Planning a Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary Toast - From Children to Parents

Known as the Golden wedding anniversary, the fiftieth is one of the biggest milestone anniversaries. And rightly too, since half a century of marital togetherness is as big a cause for celebration as it is a feat difficult to achieve in these times of rising divorce rates. If you are lucky to have parents who have been together for all those years, here is how to go all out to prepare a fiftieth wedding anniversary toast.

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What is a wedding anniversary toast?

Wedding anniversary toast is a congratulatory message from a family member or friend given to the lucky couple during the anniversary celebration event. In case your parents have completed fifty years of togetherness, this calls for a special celebration and one of the best ways you can mark the event is by planning a fiftieth wedding anniversary toast

What to say

A wedding anniversary toast is meant to give praise to the lovely couple for successfully completing a certain number of years of marriage. Among the usual topics to include in your toast would be an acknowledgement of the significance of what they’ve accomplished in their 50 years of married life, thanks for all they’ve done for you, and good wishes to them both.

Since a wedding anniversary is a celebration of a successful marriage, you can begin with a quote that celebrates timeless love. You can choose one from a famous pen like that of William Shakespeare, "Love comforteth like sunshine after rain." or from the artist Vincent van Gogh who is believed to have said “Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence." If the couple has a favorite poet find something appropriate that writer has written. There have been many poets, artists, and authors who have delved into the subject of lasting love and finding a quote that applies to the situation is always a good idea for the beginning of a toast.

If you know your parents to be a fun-loving couple always ready for a good laugh, you can even include a healthy dose of humor in your. But remember to keep it clean if there are going to be children at the event.

Sometimes though it happens that a child simply does not know where to begin and more importantly end – so many years of togetherness is bound to have created a wealth of love and memories. However the cardinal rule in a successful toast is to keep it relatively short. If the toast is too long, it may end up boring the guests and even the couple. The conventional format entails a roughly three-minute toast to introduce the couple to the guests and congratulate on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. After this you can go on to customize your toast and include memories or other according to how elaborate the celebration is planned.

Yet another potential danger of a wedding anniversary toast is monotony. If you go on and one about the same feelings and emotions that the couple have for each other and the family, things are tad to get tiresome. One of the best ways you can avoid doing this is to include nuggets of interesting information on the couple. Go through family photos and discuss funny and happy memories with friends and family. Just remember to remain subtle with your approach as the final content of the toast should always remain a surprise, especially to the couple.

If you have the primary responsibility of making the toast, it is natural that you should have special words to say to the couple. At the same time though you can encourage other guests to share their fondest memories and wishes with the couple, depending on the schedule and the scale of the anniversary party you have planned.

A fine ways to close the toast is with thoughts about looking toward the future and hoping that the lucky couple have many more happy years together. You can also let them know how special they are to you and that you are honored that you got to make the toast and be a part of their momentous and joyful occasion. Sign off by mentioning how they inspire you
personally in your own marriage and life.

How to present it?

Once you have got the content, the next step is the execution of the wedding anniversary toast. Decide whether you are going to keep it short and simple or include audio-visual effects. If it is the latter, you can incorporate a slideshow of your parents’ photos that showcases the journey of their marriage from beginning to present time. Consider pictures from vacations, parties, special events such as anniversaries and birthdays, random candid photos and more. Add listening pleasure for the lovely couple and their guests by playing a bit of music during the slideshow presentation.

Any kind of celebration is incomplete without music and dancing. Once your toast is over, plan for the band or DJ to play your parents’ "song" for them. Find out what their wedding song was, or use a song that has always been special to them. Above all invite them to dance together to celebrate this event. They will love grooving to the music and making a new
memory with this old song.

Keep to the theme

While the content of your wedding anniversary toast will be celebrating your parent’s completion of fifty years of marriage, yet another way to highlight the milestone would be to make gold the theme of the wedding anniversary party since after all it is their Golden Anniversary. A great idea would be to accompany your wedding anniversary toast to the golden bubbles of a vintage champagne like Don Perignon or a golden sparkling wine like Chardonnay. If you wish to go all out at the anniversary part, choose from gold-flecked decorations at the venue to tableware that has plates, serving bowls and dessert bowls in pristine white china rimmed with golden borders. Few gifts combine beauty and romance better than bouquets of flowers. Violets, the symbol of everlasting love, are appropriately enough the traditional flower for fiftieth marriage anniversaries. However if your parents would like something more exotic, you can also choose the finest roses from varieties like Golden Anniversary, Gold Symphonie, Golden Celebration, Golden Memories or Good as Gold to be arranged into an centerpiece.