Anniversary Party Fun

Oh the fun of a surprise party! All the planning and excitement comes to fruition when the guest of honor arrives and truly is surprised!   Two friends and I threw a surprise 10th anniversary party this past weekend for a lovely couple.   We split up the planning, they handled food and I handled decorations and cake.

Our goal was to keep things simple but elegant along with keeping costs down.  We chose our color scheme, metallics (gold & silver) with black and white, based on what we already had in our arsenals.    For example, I have 16 silver chargers and my friend had a set of gold chargers.

I rented three 60 inch round tables and twenty five chair covers from a party rental company to host 24 guests (8 per table).   We used metal folding chairs we already had and draped the chair covers over them.

For the tables:
I spent $30 on fresh flowers and made three centerpieces for the three tables.  I arranged hydrangeas and roses in the elevated candle holders and then we placed those flowers arrangements on a mirror charger and surrounded with tea lights.

I wanted to do a napkin presentation that didn’t require a napkin ring.  Napkin rings are nice, but if you don’t make your own, they can be pricey, and then you have to store them.   I decided on the pinwheel napkin fold because it’s really easy to do and looks lovely.

I set up a photo area by using polka-dotted craft paper taped on the wall as a backdrop.  For a photo prop, I made a little chalkboard sign (with a wooden sign from Michael’s and a bottle of chalkboard spray paint)  for guests to identify how many years they’ve been married (or any other fun message) in the photo.

When the guests of honor finally arrived, I was so excited I screeched a little too long!   It was so fun to put it together and I am so glad they were truly surprised.  Three cheers to my two co-hosts – we did it!
-J