Golden anniversary
Half a century. Cousins are flying in. Somebody should tell the story properly, with both their names in it.
A 50th anniversary song for a golden anniversary
Half a century together is rare enough that whole families travel for it. A golden anniversary song made from the stories everyone tells about them turns the party into a tribute they can hear again at home.
Hear the second a name lands
Saoirse, my love, you are my home.
You wrote“Ten years this October.”
The song singsNow ten Octobers have flown quickly by.
From a real song made here: “Ten Octobers with You”, for Saoirse, from what her husband typed.
The moment you give it
After the family photo, the grandchildren play it from a phone held up high. The couple hears their names and the year they met, and fifty years of guests lean in to hear the second verse.
Golden anniversary, family photo
Start with one memory
Pick a question. The form opens with your first line already started.
Hear how an anniversary brief becomes a song
Our sample is a ten year song; the golden anniversary version follows the same path with fifty years of material.
What you get for $12.99
You hear it first, free. You pay once, only if you keep it.
- Free preview
- The first 60 seconds, ready in about two minutes after you enter your email. No card.
- The song
- The full song, about two minutes long, as an MP3 to download and keep.
- Lyrics
- Every line is on the preview page before you pay. Unlocking adds the lyric sheet, to print or save as a PDF.
- Their link
- A private link that plays the whole song without an account, with your name and a short note. Switch it off any time.
- Photo video
- Free: a vertical 9:16 photo video of your photos with the lyrics on screen, plus 15- and 30-second cuts. Made in your browser.
- The name
- Unusual name? Type how to say it (SEER-sha for Saoirse) and the singer says it that way.
- Re-record
- One free re-record per song: change a line, the style or the voice and record it again.
- Name sung wrong?
- After you pay, a free remake with the name fixed, once per song.
- Languages
- Sung in English, German, French, Spanish or Japanese.
- Teaser
- Before you pay, a 15-second teaser link that tells them a song is on its way.
- For this song
- Making an anniversary video? Download the MP3 and lay it under your own clips, or let the free photo video set your photos to it.
- Want a nudge next year? Opt in and we email you three weeks and one week before the date.
Gold, the 50th anniversary gift
Gold is the traditional gift for fifty years, which is where the name golden anniversary comes from. Families often pool money for one gold piece; a song is a gift every child and grandchild can say they were part of.
Collecting fifty years of details
- Ask the couple, casually, what they remember about their wedding day; the answer is often the best line.
- Ask each child for one sentence about their parents and pick the best three.
- Find out where they met, and who introduced them.
- Look for the detail everyone repeats: the car, the dance, the recipe.
- Include the hometown, the street or the church by name.
- Leave out anything only some of the family would want to hear.
For example
A granddaughter writing for her grandparents could type:
- Grandma Rosa met Grandpa Luis at a dance hall in San Antonio in 1976.
- He still opens her car door after fifty years.
- Every Christmas Eve the whole family makes tamales in their tiny kitchen.
Playing it for older ears
Choose a slow style and say in your lines that the song should be gentle. Play it close to the couple, not across the room, so they catch every word of their names.
Pairing it with the gold gift
- Play it while they open the gold piece the family chose together.
- Let the oldest grandchild press play; it makes a good moment for photos.
- Put the lyric sheet next to the wedding photo on the table at the party.
- Give every child a copy of the MP3 so the song stays in the family.
More song ideas
Questions
Fifty years, gathered into one song.
Collect three family stories, then type one of their names.