My hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary two years ago!!! The church we belong to has a Tuesday evening mass, which was the day our anniversary fell on. Since we were not originally married in the Catholic Church, I didn't have the same type of ceremony that I am used to now. I was able to select all three readings and all the music for the mass. The group that sing with did the music (and I sang most of the mass with them), my daughter and son read the Old Testament and New Testament readings and a dear family friend who is the Deacon, read the Gospel, gave the homily and did our vow renewal. After communion, I actually sang a solo - You're Still the One.
For the dinner we had afterward, I purchased som recycled paper embedded with wild flower seeds (it was very inexpensive online), cut into large heart shapes and then using vellum paper (again very inexpensive) printed the words to "You're Still the One" followed by a message thanking everyone for coming and to plant the paper in remembrace of our love. I also made a music CD for each guest loaded with wedding appropriate music.
I believe you can set up a plan with a travel agent where items can be paid for (like a gift registry) by guests and include that information with the invitations. I'm also thinking that you may be able to manage food for less than $300 if you did something like lasagna with salad/rolls.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
__________________  Sissy & Angel |