<p>So my parents are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in two weeks, and I want to give them some sort of surprise. A big party with friends is ruled out because at that point of time all their friends will be off vacationing. Also since my brother and I are both off to university after this, we don’t have too much money to spend (so we can’t gift them a cruise trip or something). We both can cook a little, but want to do something a little more special than just making dinner. Any ideas? Help is much appreciated.</p>
<p>That’s very sweet of you. Do you have access to old photos? I’ll bet they would love a photo album made up, or a video slideshow. </p>
<p>Never discount the idea of a nice dinner served on nice plates with candles etc. it is the thought that counts!</p>
<p>Write them a letter (each of you individually) about what they mean to you, what you are grateful for, and promising them that you will not squander the opportunities you’re being given. Acknowledge the sacrifices that they have made and will continue to make until you and your brother are fully self-supporting. Add what they have taught you about love, relationships and commitment in this age of 45 day marriages and easy divorce.</p>
<p>That’s all any parent needs.</p>
<p>Yes surfcity, a special photo album is a wonderful idea. They will cherish it forever.
In addtion to those you could gather from your home, perhaps other relatives might have photos to offer you for inclusion.</p>
<p>Present it to them at dinner and you will have given them a most memorable gift!</p>
<p>Agree with the above posts. Would have LOVED receiving such a home-prepared dinner and thoughtful note from our kids. That would have been SO meaningful. Maybe they’ll do it for our 30th anniversary? Hope springs eternal. Many of us aren’t into big bashes (though my dad loves them).</p>
<p>I like surfcity’s ideas. Make a nice dinner for them. How about soliciting ideas from friends and relatives for funny or nice stories that have happened over the years of their marriage. You could take a picture of the person telling you the story and put a photo of the person along with a typed up version of the story on separate pages of the scrapbook.</p>
<p>^Scrapbook sounds great and the homemade dinner. For my parent’s 50th we wrote to all their old friends from the foreign service and got wonderful letters back. My kids did nothing for us so I am sooooo impressed you are doing anything at all!</p>
<p>Wow, thanks everybody for the great ideas! My brother is a designer, so based off all of your suggestions, he’s thinking of making a large photo tree or something similar. Now the problem lies in hiding something of that scale in a little downtown apartment 
I like the idea of adding little notes with the pictures as well, so we’ll see where that leads us.</p>
<p>If time and money are short, do the above in an inexpensive and abbreviated way. Take them out to a local inexpensive restaurant and spend time at the table talking about the memories, what you admire about their relationship, some funny mom/dad/husband/wife stories/memories. Make room to order dessert. :)</p>
<p>You will then have given them “time”, “words”, more memories and a meal with good company to boot. :)</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>Are you members of Costco? There you can download pictures on your computer and create a picture book with your own captions. That’s what we did for our mil’s birthday after we all took a cruise together. She LOVED the book of pictures and especially our own captions that you can type on the computer for each page. Costco makes it into an album…don’t remember the cost but very reasonable. May not be done in two weeks, though.</p>
<p>There are websites that do picture album books with captions that might not take two weeks.</p>
<p>I bet your parents would love a professional portrait of the two of you together. Look at Sears or JCPenney, etc. And/or get together with your parents for a family portrait.</p>
<p>Our kids do not even know when our anniversary is, so I think the OP and his(?) sibling are great. Love the suggestions above.</p>
<p>I can’ t think of anything nicer than dinner with my kids. Not much for scrapbooks, but you could also make something together that evening – all of you — they would have as a keepsake. Paint a photo frame, a ceramic vase, T shirts…we once painted all the grandkids feet and let them run around on a sheet that is now a cherished tablecloth. In fact, the first great-grandchild is due soon, and those parents already have asked to add the baby’s feetprints.</p>
<p>One of my friends sent out a photo card collage (like the Christmas ones from Shutterfly, Costco, etc) of the parents on their wedding day. The text inside invite everyone to mail cards and congratulatory messages for their anniversary. They asked that cards not be mailed prior to a specific date so that the parents would be inundated at once.</p>
<p>Since you do not have time to mail anything, could you email to cousins and ask that they mail a card or note several days before the anniversary? You could also ask for scanned photos to use in your project, but that request is a stumbling block for many.</p>
<p>They will love everything you are doing—kudos to you!</p>
<p>It is very sweet of your brother and you to plan something special for your parents. I agree that a nice home-made dinner would be much appreciated (as well as the cleanup afterwards). </p>
<p>Do your parents still live in the general area where they married? DH and I married in our college town which is just a bit more than an hour from us. We happened to be in that area for a family event during our wedding month of our 25th anniversary and DD took us to the church and made us get out for an impromptu photo shoot. She made a photo book for us and then had our favorite photo from that day framed. That was a super-special anniversary gift.</p>
<p>We aren’t members of Costco but I will look up websites online that create scrapbooks. Ultimately though we might end up doing the thing ourselves because both of us really enjoy designing.</p>
<p>A professional portrait sounds like a wonderful idea. Especially so since I’m leaving for college for the first time, and it’ll make a really nice keepsake.</p>
<p>Unfortunately we live a 3 hour flight ride away from where my parents got married, so visiting their wedding church is not possible. But I really wish we could, because that sounds like the most wonderful idea ever!</p>
<p>I think we will probably stick with a special family dinner and a scrapbook/photo wall or something similar. But keep the ideas coming, there are some awesome suggestions here!</p>
<p>Oh, and not that it matters, but I’m a girl :)</p>
<p>Sorry to bump the thread, but does anybody have any ideas as to how to keep my parents away while we’re making dinner? I wanted it to be a surprise, but I’m stumped when it comes to getting them out of the house for three hours.</p>
<p>Can you enlist a friend/relative, sworn to secrecy, to take them out somewhere? To a movie, museum, whatever it is that they’re interested in?</p>
<p>For my parents 50th I did a scrapbook of letters from friends, relatives and neighbors. I googled addresses of their neighbors and asked for a congrats type note and put them in an album. The response was great! Some even sent me photos. Such fun! Relatives sent more personal responses and some came from way distant relatives that I never knew but obviously knew my parents. It was a great experience.
For a 25th I think dinner is great!</p>
<p>totalgeek – this is such a nice idea. </p>
<p>I bet since you love them enough to plan this wonderful celebration, they love you enough to do something for you, so in terms of getting them out of the house for 3 hours, I bet if you told them you needed them to go do some errand that would benefit you (find allergy-safe bed covers at the Bed&Bath that’s an hour away from home because that’s the one that has this special item that you really really need) they would hop in the car gladly to go get it for you. </p>
<p>And if they ask why you can’t do it yourself (in a nice way, but they’re trying to empower you) you tell them you can’t because you’re not feeling well (migraine!) and you need to lie down if that’s ok.</p>
<p>Why do they both have to go? Because your dad has a special coupon that will save them 20% and you’re heard they give you a hard time if both parents aren’t present to redeem the coupon.</p>
<p>I’m overreaching a bit, but unless you have a trusted friend/aunt/uncle/neighbor who can safely keep them away for 3 hours without spilling the beans, a serious errand is what you need.</p>
<p>Good luck and please let us know how it turns out!</p>