The Yingst Family: Surprise 40th Anniversary Party for Buddy & Mary!

This year is a big year of 40's for Kevin's parents, Buddy and Mary. This year (this month) is their 40th High School Reunions (both of them) and most importantly their BIG 40th Wedding Anniversary! We decided that we wanted to do something really special for them to show them that they are important to so many of their friends/family! So, we secretly planned a SURPRISE 40th Anniversary Party for them on their ACTUAL Anniversary. They have never had a party thrown for them... let alone a surprise party. We were so happy to create new memories for them to cherish the rest of their lives.

We were in Atlanta for our dear friends' Wedding the week before the party... and returned home just a couple of days before the surprise party for Buddy and Mary. I was stressing hoping I could pull it off... especially with being so busy with everything else. I cannot believe that not one person let the cat out of the bag (blew the surprise, for you young readers). But, everyone was respectful enough to not let the party leak.

Rather than doing a formal paper invitation to the guests, I opted to create a beautiful invitation that the guests opened electronically on their computers. People really tend to just thrown away beautiful, expensive invitations away... and rather than waste the money on something that would just end up in the trash, I created it on my computer and mailed it out to the guests through personal emails (if I had them) or as a link through a private group message on Facebook.

The planning went pretty smoothly. The very first thing that I always do for my big parties is order a keepsake vinyl banner with the person's picture on it. In this event, it was a beautiful picture of Buddy and Mary that I had taken of them on our way back from Branson (on a lake at sunset). Check. Take a look below at their banner... turned out lovely!

The next thing I did was line up a venue... it was a no brainer. I chose one of the golf courses (near our home) clubhouse. The room was lined with windows... and it overlooked a body of water and the golf course. It was beautiful! And, since we are POA owners, then we were able to use this lovely facility. And, what were the odds that the room I wanted was available on the exact day/time that I needed it. Check.

I waited for the perfect chance to rummage through Buddy and Mary's house (while the were out of town in Branson) for wedding albums and older pictures of them. Bingo! It took me a long time to locate them, but once I did, I worked quickly. It was 10:30pm on a Wednesday night (when their house was finally free of them). I lined up all their wedding pictures, newspaper announcements and vow renewal pictures and brought them home. I didn't have enough time to take them to get them made in to a slide show (like we really wanted to do), so I spent several hours on Thursday (while the kids were in school) take pictures with my Canon of the old pictures... that way I didn't have to go anywhere and could put the pictures from my memory card into an album and create a slide show for Saturday. And, I did just that. Worked out perfectly! :) Kevin wanted to help some that evening, so he located pictures of trips they had taken over the years and put them into an album for me. However, as the party was happening (for some odd reason) the slide show only played the wedding pictures that I gathered (from 40 years ago) instead of the trip pictures. Boo. Kevin, also, put together a song list for their Anniversary party... that would play throughout the party on the PA System.

After the venue was reserved and paid for, I proceeded to gather decor (remember the theme of this particular Anniversary is the Ruby Anniversary. So, I wanted to do the venue decorations in reds, browns and creams. A modern scheme. I wanted to use burlap throughout the party in decor. So, I decided to hit up Hobby Lobby and other craft stores for spools of Burlap ribbon, Rolls of Burlap for table runners and other hints of Burlap throughout the party. I rented some heavy duty, linen table covers through Eventures Party Supply. Probably more than I wanted to spend on table covers, but it tied everything in together. I alternated ruby red with chocolate brown. Then, adding the burlap runners on top of it, was perfecto!

I wanted it to be vintage, too. So, I decided to create the centerpieces out of big mason jars. I added red christmas berries twigs, lace, led tea light to the inside of the mason jars. I spray painted the lids of the mason jars a muted gold to cover the wording that originally existed on the jar lids. It was a perfect match to the gold on the lid. To complete the look (that I was going for), I added lace and burlap woven ribbon to the rim of the lid and took black and white photocopied pictures of Buddy and Mary's wedding (40 years ago) to the ribbon, clipped with tiny wooden clothespins that I spray painted gold and added gold glitter to ( had to hairspray the glitter in place, because it wouldn't stick to the fast drying paint. Hairspray was perfect, though.

