50th Anniversary Ideas

[Captain FIRE]

My folks 50th anniversary is coming up.  I'm looking for help on brainstorming ideas to celebrate them.  They plan to take all of us kids+families on a vacation to celebrate (post grandkid vaccinations), so not a vacation.  I'm thinking either an experience, sentimental or other concrete gifts.  I don't really have a budget in mind - could put together a smaller idea or two or do one large one.  Any ideas?

[Adventine]

Is there something your parents have always wanted to do but never got around to doing in their 50 years together? Now would be the perfect time.
Otherwise, a renewal of vows at the place where they got married is a great way to celebrate their 50th anniversary. We did this for one of my parents' milestone anniversaries and they still remembered it fondly, years later.

[Ladychips]

We did family pictures for my in-laws.  Cherished by all of us.

[Captain FIRE]

@Adventine I'll have to think on that.  The only thing that immediately springs to mind is travel related (which I mentioned I would like to avoid).

@Ladychips Great idea!  But my mom is already planning to have family pictures taken as part of the family vacation.  And one sibling lives far away, or I might otherwise try getting together them for a sibling only photo shoot.

I will also say that we (my sister really, she came up with it and organized it) threw a 35th anniversary party for them, with some people even flying out for it (close family friends and family), so something different than that.

[Blue Skies]

I have seen a group get together and pay for the installation of a bench at the couple's favorite local park.  The bench had some engraving in it with their names.  That went over well.

[ChpBstrd]

Spry, mobile, and able to travel:
 -Send them on a cruise.
 -Get an AirBNB or VRBO at a destination and have a family campout.

Not so great on the walking / long car rides:
 -Family photos as mentioned by @Ladychips. Also, organize a bunch of family albums from different timeframes and give them volumes of things to look through.
 -Massage / spa - depending on how comfortable they are with such things
 -As mentioned by @Adventine you could have a big ceremony. My grandparents didn't renew vows, but had a big celebration gathering where they got to see a lot of folks who they hadn't seen in a long time. It's the gathering of friends that makes people happiest.

[ixtap]

My brother and I took on the coordination of the big family vacation. My brother found the enormous beach house and I invited everyone and ordered a catered dinner, as well as coordinating how all the regular meals happened for the week

I also convinced my brother to steal their stashed away photos and slides and digitize them. I think he digitized them all, but he also created a fun family slide show to present during the vacation. He pulled his computer out with each of the elder generation and got them to tell him at least the names, if not the stories, and recorded all of that.

One of my nieces created a scrapbook that included some of the more recent pictures and she got everyone to say something nice about them that she recorded in the book.

Depending on the vacation they have planned, could you add something spectacular on to it for just the two of them, like a balloon ride or a helicopter ride?

Do they currently have family tree art of any kind?

[yachi]

My folks 50th anniversary is coming up.  I'm looking for help on brainstorming ideas to celebrate them.  They plan to take all of us kids+families on a vacation to celebrate (post grandkid vaccinations), so not a vacation.  I'm thinking either an experience, sentimental or other concrete gifts.  I don't really have a budget in mind - could put together a smaller idea or two or do one large one.  Any ideas?

My parents love to vacation with all their kids and their families.  I think they have plenty of time alone during the rest of the year, that having everyone around them is fun.  That said, parents are there to take care of their own kids, so while they experience the business of everyone around, they don't have to be in charge of the little ones.

[Rural]

I planned a big party for mine, dug up contact info for their old friends going back to high school, and had a gathering at a state park. But this was pre-pandemic, and an indoor gathering of the elderly was a reasonable thing at the time.