Husband to Wife Gift Idea????

L.,
He could get her a beautiful watch and tell her that he is giving her the gift of "time." For all the time they have been together and because they will be together for "all time." Hope this helps. Let me know if he decides to do that. I know if I was his wife and got that gift I would just break down b/c of how special it would be.
M.
P.S. Even better would be to have engraved that says something about what it means.

How about 50 small presents? One for each year. They could represent things that happened that year such as children born, house bought, etc.

Hi L.-
I'm a rep with Planetjill Custom Photo Jewelry & Gifts. We offer a very exclusive line of photo jewelry available in sterling silver, gold and gold with diamonds. I think a great gift would be a bracelet with pictures of your parents from over the years. Maybe one from their wedding, one from when each child arrived, one from a special vacation or event, etc.
All of our jewelry is heirloom quality. If you would like more information or to see samples or a catalog, please contact me. You can see us on the web at www.planetjill.com.
Thanks,
D.
____@____.com

Hi again L.!!

Do you by chance have a bunch of old photographs of your parents beginning from their courtship and then throughout the years? Or maybe just a bunch of photographs of your whole family - all their kids, grandkids, etc.?? Kodak Gallery online has these awesome photo books that you can create (meaning maybe you can create it for your dad) and you can pick the backgrounds, journal in the books and make captions under all the photos. They are very neat, unique, and sentimental and would make a wonderful gift to your mom, especially if it were just pictures of the two of them throughout the years. And I know several other online photo places are doing books like this as well. Heritage Makers is one. I made books like this for Christmas gifts of my daughters first year of life, they were gifts to her grandparents, god parents, and other close relatives. They loved them! And I will most likely do one similar for their 60th anniversary party. The books are easy to create, you simply upload the photos into the website and drag them where you want them, write in any journaling you want to say. You can chose up to 9 photos per page on the big books or do a 100 photo book that is 5x7.

This is the only thing I can come up with. My dad always bought my mom a bottle of bourbon or something that of course was only going to get consumed by him! But he also did surprise her with nice jewelry. :-) Good luck!!

-Char

Here are some thoughts to consider that don't involve a lot of photos: Help your dad write a poem that encomasses the years together, not too sappy, but sentimental, funny and honest.
Take out a "personals" ad in the paper and have him present it to her - or maybe just an ad in general.
Write a job description for your mom from your dad's perspective and have him "pay" her with either gifts or make up fake money with his face in the center and have each of the grandchildren, children, etc. pay her for what she has done for them.
50 is the golden anniversary, so maybe he could play off that by presenting key items that she has saved that are either dipped or preserved in someting gold - baby shoes, wedding album.
What about a charm bracelet that has a charm for all their marriage milestones.
you are such a great daughter! Good luck - as long as it is from the heart your mom should love it.

L.,

I don't know that this is what you are looking for but. My cousins did a 50th for their parents two years ago. They had me put together a video of their 50 years. They have really enjoyed it. It was a great surprise to both of them (it was from the kids). We did have to ask the husband for his favorite song from when they were dating. We put it as the last song on the video - it was really amazing. About a 15 minute production. They treasure it still. We did pictures of their wedding, the kids growing up, and then retirement photos. If you know anyone with an Apple computer it is very easy - all the i-movie and i-DVD come with a Mac. It is fairly easy. You may already have this planned for the event but you might could get your Dad's input on music and photos and have it come from him. I will keep thinking but just thought I would share. You might also talk to your Dad about something special they did when they were dating -- and recreate the moment somehow. Search ebay or antique stores for an old item that brings back lots of memories.

So there's my thought - not what you were looking for - but I do hope they spark an idea.

L.

My grandfather had a necklace made out of a silver dollar he received from my grandmother's father immeidately before he married my grandmother. Maybe your father has something from his wedding that he could have made into a special piece of jewelry for your mother.

Ok what about using the money to somehow recreate their first date or the palce where he prposed to her. Having the kids and grandchildren dress up the room. Find out what music was playing. Where they ate dinner and what they ate and totally try to recreate that time period.

You know what would be really neat? How about a nice photography session. One that they can get some really neat photos together, different poses, etc. I know it is better to have something done to unwrap...maybe even do the photo shoot beforehand and then have one of the better pictures framed in a really neat way or something.

Just a thought...

I sense you have a strong relationship with the lord.
I'm not sure of your parents.

