Anniversary Party Ideas

Anniversary Party Ideas

Party Planning

General Party Planning Schedule
Order your party supplies. If invitations are part of the order, allow at least six weeks for standard invitations, longer for custom.
If you're having your party at a rented venue, be sure to make your reservation well in advance.
Other services to order well in advance, if you will be using them, include cake preparation, catering, live band or dj, flowers, and a photographer.
In addition to the more traditional anniversary themes, there are also popular theme parties which can be used for anniversary parties, such as Luau, Hollywood, Western, Retro, Elvis, etc. For more themes, visit our sister site, AHappyTime.MakesParties.com.

Party Decorations

Traditional decorations include silver, gold, or other color-coordinated streamers, balloons and ribbons, tablecovers, and centerpieces.
Make a display of photographs from various periods of the couple's married life, from wedding to current. Add captions with date, time, and place, and additional info if you like, beneath each photo. Attach photos and captions to a wall. If renting a venue, create a tabletop display, in a timeline, with captions placed just in front of each photo. You could print the captions out on card stock and fold the tops over so the cards stand up, like place cards. For a tabletop display, a pretty tablecover coordinated with your party theme, framed photos, caption cards, ribbons and/or tabletop confetti. Rather than setting the photos in a straight line, stagger them forwards and backwards to add interest.
Decorate a pair of chairs for the couple. Drape them with fabric, tie them with ribbons, add helium-filled balloons, decorate with flowers, etc. You could make a single arch, above the backs of both, that says something like, "Happy 25th Anniversary Jack & Jill!"

Party Invitations

Use our generic invitation templates as a basis for making your own anniversary invitations.
If you don't have graphics available, just write something like "Come Celebrate Jack and Jill's 25th Anniversary!" Print in black ink on colored paper or card stock, or in color on white paper or card stock. Printing in color on colored paper or card stock often results in blended or muddied colors, and lighter colors won't print well on darker colors.
When ordering invitations, allow six weeks for non-custom invitations, and longer for custom invitations. This includes time for order processing and delivery, invitation preparation, and mailing the invitations to arrive at least two weeks before the party.

Party Food

For a large anniversary party, you may want to have it catered, or at least order party trays from a local grocery, deli, or gourmet shop. Make these arrangements well in advance, and verify them as the party date draws near.
See our pages of cocktail party appetizers and party recipes.
Cake! You'll find a good selection of anniversary cake toppers at That's My Topper! They also have cake serving sets.

Party Activities

If you have a digital projector, you could create an entertaining PowerPoint presentation chronicling the couple's history from wedding to current time. Keep it colorful and interesting, with photos, scans of mementoes, and tidbits of information. Period-related background patterns add fun to the presentation. (Put text in a white or colored box to make it easier to read if you use a textured background. You can make the box partly transparent.)
Dancing is a fun activity, if you have space for it or are renting a venue. If you hire a DJ, be sure to mention the couple's favorite songs, including songs from various time periods of their marriage.
Play trivia, using questions about the couple. Divide the guests into two or three teams. Guests could answer individually or as a group, but either way, score points as a team. When everyone has had at least a turn or two, all the questions are answered, or you are ready to move on to another activity, the team with the most points wins.

Anniversary Gifts by Year: