Mom and Dad's 30th Anniversary Dinner

On Tuesday, May 19th, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. All of their kids couldn't be home to celebrate with them on that day, but we planned a surprise dinner for them this weekend.

I really wanted this to be a special occasion. We didn't do anything for their 25th anniversary, which is a pretty big one. My parents aren't the type who like a lot of attention, so I didn't want to throw a huge party for them. I knew they would want something small with just their kids.

I planned a menu of:

• Fresh strawberries and pineapple with fruit dip
• Mini Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
• Greek Salad
• French Bread with Herb Infused Olive Oil
• Spinach and Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
• Steamed Mixed Vegetables
• Double Chocolate Raspberry Cake
• Sparkling Punch

We tried to use their wedding colors, which were pink and mint green. Thankfully, my wedding colors were very similar, so I was able to reuse a lot of things.


Here is a picture of the table all decorated and ready to eat. Tasha did a wonderful job setting out the china and arranging the places.


We bought Mom a coursage and Dad a boutineere to wear for the evening. We placed them on their plates and presented them to them when they arrived.






I wanted to incorporate their unity candle from their wedding. It has their wedding invitation printed on it.

This is a picture of the cake and appetizer table.

I collected an assortment of picture of my parents and our family throughout the years and framed them. On this table is also a picture frame (back left) that we presented to them as a gift. It has their wedding picture in it, plus a wedding picture of each of their kids. (Well, only wedding pictures for the two of us who are married already. The other two will be added when that time comes.) I also created a slide show of pictures throughout the past 30 years, including many of their wedding pictures.


This is Mom and Dad arriving. They ended up finding out that Isaac and Bryan were coming (which was supposed to be a surprise). They didn't know that Bryan's wife, Jenn, was going to make it, so that was still a surprise.

We wanted to take a family portrait. So, we arranged our living room as a studio and used the handy-dandy tri-pod and self timer!


All in all, it was a wonderful evening. I had a lot of fun planning it and decorating for it. Mom and Dad were very happy to be with their kids. Mom even told me that it was the best anniversary present we could have given her!

Here is the slide show I created for the evening.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com