But if so,
What about your dad purchasing a bible and engraving it, and with maybe your help going through it and finding verses/passages he has found comforting through their extrodinary life together.

I know thats not a huge $$$$ gift, but I know when my husband calls me and talks to me about something he's read in his bible reading that may help me during trying times it is so much more to me than anything he can buy for me, not that I don't love gifts :).

Just an idea.

Hi - along the lines of the photo book that someone else wrote about, what about having your Dad (or him, with someone's help) go back and select a bunch of special photos to put in the book. However, most of your parent's photos are probably not digital and would need to be scanned and possibly the color is faded, etc. What about having the photos professionally scanned and restored and THEN added to the photo book? We did that for my parents 40th anniversary and they LOVED the book. It did take some time though to scan and clean up the photos and I know there are professional places that can do it for him. It is SO worth the money to have those memories all together and your whole family will probably enjoy the book.

I've seen many responses about pictures. My company can engrave pictures on lots of different products (e.g. marble, wood, glass, etc.) We could engrave, for example, a picture from their wedding and then a picture of them now on something...like a then and now plaque (for examples see: http://www.grantlaserdesigns.com/marble.html). Or we have "greeting card" plaques that open up and you can engrave on the outside, and inside two surfaces, then you can set them out like a bi-fold photo frame (e.g. put their names and anniversary date on the outside, their wedding picture on the inside left and then a poem or "letter" from your Dad to your Mom on the inside right). Or we can cut-out a picture hole on the right side for a picture. I don't currently have those on my website but do have then in stock. Here's a link to my supplier and the plaques are shown on the top of the page. http://www.coloradoheirloom.com/Specialty%20Items.html. I am always happy to help design the perfect gift. So feel free to give me a call to discuss this or any other ideas. We have plenty of ideas and gifts that aren't currently on the website, so if you have something in mind, please feel free to ask us if we can do it and we'll see what we can do. I designed the website myself, and since I work full time outside the home and then have an active 2 year old - sometimes it's hard to update the website with all our new products!! :) Hope this helps. If you have any questions, you can find us at www.grantlaserdesigns.com or you can call me at ###-###-####. CONGRATS TO YOUR PARENTS!

K. G.

Looks like we have a lot of the same ideas, but you could get old favorite photos, scan, and have a professional make a scrapbook of them! There are such places on the web and you might ask at a scrapbooking store too.

You could also see if they have any old letters they wrote to each other and have those bound in a book, it would be something they both could look back on and share for years to come! And you could add in photos too!

Not sure where they live but a cruise would be great there are alot of specials and air fare price wars going on right now.

If they don't like a cruise what about a bed and breakfast some place special Fredricksburg is sweet and quaint.

L. T

Quiz your Dad on special memories from he & your Mom first met, started dating etc. This will serve as your brainstorming session. What were special dates they had & would it be possible to recreate one? WHat is their song & can you find an orginal copy on ebay? Is there a particular poet that your Mom likes or that your Dad "borrowed" from while wooing her?(Look for a copy of the published works - maybe there's even a signed copy) Suggest sitting for a portrait that recreates their engagement or wedding photo. If travel is a possibility, maybe they could re-do their honeymoon adventure.
I've found that my relatives in their golden years don't really want more random "stuff" as gifts. They are more fond of items that evoke memories and time spent creating more memories for themselves and their loved ones. Along those lines you could suggest a well bound book that your Mom & Dad could use to write down their story. They will have the enjoyment of reliving their past (the smiles, tears, peaks & valleys that have brought them to this point) AND they will be creating a written testament of their journey of love.

A friend of mine took his wife back to the town where they got married and even booked the same room at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon. I have also heard of men who videotaped their memories of their marriage.......the daughter "interviewed" the dad to help prompt him to remember details she thought her mom might enjoy.
Hope this helps!

Hey L..

I have a friend who does DVD slide shows. She's done ALOT of anniversaries. She just did a birthday slideshow for a 90 year old and the family loved it. Here is a link if you want to see the show. www.makethemcryproductions.com/grandma.html

Hope that helps!

L.,

My girlfriend and her husband got remarried. It came as a total surprise to her. This was not huge and over the top. He kept it very simple, but extremely romantic without breaking the bank. They got married in their living room with only their immediate family. Everyone that came knew that this was not just a party, but a wedding as well. She had a ball. It blew my best friend away that her husband went through the trouble and she is so happy that he did it. Her husband passed away just a few weeks later.

Many blessings upon your parents on their special anniversary.
Dene'