As the self-proclaimed “Mitzvah Queen of Baltimore”, most of my days revolve around soccer themes, reserving white leather lounge furniture, and researching the hottest trends in party favors and dance floors. Sometimes my clients and I get lost in the details of the celebration, and at moments we may lose site of the importance of this coming-of-age milestone in a child’s life. It was not until I met my clients Marcie and David that I was reminded that we should never lose site of the true importance of what is being celebrated.

When I first met with Marcie and David at their home, Marcie walked me through a lifetime of cherished memories, family milestones, and memorabilia from celebrations. Marcie carefully saved items from their wedding day back in 1972, the beginning of her love story with David. She had carefully preserved her wedding gown, her Stuart Weitzman wedding shoes, the blue and white garter, her red, white, and blue going away outfit, and her wedding night negligee. She saved their matches, place cards, wedding cake topper, and an envelope full of the receipts from the vendors that created their beautiful wedding day- fifty years ago!

As Marcie pulled out each item, she glowed with a story, anecdote, or memory. As the years passed, her collection grew. Family portraits in matching outfits from Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, later photos of those same children as brides and grooms, and the most recent photos of their gorgeous grandchildren.

Listening to Marcie and David’s story, seeing the pride and joy in their faces as they talked about their years together, the children they raised and the Grandchildren that they cannot wait to celebrate not only at their party but followed by a family trip to Disney World, led me to realize this was a different kind of coming-of-age celebration. Instead of celebrating becoming an adult, like many of our 13-year-olds when becoming a bar or bat mitzvah, this was celebrating Marcie and David’s adulthood, the years they spent as a couple, raising a family, and then becoming grandparents. It would be a celebration to share with all the loving friends and the next generation of family that were by their sides during their journey together.

Marcie and David spent months preparing for the party. David hand crafted, Marcie shopped, and their Grandchildren created personal touches throughout the entire evening. These details took guests back to cherish the past five decades.

Curating all of Marcie’s and David’s family heirlooms for their 50th Anniversary celebration was a task I have always dreamed of. Constantly pouring through the posts and pages of the latest fashions, touring museums, and admiring and wondering how they craft the store displays. I could not wait to design the perfect gallery to showcase all the items Marcie and David had collected over the years.

A 50th Anniversary Celebration to Remember

At the start of the evening, guests began their walk down memory lane and viewed a ‘Agamogram’ (or lenticular display) crafted by David. The hand cut display showed the couple on their wedding day, recently, and everywhere in between. Next, Marcie’s wedding dress hung from the ceiling, with her shoes dazzled on display in a museum case. Their original wine receipt, floral bill, and reception contract were all tacked with pearl pins onto an old window shutter from our DiscoToGo collection, which complimented the vintage authenticity of these items.

While designing, we found Something Vintage’s Wood Milo shelving units, and all agreed that they were the perfect way to showcase many of her items. As guests moved throughout the display, they were shown photos of the couple, then their children, some of Marcie’s favorite quotes, and finally a treasured family photo along with a personal note Marcie wrote to her children on her most recent special birthday. The final display featured many of the original wood mounted treasured family photos, the same mounted photos that once adorned their living room walls for decades. These photos were suspended from the ceiling and hung in front of a cascading drape that emulated the living room wall where the photos hung for years.

After walking through Marcie and David’s 50th wedding anniversary display, guests went out to the beautiful patio and located their place cards, which were photos of the guests each in an eclectic gold frame. The escort frame led them to their seats at a table, each named after one of the streets Marcie and David lived on throughout their lives. A Hershey Bar was set at each table setting, which was a tribute to the Hershey Bar Marcie would receive every time she went to visit her grandfather.

After a lovely cocktail hour, Marcie and David entered the room with a grand procession, escorted by their children and grandchildren. Guests caught a short clip of Marcie and David’s wedding video and then once again, like many years ago, they linked hands and danced the hora to celebrate the life that Marcie and David created together.

The twinkle lights strung across the tent could not be matched by the twinkle in David’s eyes as he serenaded Marcie with the same song, he sang to her on their first date. The warmth of the humid evening could not match the warmth felt amongst family and friends under the tent that evening. The life experiences shared and celebrated with this amazing family was something they and I never lost sight of while planning their celebration.

So, as we plan, prepare, fabricate, and shop for months together, never lose site of the true, meaningful reason for the celebration!

Plan Your Anniversary Celebration with Innovative Party Planners

Innovative Party Planners is your resource for event design, planning and custom décor in the Baltimore Washington Metro area. To learn more about our event planning services and how we can help make your event one of a kind, contact us by clicking here or call (410) 998 9999.