I ordered the cake (I designed the cake to represent two wedding bands) through a local bakery. It was supposed to be muted gold and ruby red... But the colors turned out more like a maroon and brassy gold. It was still a great cake... and tasted delicious. We had food catered in by one of our favorite, local BBQ restaurants. We ordered chicken, pork and brisket. Along with baked beans and potato salad. We had cheeses and crackers for hor d'oeuvres. Drinks were an array of different kinds of teas.

I had some other projects for this event (like spray painting the black iron serving tiered stand a muted gold), but it's too lengthy to mention. LOL

Buddy and Mary did not have a clue the event was going on. I had asked them the day before their Anniversary what they were doing to celebrate their big 40... and they both sort of shrugged their shoulders and said maybe they'd go on a weekend trip next weekend, to Canton. I could tell they were both a little disappointed in their decision not to plan anything for their big milestone Anniversary... which made me even MORE excited for their surprise party to come. I couldn't wait to see their faces!!

We were expecting around 50 guests. All whom RSVP'd... There were several no-shows (which would have been polite if they would have called considering we had food catered, etc., but what do you do??!). And, then some family had "better" things to do. It's not like this was another birthday party.... it was their HUGE 40th Anniversary... which not many people will ever celebrate. To each their own. I won't lie... I was very bothered by the lack of efforts in some of their families (by not attending)! We are the type of people that try to make it to all of our family and friends' important events in their lives... We will go out of our way to do so and make them feel special... and so will Buddy and Mary. It would be nice if the gesture was returned. But, I'm sure their excuses were that the heavy rain prevented them from being able to attend. To those that did attend... your presence will never go unnoticed and actions speak louder than words. Buddy and Mary will be forever grateful for your thoughtfulness and presence in celebrating this special day with them!! Thank you so much!!!

The rain was substantial. I had to carry in all the totes of decorations for the party from my car to the event room (one by one in the rain... after straightening my hair and being completely ready for the day!). LOL But, I'll be darned if the rain ruined this beautiful day! Kevin, Peyton and Peyton's friend, Zach, all went to pick up the food, cake, drinks and hor d'oeuvres... and bless their hearts... carried all of it in through the heavy rain. As I was finishing setting up the party decor, Kevin and Peyton ran home to get ready. We had arranged with Buddy and Mary to meet them at our house, because we were "taking them to a nice dinner" for their anniversary. LOL

When Buddy and Mary arrived to their party, it was somewhat blown in the parking lot, because several guests were coming at they same time they were. So, Kevin had to announce their surprise in the parking lot (as they were walking in). But, it was still a great surprise! It was so refreshing to see their faces overcome with joy as they walked in to their party. They are truly loved by so many.

They really enjoyed their evening with some of the dearest people in their lives. I don't know how many times they cried and we all cried. I cannot describe how sentimental the evening was. The slideshow of their past continued to play on the projector screen all evening... along with some soothing music. We had a microphone podium set up to give toasts and speeches of people's lives Buddy and Mary had touched. The speeches continued to go on... and were quite lengthy. It was so good to hear everyone's memories of this lovely couple! (I have to be honest, I was the last to give my speech... and I could barely get through it. I was all choked up. The words that I remember describing them as throughout my speech was "selfless." And, I remember one sentence in my speech saying that "... they do, and do, and do, and do, and do, and do for so many and it is their turn for us to do for them..." LOL)

Kevin was up first to give his speech and toast his parents!

Next, was Mary's sister, Cecilia poured her love...

Then, Mary's sister, Rose, shared both funny and endearing stories...

Then, our good friend, Keith shared his appreciation and a tribute...

Buddy and Mary were loving the toasts, tributes and stories...

Then, Buddy's Brother, Stanley got the crowd giggling...

Then, their good friend, Roger added some wonderful words for the couple...

Then, their good friend (Roger's Wife)...

Their good friend, Janet, shared her love...

Their good friend, Bill, shared his love, some stories through the years and tears...

Still enjoying all the speeches... The lovely couple!

Then, their brother-in-law, Howard, shared his love and gratitude...

Some good friends/family, also, decided to speak of Buddy/Mary from their seats! ;)

Buddy's brother, Jerry, shared his love and being proud...

Their dear friend, John, shared some love and plenty of tears...

Thank you all for the special stories, love and gratitude you gave Buddy and Mary through your speeches! Every speech was extremely heartfelt and thoughtful!

Here are some of the party pictures throughout the evening... Enjoy!