“A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year.” Paul Sweeney

Long marriages and relationships should always be a cause for celebration and jubilation. If you feel like throwing a spectacular party for your loved ones, or even reliving their wedding day, then organising this kind of get-together is the perfect occasion.

But how do you go about arranging this kind of event? Well here at Parklands, we’ve compiled a list of helpful tips to get you going and keep stress at bay. We’ve even included some advice if you’re planning on a surprise anniversary party too!

1. Create a guest list

Without this, you can’t begin the exciting bits. You need to know how many people will actually turn up so that you don’t over cater or under cater. If you’re not planning for the party to be a surprise, then make sure you check you’ve invited the right people. You don’t want long lost relatives turning up, especially if they are long lost relatives for a reason…

2. Location, location, location

Choosing the correct venue for your party is vital. If you don’t have enough room for everyone, or too much room for everyone for that matter, then you run the risk of overcrowding and overheating, or having too much space and creating an awkward atmosphere. Our banqueting hall is the perfect location for a wedding anniversary party. It’s grand and full of luxury, making any couple’s anniversary special.

3. Invitations

Make them fancy, formal, informal, humourous, whatever style suits the happy couple and matches the venue and overall feel of the event. If budget is an issue, then try your hand at making your own invitations; you could even get any relatives that may have young children involved. This way, if your invitations look a little hit and miss, you can simply write on the back ‘Made by the Kids’. Perfect.

4. Theme

Even if you are 99% sure that you want a particular type of dress, don’t rule out other types. You should still do your research, still look at other types of dresses and try them on. You may find yourself being surprised that a particular type of dress that you didn’t like actually really suits you. So don’t forget to do your research and if after all of that you’ve come up with the dress you want, you’ve got the perfect dress.

5. Other formalities

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide whether or not gifts are appropriate for an anniversary party; it can depend on how close of a relative or friend you are. We suggest stating on the invites ‘no gifts!’ and then if people still decide to bring one with them, well, that’s simply a bonus (or a curse, dependent on the present…).

And don’t forget, remember to get the special couple there on time!

Anniversary Party Checklist!

Guest list

Invitations

Catering

Decorations

Venue

Cake (optional, but always fun)

Camera (again, optional, but definitely always fun!)