Need Gift Ideas for Parents' 50Th Wedding Anniversary

A photo album would be nice. Just ask to borrow the pics to make copies. They won't suspect a thing. A photo quilt is a wonderful idea too.

I did a hardcover family cookbook for my dad's 70th birthday and it was a huge success. There's an online company called Inkubook (http://inkubook.com/PhotoBook/CookBook.aspx). I asked each of the family members (wife, siblings, children, stepchildren etc) to provide 1-3 of their favorite recipes and 1-3 of their favorite family photos. We also added in each of the grandchildren's favorite dishes as well. It turned out considerably bigger than I expected but it was really terrific and he LOVED it! We ordered extra copies for the rest of us too. This way, you don't have to have access to their photos in order to create a book full of memories.

I put together a photo album for my in-law's 50th as well. We contacted family friends, etc for some older pics and then did some of "this is your legacy" with pics of their adult children and grandchildren. Good luck!

We did a family tree with pictures of each person. It hangs on the wall outside their bedroom.

A memory quilt would be fun. Have them pick out their favorite 12 pictures or do pictures of the family (kids & grandkids) and have a quilt done. I could do it for you for a nominal fee. Also, you could have family pictures taken with everyone.

I'm not sure how much you are wanting to spend, but here's an idea. What about getting a professional photographer to take a big family photo. That way your parents can have a nice photo of the family they have created. Of course you and your siblings taking care of the bill.

We gave our inlaws a gift card for dinner at the restaurant that their wedding reception had been held at.

If this is not available how about a date night in their town at a hotel and restaurant? Or tickets to a performance and let the venue know they will be there hand have them make an announcement?

See if you can locate the members of their wedding party and have each of them send them cards with memories of the wedding day.

Set up a Studio appt for them to have a portrait made. Or have a good photographer take photos of them in their back yard.

They have stores that do engraving, maybe buy a picture frame and have it engraved with "50 Years Together" or something creative lol (im not creative), or buy glass cups that can be engraved. Or what Laurie said, you can give them a gift card to a really nice place somewhere near your area. OR, a surprise party? If you have time/energy to plan one? That would be memorable!

We did a "memeory jar". Everyone in the family wrote down a few special memories about them. The little great-grandkids even drew pictures. We rolled each one of them up and tied it with a ribbon and put all of them into a big jar. We decorated the jar with a picture from their wedding day.

Unless you're intent on having it a surprise . . . we made a scrapbook with pictures of all the places they had lived through the years.

Secretly, we had people write notes to them and we put those in the scrapbook as well as the greetings from the White House, governor, TV/radio personalities they liked, etc.

I took all their old pictures from baby to current of them and our family and made it into a dvd to music. We played it at the party and they just loved it.

Not knowing anything about your parents' friends and family, I offer this idea: What about a photo album of all the people they love with a written note from each of them about how your parents inspire them? "Things I learned from John and Jane about being married." It would probably mean a lot to them to see how they influenced others.

I did a scrap book one year for my in-laws, it was a challenge getting the pictures, but I just told my mother-in-law that we were working on a school project. She was glad to get out the photo albums.

You didn't say when so I don't know how much time you have. But here is what I did for my parents.
I asked their children, grand-children and great-grandchildren to write them a letter on one side of pretty paper. Even the little ones did a page, like a handprint and the mother put thier name. I made an album with clear sleeves the size of an 8x10 sheet of paper. Then I asked relatives who couldn't come or even if they would be therem to send me cards with wishes in them. I cut them apart so all sides and messgaes would show and glued them onto white 8x10 card stock so I could slip them into a clear sleeve. I bought a D-ring album and covered it with satin leaving an oval on the front for their original wedding photo. I trimmed it with lace and pearls and presented it to them during a ceremony.
Next I had my son sing the song they had sung at thier wedding. My brother was MC and all 11 of us went and had a family portrait done and had it framed to present to them in 16x20 inches.
Then I made a memory table with her original china place setting with her silver and crystal, pictures of them scattered around and some of their original wedding gifts they still had, along with a charm bracelet my dad gave her while dating,etc. Another table had assorted pictures of family, children etc.
My cousin surprised her and brought her sister down from Missouri and also hand quilted three blocks her Mother had made before she died, into a wall hanging for her. We covered the protrait with satin and unveiled it during the ceremony.
We had a grooms cake with an open Bible as my dad was a Baptist preacher, and a 3 tiered wedding cake in gold roses and white. Served coffee and punch, nuts and mints. We had music in the background and white candlelabras with tiers of white tapers and gold candy kisses on each table, etc.
They were overwhelmed with all the guests, surprises and beautiful decorations. It was a very special occasion because when they married during the war, they only had the best man and maid of honor, a small dinner at a sweet friend's house in Seattle and a 3 day honeymoon.
Good Luck!

All the answers are great, but I want to add a suggestion. We celebrated my parents 50th with a photo album, but we asked people to write them a letter. We included the letters in the album with the pictures. My parents were surprised and very excited. It is amazing to read stories that people remember about your family. I never realized how much my parents were loved.

What about an album with letters/notes from some of their friends about memories they have of your parents and maybe they have pictures.

Go ahead and ask for access to their pictures. Take a scanner & laptop over to their house and spend an afternoon scanning in their photos, asking for the stories and names of people in the photos. Record names - - like your mom's second cousin - - because no one will ever know except her. Your parents will figure you got something up your sleeve. But you'll surprise them with a "real" book of their photos. Scan their pictures into your computer. Use one of those online services like Shutterfly.com to create a book. My son's college hockey coach did this for all of his players and the book is very cool. Each page had a close-up of the player, and then a few action shots from some of their games. Creative Memories also has a computer program now, too, which allows you to organize photos into folders on your computer, then create books. Scrapbooking has gone digital.

I was able to sneak thru their photos when they were out of town and scanned them in and made a power point presentation. I also wrote all of their friends and family and asked them to send memories, photos etc. and I put that into a scrapbook. We took a family vacation and presented the slide show and scrapbook to them. I also found at Kohls a 50th anniversary photo album and they filled that with pics from our vacation. A few weeks afterwards, we also threw them a surprise party with their friends from church at a restaurant. We had the slide show playing and then they added the pics from that into their photo album as well. You could maybe just tell them that you need access to the photos and not tell them why, or say your child has a family tree project at school (if you have young kiddos). It's a lot of work but very well worth it. Another idea I had, but never got to it, was to put their anniversary in the paper (where the wedding announcements are).