60th wedding anniversary- ideas??

[fuschia2000]

A small group of us are gathering together for afew days at a hotel next year and I am wondering what extras I could organise to make extra special .

Ideas so far ( funds permitting!)

String quartet for the first evening meal
Lovely cake
Helium balloon bouquet!

Add some Lovely table decorations

Pay for them to have a room upgrade!

Any other thoughts most appreciated!!

I think for me I'd be looking at more personal touches which have always gone down well at similar events - as well as the room upgrade can you arrange for their favourite flowers to be in the room when they arrive, a bottle of their favourite tipple (whether champagne or a favourite beer or whiskey or even favourite soft drink) on ice and maybe a nice fruit platter or box of favourite chocolates or whatever they like?

Can you make a 'this is your life' photo book up for them - coordinate family/friends to contribute photos and maybe memories/anecdotes or mementos of them as a couple and get it printed up nicely for them - lots of companies do this online and it's very easy although a bit time consuming scanning in old pics etc. Also some people find this super cringe but some family members have done video message compilations over lockdown for big birthdays or similar which have gone down extremely well from the recipient - again you can get apps to help you edit it all together and add music etc. easily - maybe something like this if only a few family members/friends can come on the weekend away itself?

The string quartet sounds nice if they are into that although personally I don't know if I'd have them play during dinner, it may be me but I always find that a bit odd - it feels rude to the musicians to talk over them playing or drown them out in cutlery scraping/glass chinking noise but equally odd to sit in polite silence for the whole meal and not talk to your companions, especially if it's people you haven't seen in a long time and you really want to catch up with! Maybe have a musical performance before or after the meal, and again make it something personal to them, so if they like classical string music ask the quartet to play their favourite piece, or actually if they'd prefer a singer or something get that instead - maybe if you know what kind of music they had at their wedding it could be something linked to that?

Depending on where/what kind of hotel it is, it would be nice to organise some kind of activity during the weekend to break up the endless meals and chat that hotel weekends away can be! Again it should be something the anniversary couple would specifically like so no point organising e.g. a theatre trip if they hate it, but you could also split the group, e.g. a round of golf for those that want to be more active and spa treatments for those that want to relax?

I wouldn't do anything that will make rubbish to throw away (from the environment point of view!) so no helium balloons or table decorations, but I think the music idea is lovely, the video messaging idea from a PP is lovely, a room upgrade with flowers and treats I'm sure would be very much appreciated. If it's a weekend away then an optional activity I'd say would go down very well. Good luck with organising, and I hope it's a lovely event when it eventually happens!

I believe that you can apply to receive a card from the Queen, but you would need to check for which wedding anniversary

Arrange a photographer/ brief a guest to take photos of everyone and groups.

Lovely ideas so far, thank you soo much!!!

Lots to consider!!!

My top tip is arrange the cake beforehand yourself and bring it with you. Pay the hotel "cakeage" if you have to!

Relatives used to love family get-togethers at "naice" hotels but OMG so many fuckups! British hospitality - Fawlty towers lives.

Including - which is the point - the "what birthday cake?" fuckup, and the presentation of a totally different cake obvs made for someone else! (It turned out the staff just didn't communicate, and the one guy who knew about the cake and where it was had gone off shift).

Would they like to dance to the tune played at their wedding or something that's around 60 years old? The quartet could play it. There's an old song called The Anniversary Waltz.

There's a version by Vera Lynn on YouTube.

You can get a card from the queen for a 60th wedding. I did for my parents. You need to send wedding certificate as proof of the wedding and supply other info. You apply online ( apply.royal.uk ) It was a really special surprise for my parents - they were on a cruise & I arranged for it to be sent to the ship so the Captain presented it to them. The application process was easy & they were really helpful . I even got a voicemail message from Buckingham Palace as they wanted to check the spelling of my dad's name as it's very unusual .