My parents have always had a very special relationship, and their 25th anniversary was looming. However, they really aren't into fancy silver serving trays, or anything like that, so I was struggling with what to do for them for their anniversary.
My sister and I conspired and finally came up with a winning idea. My dad was planning a surprise party for my mom, complete with a replica of their wedding cake and her bouquet, and relatives and friends were going to be flying in from all over to attend. I knew that all of these people were going to be there to share their stories of my parents, so my sister and I decided to try to capture as many of those stories as possible, so that my parents could cherish them longer than just that one day.
One day, while at my parent's house, my sister swiped their address book and ran to the library and copied every page, then put it back without them knowing. Then, we wrote a letter and sent it out to everyone in their address book, as well as some of our own friends, and asked them to send us letters, newspaper clippings, pictures, song lyrics, poetry, anecdotes, whatever they could think of that could be put into a scrapbook. We gave them a deadline, and asked them NOT to tell our parents.
About a month before the party, we had gathered mementos from all kinds of people in my parent's lives --their friends, neighbors, grandchildren, sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, co workers, and priests. We laughed and cried, and laughed some more, while we organized the items into a scrapbook in honor of our parents. We also included photos from their wedding, our own childhood photos from family trips and adventures, as well as faded copies of letters from their now-deceased parents, and cards and letters from one to the other, and the lyrics to two very special songs in their lives--their 'wedding song', and a song my dad wrote for my mom when they first began dating. We filled the pages with quotes and funny sayings that meant something to our family, and that went along with what was pictured on the page. Finally, my sister and I wrote letters of our own, and shared with my parents what it meant to be brought up in the loving, fun, and nurturing home they had created for us. The cover of the album contained a Latin quote that was inscribed on their wedding bands, and a photo from their wedding.
We presented it to them at the surprise party, and they both cried as they flipped through the pages. They told us later that they stayed up half the night, snuggling together and exploring the items in the book, and laughing and crying. To this day, nearly 10 years later, it remains one of their most treasured possessions.
So, it isn't a traditional 'silver' gift, but I suppose you could make the cover of the book silver if you wanted to!!! :-)
