Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

My parents' 25th Anniversary is in October. I'm the oldest child (we're all young - 22,19,14) and I'm saving like crazy for a wedding/honeymoon/life after wedding AND paying for college, a car, etc.

My younger siblings can contribute close to nothing, and even though my grandparents would love to throw a party, they don't have much $$$ either.

What can we do for my parents that would be special? They're already planning a vacation for the week of their anniversary.

I'm out of ideas . Everything I've said has been shot down by all parties involved.

TIA ladies

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

why dont you have a party at your grandparents house for close friends and family. it doesnt have to be expensive you can keep the costs down and your parents will still know that you thought of them.

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

I think the vacation in itself is a very generous gift.

But if you want to do something else, how about just a dinner with your parents and grandparents? I know that as my parents get older, there is nothing they enjoy more than having me and my brother and our spouses and my brother's son sitting around a table all at once. IT's sort of like they like to take stock of their family and how it's grown or something to make it extra special, maybe each one of you can do a separate course and wait on them hand and foot. Then after dinner you could have a slide show of old pictures, or bring out the photo albums.

You might want to put together a photo album of the years they've had together too. You can do a digital one on mypublisher.com

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

what about a themed BBQ party?
Something that can be rather low in cost and fun!
ETA..October is still wonderful weather to do something liek this too!

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

For my parents' 24th (I thought it was the 25th!), I had a professional portrait done of my brothers and me. They loved it. (I too am the oldest and had to pay for it since my brothers were still in school.

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

hmm...all great ideas -

Farrah, the vacation isn't a gift - they booked it themselves without telling anyone - they tried to ruin our original plan of a surprise party.

There's a problem with the party issue - my grandparents insist that everyone that was invited to the wedding should be invited to the party. Granted, some are deceased, some are no longer on speaking terms, but some have 4 or 5 kids!!!

Grandparents house isn't large enough, and she's worried about the cesspool being a problem. SHe won't budge - if we have a party, she's inviting 100 people. MY PARENTS WOULD HATE THAT!!! They're not 'center of attention' people.

I bet if I went sneaking around, I could find some old pics from when they were dating (they were BF/GF when they were 14! Got married @ 21.)

An album/coffee table book is a GREAT idea!!! And of course, we'll take them out to dinner.


ETA: THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

for my parents 30th anniversary, we did a small-ish party for about 30 people. we had it at my aunt & uncles house and we had people make dishes, so we cut cost on catering. we had a great time and it was more the thought then the actual event that meant a lot

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

We actually had a party at my parent's house. We were in a similar situation 4 kids - 2 of us in college, one in law school, very little cash flow. So I went home on the ruse that I was taking them out to a simple dinner at the local diner for their anniversary, kept them out for about 2 hours and then brought them home to the party. There were WAY too many people in the house (end of October) and very little decorating got done, but it was one of the best parties we had. They loved it and were totally surprised.

I am especially glad we did this, because we lost our parents at a young age. If you have the opportunity to have a big bash, do it! You will have a lot of great memories.

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

What about a broadway show and a nice dinner? (Either for the two of them or the whole bunch of you...)

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

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Posted by BMD'sPeanut

What about a broadway show and a nice dinner? (Either for the two of them or the whole bunch of you...)

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did that for the 24th anniversary THey STILL haven't used the theatre gift certificate!

THey are the hardest people to gift...

for Mother's day last year, we were all short on cash, so we brought her flowers, made her dinner, and I bought a 4 photo frame from Kohl's that matches her bedroom. I put the first pics of Mom with all 3 of us (just after birth) in 3 of the slots, and in slot #4, I wrote a Mother poem --- she cried and told me she hated me!!!

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

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Posted by shorty the pumpkin

I put the first pics of Mom with all 3 of us (just after birth) in 3 of the slots, and in slot #4, I wrote a Mother poem --- she cried and told me she hated me!!!

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OMG WHy!?

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

I made her cry...

eta: have I mentioned that I don't 'fit' very well with my family?

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

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Posted by shorty the pumpkin

I made her cry...

eta: have I mentioned that I don't 'fit' very well with my family?

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Oh, okay, but it was a good cry...she doesn't really HATE you.

Re: Just wondering if anyone has any good ideas...

How about a dinner cruise around NY Harbor? I gave my parents this a thank you after my wedding. It was about $150 I want to say? I have to find the website...

They loved it. They went on a nice summer evening.