Q&A for How to Plan For a Golden (50th) Wedding Anniversary

Yes. Treat the ceremony as if It was your wedding again.

Even if it is just a quaint dinner of a special few, sending out save the date cards to those on your guest list will allow them to reserve the date of an event they will surely not want to miss celebrating with you and your spouse.

Most invitations are given at least one-two months in advance. This should give most guests and attendants enough time to mark the date and clear their schedules.

Usually red, yellow, and white flowers look best as centerpieces. This also depends on the color of the tablecloth and whether you have any theme colors for the event already.

Usually the couple's children. If they do not have children, or the children are unable, anyone close to the couple can plan the party.

There is no order. I celebrated a 50th birthday at a restaurant with a party room, and I simply organized everything from the guest list and invitations to the dinner and dessert! Just talk to your spouse about what to do.

Yes! I'm sure the people you help and/or your fellow volunteers would be delighted to help you celebrate your anniversary.

Sure! As long as you plan to do so ahead of time with the church, then you shouldn't have any issues.

This is a renewal of vows, so the couple are still legally married. There is no reason why a close friend could not perform the ceremony.

There are a few templates, traditions, etc. that give good examples of how to do this, but really, it's up to you. Whatever you want to do to mark this occasion, you can. Fly everyone out to Kathmandu, make dinner reservations, rent a concert hall, decide a dress code, choose a theme. You can choose anything and everything.

One of the functions of these veils and other means of covering a woman's face, is to avoid giving bachelors the thought of courting the woman. If you can't see her, then you can't see her beauty, get excited and can't want to spread your genes. Of course, in modern times men are expected to be able to control these basic urges inside themselves without limiting a woman's freedom by forcing her to hide. In this case, the celebrant is well and truly married, so there's no need to wear a veil. Of course, if she wants to, she's free to do so.

Sad though it may be, to technically celebrate any wedding anniversary, both spouses have to still be alive and married to each other. Of course, she can mark the occasion with a family celebration, and she is free to celebrate anything she wants; if she wants to call it that, she is obviously free to do so. But technically, the counter stopped counting when her spouse died.

Yes but do not serve only one style of appetizer. Rather, serve a variety of different types of appetizers to ensure everyone is catered for and it's interesting fare for all those present. This includes some sweet, some savory and some umami choices. Consider matching alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to the appetizers too.

If you want to, sure. People will probably think that is very cute.

Yes, you can. If a person does not respond automatically, it's best for you to follow up with an email or a text. Be sure to greet the person with kind regards before politely following up on them; don't burst the question out straightforward.

A bracelet, perhaps? With a small pin that once pulled sets in motion an internal mechanism that plays the song? Or hide a special button in the jewellery that activates a chip to play the music? Maybe you could have sheet music made and use the first few bars as part of the decoration? You could have a musician play the music, take a picture and frame that picture in earrings?

Sure, why not? If you invite 10 guests to your house for a party and it costs 50€ for snacks and drinks, then if they each give you a 5€ bottle of wine, it offsets the costs. Weddings, anniversaries etc. also work like that, though the gifts often don't cover all the costs of the event. Then again, when they get married or have an anniversary, you benefit too. Make it clear what the arrangement is beforehand, so there are no surprises. You can also offer to pay for the wine during dinner, but not the food. No one expects you to pay for fifty people, in the end.