listed above. Shake thoroughly into the prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist.
Hawaiian Luau
Take inspiration from one of the top honeymoon spots in the country. A Luau is a gathering of family and friends with lots of food! Get out the grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts and toast the happy couple with a Pina Colada.
Decoration idea
Bright colors like yellow, green, purple and pink will give the festivities a tropical feel. Cluster colored balloons around the party space and at the doorways. Don't forget your Happy Anniversary banner! Hang paper lanterns from the ceiling and greet the guests with brightly colored leis. Dress your buffet tables with raffia skirts and cluster fresh exotic fruits like coconuts, bananas and pineapples for table decorations. Place some potted palm trees in the corners for that added tropical feel. On the guest tables, fill galvanized bins with beach sand or kosher salt and add some paper tiki umbrellas. Kick the night off with a limbo contest or get adventurous with some hula-dancing! Send guests home with small tins filled with macadamia nuts or plastic beach buckets with tiki drink umbrellas, cocktail stirrers, and plastic freezable ice cubes.
What to serve
Teriyaki chicken skewers, coconut shrimp, tropical fruit salad in a hallowed out pineapple. For drinks serve planter's punch, frozen pina colattas, and Coronas in bottles with fresh limes.
Teriyaki Chicken Skewers:
· 30 (8-inch) bamboo skewers
· Marinade: 15 ounces teriyaki sauce
· 6 tablespoons sesame oil
· 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
· 1 lemon, juiced
· 1 tablespoon sugar
· 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
· 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
· 1 cantaloupe half filled with melon balls, optional
· Soak bamboo skewers in water for 1 hour to keep from burning later.
· Mix all marinade ingredients together in a non-reactive container large enough to hold all of the chicken. Cut chicken into 1/2-inch strips and submerge them in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
· Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thread 1 chicken strip on each skewer towards end of the stick, and line up on a sheet pan. Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until fully cooked through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving. Serve by sticking skewers straight out of the side of a cantaloupe half filled with melon balls, if desired.
Traditional Anniversary Gifts
Celebrate the happy couple's milestone with a gift rooted in the finest anniversary traditions. If you're celebrating something other than 25 or 50 years, here's a handy list of other milestones:
First-paper
Fifth-wood
Tenth-tin, aluminum
Fifteenth-crystal, glass
Twentieth-china
Twenty-Fifth-silver
Thirtieth-pearl
Thirty-Fifth-coral, jade
Fortieth-ruby, garnet
Forty-Fifth-sapphire
Fiftieth-gold
Fifty-fifth-emerald
Sixtieth-diamond
Seventy-Fifth-diamond, gold
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